R&D is an easy target for cuts when firms face pressure from quarterly earnings. One problem is that firms don’t have a metric to benchmark their R&D productivity. Professor Anne Marie Knott, affiliate faculty member for George Mason’s Center for Government Contracting, has developed such a metric, the Research Quotient (RQ), which uses financial data to isolate the effect of R&D spending on revenue growth. While she finds a worrisome trend that R&D productivity has declined a staggering 65% over the past half-century, Anne Marie presents several insightful actions that can reverse the trend.
What does all this mean for Aerospace & Defense firms and their Independent Research & Development (IRAD) spending? How is the business of government different than the commercial sector? Can firms drive more value not just for their shareholders, but for the taxpayer and the national security?
Please join Wharton Aerospace and George Mason University for an exciting discussion on IRAD policies and practices designed to jump-start military innovation. Panelists Anne Marie Knott, Kevin Fahey, and Byron Callan will unpack the challenges of measuring R&D productivity, the RQ metric, and if/how it may apply to the national security sector.
When: April 22, 2021, 12:00 to 1:00 pm EST
Background Information
- The Trillion-Dollar R&D Fix – Harvard Business Review
- Podcast: How Innovation Really Works with Anne Marie Knott
- DoD Policy for Oversight of Independent Research and Development (IR&D)
Welcome
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Jerry McGinn, Ph.D.Executive Director |
Panel
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Ellen Chang, ModeratorWharton Aerospace Officer |
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Kevin FaheyPresident and Chief Operating Officer, Cypress International & former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition |
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Byron CallanCapital Alpha Partners |
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Anne Marie KnottRobert and Barbara Frick Professor in Business |
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