Redundant R&D Can Spark Breakthrough Innovation: New Evidence
Featuring Anand Nandkumar
Investing in different teams to solve the same R&D problem tends to increase chances of breakthrough innovations in firms.
November 10, 2025
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Anand Nandkumar
Associate Professor of Strategy. He is also the Executive Director of the Srini Raju Centre for IT and the Networked Economy (SRITNE) and Associate Dean of the Centre for Learning and Teaching Excellence (CLTE). He studies the intersection of industrial organisation, technological change, and business strategy, focusing on industries such as pharma, biotech, and software.
Key Takeaways
- Allocating resources to parallel, competing R&D projects within a firm, though seemingly wasteful, can create long-term value through innovation.
- Business units closer to corporate leadership benefit more from redundancy, especially in centralised R&D setups.
- Strategic efficiency balances short-term resource use with long-term innovation potential.