In today’s intensely competitive market place, high technology firms are challenged with the task of managing multiple‐concurrent research and development (R&D) projects with constrained resources. As success in the business world depends on the ability to do more with less, it is important for these high technology firms to understand why certain projects consume less monetary resources but still achieve superior product development outcomes. To address this question, we develop a theoretical framework for understanding the interdependencies between projects and their relationship to project performance in a multiple‐concurrent R&D environment. The framework is developed through multiple‐case studies of projects undertaken by a Fortune 500 high technology manufacturing firm. The seven projects that comprised the sample for the multiple‐case study were chosen from a larger portfolio of projects belonging to a technology group at the firm’s corporate R&D center. The choice of the seven projects was guided by a data envelopment analysis (DEA)‐based project performance metric, also proposed in this paper.

a b s t r a c tIn R&D organizations of high tech firms, multiple R&D projects are executed concurrently and timeliness of project completion -i.e., developing the right products at the right times -is a matter of serious concern. Given that the priority of R&D projects and the interdependencies between the projects in a high tech firm change dynamically, high tech R&D project management is a complex and challenging endeavor. To improve the understanding and management of high tech R&D projects, this paper reports the findings of a field study where we, first, develop and empirically estimate a model that relates project priority over time with the generative mechanisms of market pull and technical challenge associated with R&D projects. Next, we develop and demonstrate the application of a process model within which the time-varying project priority model is embedded. The process model makes it possible to allocate fixed resources among competing projects with time-varying interdependencies, thereby improving the timeliness of project completion. This research was conducted in collaboration with a major U.S. high tech firm. The corporate R&D center of the firm served as the research setting for the field study. We present an application of the process model to delineate the evolution of the R&D organization with the merger of its (technology driven) parent firm with another (market driven) high tech manufacturing firm. The application of the process model generates theoretical insights that are used to develop testable propositions. Implications of the study findings and directions for future research are discussed.

In their attempt to increase sales, profit, and market power, manufacturers and suppliers often resort to certain marketing practices which limit the freedom of distributors and restrict competition in the market. One such restrictive trade practice is exclusive dealing, whereby the manufacturer or supplier requires the distributor to exclusively deal in the goods manufactured or supplied by the former. This paper seeks to analyse and evaluate the statutory provisions for regulation of exclusive dealing and the attempt of the MRTP Commission to curb exclusive dealing. An attempt has been made to ascertain the current thinking of the M RTP Commission and the Supreme Court on exclusive dealing.