Evolutionary patterns in international research and development

Technology and product development processes are increasingly subject to internationalization, and the importance of research and development (R&D) activities carried out offshore is increasing. Therefore, firms tend to take a global view of their operations and rethink their R&D processes in a global perspective. This means that existing foreign R&D units may be subject to evolution and change of role. Based on an empirical research on 12 multinationals operating in technology‐intensive industries, studies how the role of foreign R&D units changes within multinationals and attempts to identify whether there is an evolutionary pattern of international R&D. Concludes that the evolutionary processes of foreign R&D are related to both the need to increase the effectiveness of the R&D process at global level (assigning global mandate to the units where there are the key resources), and to improve the global efficiency of the R&D process (avoiding duplications and rationalizing the geographical presence).