Research and Development (R&D) is an exercise conducted to promote scientific knowledge or develop applications that comprise materials, devices, and processes. The need for global innovation has led to the increased investment in Research and Development. Therefore, several companies worldwide have taken the initiative of raising the money and time they employ in research and development. For example, businesses in New Zealand invest on R&D through creating Incubator Programmes. Incubator Programmes play the role of supporting the future business through the provision of services such as technology validation, governance, and advice. Federal aids for R&D include grants, awards, contracts, and appropriations. State funds allocated to R&D comprise of appropriations, bond funds, general funds, and state grants. R&D funding involves the provision of growth grants to already existing business to aid them to achieve increased innovation. Un and Asakawa (2015) argue that regional collaborations also form part of R&D funding to localmarkets.
Time Spent on R&D
The time spent on R&D is dependent on several factors. These factors influence a number of time companies set aside for research and development. Firstly, the amount of time spent on R&D depends on the level of innovation (Un & Asakawa, 2015). For example in the auto industry, the Volkswagen Company reportedly spends more time currently to manufacture a more competitive and innovative with the capability of reducing environmental hazards and improved safety standards. Secondly, companies spend much time adding new technologies in production and developing more features to already existing brands. In addition, increased demand for particular products has led to more time spending on research and development. The time spent on research and development helps companies to gather the resources required to fulfil the tastes and preferences of the customers. For example, the Samsung Company takes a lot of time to develop new smart TVs to achieve the change in tastes and preferences of the customers by dividing R&D into expansion business groups, research institutions, and specialised teams. Ultimately, increased global competition creates the need for spending time on R&D for companies to compete in the world market.
Money Spent on R&D
Research on global innovation shows the amount of money spent by countries worldwide on Research and Development. Accordingly, Asia is the leading spender on research and development in the world as revealed global innovation reports. For instance, between 2006 and 2015, Chinese companies, for example, register $39.4 billion on R&D. Besides, the United States proves to be the largest spender considering in-country R&D spenders of domestic goods. For the same period, the United States spent $145 billion. The United States government spent $53 billion on imported R&D in 2005. Nevertheless, the United States registered $121 on exported R&D still in 2015. Tozzi (2014) argues that Chinese spending on the R&D will overtake that of the United States.
Tozzi (2014) posits that federal governments play an essential role in the supporting innovations through funding the R&D and improving investments. For example in the United States, the federal government recorded $124 investment in supporting R&D. 52% of the investment helped improve the defense research programmes such as satellite and weaponry. Consequently, 48% of the R&D investments supported the health institutions. In 2010, the private profit-making organizations financed 61% of the R&D whereas the federal government funded 31% in the United States. Nevertheless, the private non-profit making organizations funded the remaining share of the R&D.
References
Tozzi, J. (2014). Federal Funding for R&D Keeps Dropping. Business Week, (4405), 30-31.
Un, C. A., & Asakawa, K. (2015). Types of R&D Collaborations and Process Innovation: The Benefit of Collaborating Upstream in the Knowledge Chain.Journal Of Product Innovation Management, 32(1), 138-153. doi:10.1111/jpim.12229
