Abstract
Stage gate method was developed in North America in the 1980s, it has spread to high-tech manufactures rapidly. Then, the method is popular since the late 1990s in Japan. It is necessary to consider the differences of the business environment between Japan and the United States when it is introduced to Japan. In the US, there are many and rich venture capital funds and companies launched from universities. As the results, there are many candidates of new technical seeds outside. Therefore, in the US, it is possible to adopt the "many birth and many death type R&D management". On the other hands, in Japan, it is necessary to grow the technical seeds carefully inside (so called, the "few birth and few death type" R&D management). In this report, Stage-Gate process that is suitable for the "few birth and few death type" R&D management of Japanese boutique type chemical companies is proposed based on several successful examples.
