A R&D productivity model to achieve self-sustainability for public funded/CSIR R&D laboratories, India

Purpose – The paper develops a model for enhancing R&D productivity for Indian public funded
laboratories. The paper utilizes the productivity data of five Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
laboratories for analysis and to form the constructs of the model.
Design/methodology/approach – The weighted average method was employed for analyzing the rankings
of survey respondents pertaining to the significant measures enhancing R&D involvement of researchers and
significant non-R&D jobs. The authors have proposed a model of productivity. Various individual, organizational
and environmental constructs related to the researchers working in the CSIR laboratories have been outlined that
can enhance R&D productivity of researchers in Indian R&D laboratories. Partial Least Squares-Structural
Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to find the predictability of the productivity model.
Findings – The organizational factors have a crucial role in enhancing the R&D outputs of CSIR laboratories.
The R&D productivity of researchers can be improved through implementing the constructs of the proposed
model of productivity.
Research limitations/implications – The R&D productivity model can be adapted by the R&D
laboratories to enhance researchers’ R&D involvement, increased R&D outputs and achieving self-sustenance
in long run.
Practical implications – The R&D laboratories can initiate exercises to explore the most relevant factors
and measures to enhance R&D productivity of their researchers. The constructs of the model can function as a
guideline to introduce the most preferable research policies in the laboratory for overall mutual growth of
laboratory and the researchers.
Originality/value – Hardly any studies have been found that have focused on finding the measures of
enhancing R&D involvement of researchers and the influence of significant time-intensive jobs on researchers’
productivity.
Keywords R&D productivity model, CSIR, Mandays-involvement, Non –R&D jobs
Paper type Research paper