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INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH MANAGEMENT

a.Definition of terminologies

i.Research Management system

Research information management is the aggregation, curation, and utilization

of information about research. It works by integrating and linking the various elements
and creating interoperability between solutions in the research ecosystem. It stores
data related data for analysis, reporting, research showcasing and communication,
and managing information in one place through one interface. This helps drive
research performance, global reputation, international collaboration, and funding. The
benefits of RIM are visibility, strategic decision making, collaboration, societal impact,
research management, reporting, performance, funding, open science, and
assessments (https://beta.elsevier.com/academic-and-government/why-you-need-
cris?trial=true).

ii.Management Research Method

 Organizational behavior
 Human resource management
 Industrial relations

iii.Research Management Team

A research team in one department or institution might be described elsewhere

as a research group, research centre, research unit or research institute. Regardless of
the terminology used, the key characteristic of a research team is that it comprises a
group of people working together in a committed way towards a common research goal
(https://www.vitae.ac.uk/doing-research/leadership-development-for-principal-
investigators-pis/building-and-managing-a-research-team)

iv.Organizational behavior

There are many different configurations of research teams in academia. They

may comprise co-investigators, fractional or pooled staff, technical and clerical staff and
postgraduate research students. Team members may have different disciplinary
backgrounds, different motivations and aspirations, and different cultural backgrounds.
Over time, team members' roles may change from being core, to peripheral, and vice-
versa.
Ideally, the balance and composition of the team in terms of skills, expertise and
other contributions will be appropriate to achieve the team's objectives, i.e. for
the research goal the team is working towards. The research team leader needs to be
confident that team members have, or can develop, the necessary skills and knowledge
for the research in hand, and you will make recruitment decisions on that basis. There is
also another perspective on the effective team which it is good to consider. In addition to
knowledge, experience and skills individuals have different behavioural traits or
characteristics they bring to the way they carry out their work and these can be aligned
to particular roles in the team: some are very good at seeing a big picture, others very
good at detailed work. The responsibilities as a manager of the group are:
 establish, agree and communicate standards of performance and behaviour
 establish style, culture, approach of the group - soft skill elements
 monitor and maintain discipline, ethics, integrity and focus on objectives
 anticipate and resolve group conflict, struggles or disagreements
 assess and change as necessary the balance and composition of the group
 develop team-working, cooperation, morale and team-spirit
 develop the collective maturity and capability of the group - progressively increase group
freedom and authority
 encourage the team towards objectives and aims - motivate the group and provide a collective
sense of purpose
 identify, develop and agree team- and project-leadership roles within group
 enable, facilitate and ensure effective internal and external group communications
 identify and meet group training needs
 give feedback to the group on overall progress; consult with, and seek feedback and input from
the group.

b.Approaches to the study of R &D management

c.Areas of concern measuring the effectiveness of the R &D organization

• Development of research strategy and themes

• Networking with funders
• Horizon scanning
• Portfolio management & reporting, trend analysis
• Monitoring and evaluation, and metrics
• Project management of large contracts and bids
• Benchmarking
• Clinical research and governance
• Pre-award skills, research development and costing methodologies
• Relationship building with international funders, stewardship
• Internal peer review
• Knowledge Transfer and Intellectual Property
• Contract negotiation
• Spin outs and commercialisation
• Post award management and adherence to funder and statutory terms and conditions
• Audit (of technology, project progress and finances)
• Consultancy
• Business systems
• Using knowledge about individual and collaborative disciplines
• Management information and reporting
(https://www.sarima.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Research-Management-Manual.pdf)