Involvement and productivity of research and development workers

Abstract

Purpose – The effect of global integration of businesses and interchange of ideas and technology through internet has many facets. Increase in economic recessions and decrease in research funding has forced both private and public sector research organizations to introduce measures of self-sustainability. Enhancing research and development (R&D) productivity of researchers can be one of those measures. The purpose of this paper is to attempt toward identifying and analyzing those factors of productivity that may be related to the manpower in R&D. Design/methodology/approach – Based upon the theoretical background and the nature of data available, this empirical study has been carried out as a case study for a public sector research laboratory. The extent of involvement in research projects have been analyzed with respect to the R&D outputs generated by the researchers, which if found to be positively related, may be focussed upon, for increasing productivity of manpower in R&D. Several other determinants of R&D productivity were identified from the literature review and were analyzed in association with the “involvement.” “Robust Regression” technique was used for the statistical analysis. Findings – It was found that the R&D productivity of researchers has a positive correlation with their extent of involvement in the R&D projects. Practical implications – The result may help in creation of the policies for enhancing organizational self-sustainability. Originality/value – Several prior studies have been conducted with different determinants of R&D productivity but hardly any studies were found considering “extent of manpower involvement in research projects.” This study can be useful for public sector research organizations to relate the findings with their endeavors of enhancing R&D productivity.

Aligning research trends of NIPERs, India (2010–2021)

“…Barney et al (2022) examining data collected from 324 management faculties at public universities in the USA disclose that there are no single job resources that predict research productivity. Kumari et al (2015) based on the theoretical background and nature of data availability found that the research and development productivity of the researchers has a positive correlation with the extent of their involvement in the R&D projects. Gaus et al (2021) in a study of qualitative approach by interviewing 40 academics in 4 public universities in Indonesia demonstrated that individual factors contributed to the productivity of academics in science instead of institutional factors as compared to academics of social science.…”

Aligning individual and organizational R&D goals for self-sustainability: investigating preferences of researchers in selected CSIR laboratories, India

“…Research is a team work and follows a systematic process which tends to be impacted by more than one individual, organizational and environmental factors viz. attitude & priority of the team members, organizational support and government policies (Babu and Singh, 1998;Landry et al, 1996;Bonaccorsi and Daraio, 2003;Stack, 2004;Turner and Mairesseb, 2005;Ohly et al, 2006;Anderson et al, 2007;Jacso, 2008;Post et al, 2009;Kelchtermans and Veugelers, 2011;Obembe, 2012;Prathap, 2013;Ryu and Choi, 2016, Kumari et al, 2015, 2018and 2020. Hence, in this context Hypothesis 2 has been defined.…”

“…The author also explained the role of flexibility in working characteristics and earning opportunities, encourage the elderly workforce to make use of their experience and increase the duration of their career. Kumari et al (2015Kumari et al ( , 2018 have considered "Man-days Involvement" as a significant determinant of productivity for researchers of CSIR -India laboratories. According to the authors, a large extent of man-days (working days) involvement in "grant-in-aid" R&D projects can provide opportunities and resources to focus on generating a greater number of publications to the researchers.…”

“…Kumari et al (2015, 2018) have considered “Man-days Involvement” as a significant determinant of productivity for researchers of CSIR -India laboratories. According to the authors, a large extent of man-days (working days) involvement in “grant-in-aid” R&D projects can provide opportunities and resources to focus on generating a greater number of publications to the researchers.…”

“…2008) has explored the determinant 'age' and further advocated the positive impacts of 'age' on outcomes of jobs that typically require expertise of senior workers. The author also explained the role of flexibility in working characteristics and earning opportunities, encourage the elderly workforce to make use of their experience and increase the duration of their career Kumari, Madhukar, Chattoraj and Sinni (2015). andKumari, Sahney and Madhukar (2018) have considered 'Man-days Involvement' as a significant determinant of productivity for researchers of CSIR -India laboratories.…”