An abbreviation for "Research and Development". As defined by Barron's Financial Dictionary, Research and Development is the scientific and marketing evolution of a new product or service. Uh huh. The purpose of R&D within a company is to investigate and identify ("Research") opportunities for new or improved products to produce ("Develop") and, ultimately, deliver to the marketplace.

Companies rely to differing degrees on how important R&D is to their business. Intel, for example, are highly dependent on the research and development of new technologies (i.e., CPUs). On the other hand, Coca-Cola has shown that R&D focus on improving a successful flagship product, "Coke," can backfire, as in the case of "New Coke".

"Hey Johnson, we got the best selling product in the world, with a brand name alone that's worth over a billion dollars! Whaddaya say we shelve it and replace it with something even better?..."