3. Positioning innovation in relation to research

Innovation is the result of an activity known as research and development (R&D). More precisely, R applies to the search for innovation, while D concerns the applications of the results of this research, to the extent that, in corporate organization, R teams are increasingly dissociated from D teams.

The figure below shows the sequence of the two activities, which differ in nature. The figure is based on typical R&D project planning as found in books on project management, and highlights the essential link between :

• R projects, and their exploratory nature,

and

• D projects, whose purpose is to prepare for production.