Techniques for the planning and control of animal production research and development

Extract

THE Management of Research and Development (R and D) is not a precise science and it would be foolish to pretend that it is so. For this reason Management Science is somewhat of a misnomer, but this does not mean that the art of management is not susceptible to analysis and study. On the contrary, it is possible to analyse how good managers work and to identify their strong points. When we do this we are struck by the systematic way in which good managers approach problems. This systematic approach is frequently not appreciated in a conscious way by the managers themselves, but it seems to be the key to their success. Since no manager can operate effectively in isolation, but must communicate with others, it is important for a successful manager to be able to communicate not only his decisions but also the reasoning behind his decisions. A systematic approach to decision making offers a framework for communications, and the larger the organizational unit involved the greater the necessity for information to be written down and passed on in a formal way.