An Investigation into the Importance of Research and Development Activity in Health Sector Small and Medium-sized Companies in Wales

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to investigate the importance of research and development activity in Health sector small and medium-sized companies in Wales.

Design/methodology/approach – The case study approach involved extensive examination of the phenomenon of research and development in the organisations researched. Data for the case studies has been obtained from information relating to the organisations investigated. These have been combined with secondary and internal data sources from the organisations for completeness. Three case studies have been undertaken in the health sector in Wales and these are reported according to the company background, research and development (R&D) activity and the importance of R&D.

Findings – The health companies studied reported that they undertook R&D in partnership with other companies, universities and the NHS. In particular universities were considered to be important sources of knowledge and technological expertise. In fact, R&D in universities has the important aim of providing postgraduate students with research skills, and related to this, public R&D creates considerable knowledge spillovers to small health businesses through “tacit” knowledge, training of researchers and collaborative ventures.

Originality/value – A significant policy research question regarding the importance of R&D activity for health sector small and medium-sized companies asks to what extent domestic technology progress is influenced by global developments or domestic R&D. The answer appears to be that domestic technology progress is influenced by a combination of both global developments and domestic R&D.