Research Operation: R&D

Product research and development (R&D) in most cases is scientific or it aims towards development of specific technologies and is mainly undertaken as a government or corporate activity as illustrated by Holger (2002). Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development usually refers to R&D as the creative work that is carried out on a system basis so as to increase levels of knowledge in a person, society or culture. R&D is usually viewed to be a major part of new products invention. It is the efforts needed in creation of a new product. It involves several phases like exploration phase which determines the project viability. Other phases include methods of proceeding, design, and production phases that are needed to yield a working product (Johan, 2005). Operations Management deals with the design and management of products, processes, services and supply chains. It considers the acquisition, development, and utilization of resources that firms need to deliver the goods and services their clients want. Therefore, R&D utilizes resources and knowledge to make goods and services satisfying customer's needs through improving existing designs and coming up with new ones. R&D mainly involves quality management in that new products are designed and developed in order to meet high quality requirements for the customers. This report will critically discuss various aspects involving R&D including its applications within industry. In this report, R&D will analyze the case of Microsoft in its effort to research and develop new products.