- ChiefToba
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When companies try to internationalise their R&D departments, these local laboratories have to evolve through certain phases.
In the 'starter' phase, the R&D lab has a strong support from headquarters (high level of information connectivity) but feature at the same time high levels of autonomy. This step is therefore called connected freedom. It's more of an experimental phase.
In the next phase, the international R&D lab becomes an 'innovator'. This means that the laboratory has priority on being creative and developing new products for the markets that concern the country in which they are established. Communications with HQ are cut to foster creativity and thus a new mode of isolated freedom is established.
The final step is becoming a 'contributor'. This is when links with HQ are established again and the aim of the lab is generating knowledge and products FOR the company's headquarters again. However, sometimes this excessive control voids creativity and a negative phase called connected control is reached.
To avoid this, the optimum phase a contributor must try to reach is called semi-connected freedom. This means that the R&D international centre must sacrifice some of its autonomy to achieve high levels of information connectivity. To achieve this, a company should increase its process linkage, have a positive broker linkage through 'influencers', foster communications through short-term socialisation and project-level socialisation.
(Kazuhiro Asakawa, 2001)