The existing Industrial Research Institute/Center for Innovation Management Studies (IRI/CIMS) Annual R&D Survey, which supports research on management of technological innovation, will continue to be performed. The survey instrument will be augmented so that data can be collected on variables that are uniquely relevant to firms and business units operating in dynamic and technology intensive business sectors such as software, defense/aerospace, and telecommunications. Coverage will be increased to seek answers to important questions about the contribution of R&D to innovation outcomes, such as product and process cost reductions and revenue enhancements. Finally, the breadth of the Annual Survey sample will be expanded to include firms that may not be members of the Industrial Research Institute (IRI), but whose R&D activities are of significant economic interest and importance. In addition, the Management Practices Survey (MPS), which was last conducted in 1996, will be repeated. The MPS contributes greatly to the database by providing information about changes in the structure of R&D organizations and laboratories that occur over time, shifts in the business goals supported by R&D, and changes in R&D program planning and project selection emphasis. Such information has strengthened researchers' ability to interpret trends that have appeared in the Annual Survey data.
