Where to spend R&D dollars

In a recent HBR article (July-August issue) Jim Scinta who is the Chair of IRI's Research on Research Committee and a manager at ConocoPhillips highlights that companies are spending more dollars in new projects than basic research which is critical to innovation and developing breakthrough products. He gives examples from two companies ConocoPhillips and Pfizer on how they use their basic research effectively. He states that:

"While firms that concentrate on new projects may satisfy some of their immediate business goals, they will probably fail to cultivate the broad-based knowledge they'll need to realize their leading goal of growth through innovation"