Investigating the Role and Position of Research and Development Units in the Construction Industry from the Perspective of Construction Management Seyedan Hosein Ale*, Momayez Ayatollah**, Hosseinalipour Mojtaba*** *M.Sc. Student, Construction Management and Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran **Asistant Professor, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Iran ***Asistant Professor, Faculty of Architecture & Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Iran Online published on 13 March, 2014. Abstract Today, research and development (R&D) indices are significant criteria for the development of countries. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigate the role and position of research and development units in construction industry from the perspective of construction management. The study is a descriptive survey research. The statistical population comprised the elite members and experts of research and development working in this field who were 81 individuals in total. The study employed Cronbach's alpha to determine the reliability of the questionnaire. The study also exploited expert judgments of the elite members and experts of research and development in the construction industry to determine the validity of the questionnaire. For data analysis, the study deployed SPSS program. The findings reveal that the challenges existing in research and development centers are divided into the two groups of internal organizational problems and external organizational problems, and it is economically feasible to establish research and development units in the construction industry. In this regard, with a systematic view, the issue of research culture is proposed as the central point of the model. Top Keywords Research and development, construction industry, construction management, culture. Top |