Career Competencies and the Dual Ladder System for Corporate Researchers: the Case Studies of Nine Pharmaceutical Firms in Japan

Abstract

Career development for corporate researchers is of growing importance for at knowledge intensive firms, as skills, knowledge and the innovative efforts of well-developed corporate researchers may enhance their performance of research and development (R & D). Several scholars of human resource management have recently raised the question of what career development for corporate researchers will lead to the development of the organizational capabilities requisite to firm-level R & D (Farris & Corredo, 2002; Jones & Lichtenstein, 2000). Traditionally, many scholars and practitioners have argued that the dual career, or dual ladder, system – with both managerial and technical path – matches the career development needs of corporate researchers and keeps their careers from plateauing (Baugh & Roberts, 1994; Tucker et al., 1994). However, there are several problems with the dual ladder system regarding to corporate researchers’ career development, not only because the technical path may be isolated and, unequal to the managerial path (Allen & Katz, 1986; Farris & Corredo, 2002; Igbaria et al., 1999), but also because researchers’ career paths become more dynamic and varied than it allows for. As DeFillipi & Arthur (1994) argue, that the concept of career competencies can shed lights on the relationships between cumulative career development and continuous organizational capability building. Assuming the actual situation that R & D departments are multi-project organizations and an increasing number of researchers, unlike technical experts on technical paths, experience several projects in their project-oriented careers, firms need many researchers with technical competence and basic project management skills. This paper attempts to examine whether, in terms of career competencies, firms desire for many of their researchers to develop such individual competencies through a career development process. This paper is divided into following four parts. First, reexamining the above argument regarding the dual ladder system, we are critical of its focus mainly on career orientation and satisfaction of corporate researchers, and its ignorance of dynamics that could multiply their career paths. Second, assuming that the concept of career contingencies reveals to us what individual contingencies firms demand to build organizational capability, firms may encourage many researchers to acquire appropriate technical competence and basic project management competence, responding to the increasing needs for project leaders and staffs. Third, using the case studies of nine pharmaceutical firms based in Japan, we will examine how their actual career path systems work and how these firms need and develop a mixture of technical and managerial competence to contribute to research projects. Finally, we will conclude that firms need specific career contingencies for corporate researchers to run multi-project organizations, and that they are attempting to develop them through their career management systems.