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?..."