rm style and culture: setting and running equitable
TRANSCRIPT
BARBARA HERWEG, RMP
WITS COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE
RM Style and Culture:
Setting and running equitable partnerships
Traditional Research paradigm
Harburg, Ernest. (1966). Research Map. American Scientist, 54, 470.
• Lone activity• Technical expert• Hypothesis• Testing• Trouble shooting• Publication• Reporting• Do you see yourself
here?
Challenges arising from this
Harburg, Ernest. (1966). Research Map. American Scientist, 54, 470.
• Technical excellence• Multi:• Disciplinary,
Institutional, National• Contract Research & Governance• Intellectual Property• Skills development• Ethics & Integrity• Impact/ Diversity/
Gender/ Stakeholder/ Equitability• Or is this more like your reality?
Challenges arising from this
Harburg, Ernest. (1966). Research Map. American Scientist, 54, 470.
• Technical excellence• Multi:• Disciplinary,
Institutional, National• Contract Research & Governance• Intellectual Property• Skills development• Ethics & Integrity• Impact/ Diversity/
Gender/ Stakeholder/ Equitability• Or is this more like your reality?
Partner context
Ideally use pre-existing relationships
(co-supervision; International or Strategic Partnerships office;
bilaterals,
regional networks and
Alliances
Identify researchers with common research goals –
identify opportunities to exchange staff and cross-pollinate ideas
Understand their strengths and how to leverage this and their weaknesses and how to support them with these
Pre Award Considerations
• Who is involved and to what extent of time commitment?
• Will you involve students?
• What will they do?
• Where will they work?
• Are there equipment needs?
• How will procurement affect the research schedule?
• Is travel consistent with the grant purposes?
• Are there partners or consultant issues to be addressed?
• Is the budget requested consistent with the scope of work?
Also…. Cost vs Price
Charge-outs/ cost to company
Once you know funder requirements, structure budget accordingly
Also consider your institution’s internal budgeting policy
Building in overheads and administrative costs
Business development costs
Legal costs
Co-funding
VAT, duties, withholding tax, etc
Inflation
Bank charges
Exchange rates
Audits
Contingency
Alignment of payment terms with
deliverables
Specifying payment terms
Procurement processes
Be aware of time lag for large
purchases and for commissioning
and training of big pieces of equipment esp imported items
Conflict can arise from
Competing understanding of funder
requirements
Between institutional partners
Between Technical & Research Managers
Mismatch between funder & institutional
requirements
Stakeholder requirements
Additional challenges
Language
Not having a common language
Variation of use of language
Time zones
Culture around time
Teams with diverse cultural backgrounds
Different technical disciplines
Different skill level
Application of Organisational Culture Theory
to Research Management
Project characteristics
Project size by budget, team size
Team Dispersion
Leadership style
Leader absorptive capacity
And the effects on
Team trust
Governance awareness
Risk
Project success
Application of Organisational Culture Criteria
to Research Management
Large projects with a high budget and large project teams benefit from
technical team leaders that have:
Transparent communication
Absorptive capacity
Teams reflect more trust and there is reduced risk to the project
When project leader style is transformational this is associated with higher
governance awareness and absorptive capacity
Ideal Research leader
Transformational leadership style
High absorptive capacity
High governance awareness
Increased team trust
Reduced project risk
Encourages Transparent communication
Ideal Research Manager
Support communication in the team
Support governance awareness
Reduce project risk
Increase team trust
How can we drive transparent communication?
Formal communications
Steering committees
Comprising of both Technical and Research managers
Sharing of information
minutes
Web page, newsletters
Research Management
Community of Practise
Not limited to Technical colleagues
Needs to include Research Managers
Networking
Equitable partnerships arise from:
Understanding the partner context
Understanding the external influencers on a project
Developing the Leadership skills of the PI
Developing the RM Professional support
Developing the PI and RM partnership
Building networks – Community of Practise
