While research in the broad field of R&D management and organization has continually evolved in its scope and technological domain, company case studies have become increasingly marginal over time, despite once being a cornerstone of the field’s research trajectories (Ferrigno et al., 2023). This track, aligned with the R&D Management Special Issue “Back to Basics in R&D Management: Rediscovering the Importance of Company Case Studies,” aims to re-establish case-based research as a vital source of theoretical and practical insight. Case studies allow scholars to uncover the nuances of how R&D is organized, managed, and experienced within real organizations, providing the empirical richness needed to generate context-sensitive and actionable knowledge.

From an empirical standpoint, the field of R&D and innovation management remains dominated by performance-based approaches that rely heavily on input–output metrics. While such indicators provide useful benchmarks, they often fall short in capturing the complex mechanisms, practices, and contextual specificities that shape R&D settings. In contrast, the qualitative lens offered by case study research enables a deeper exploration of how local dynamics, organizational routines, and strategic decisions influence R&D processes (Goffin et al., 2019; Elsahn et al., 2020). R&D and innovation phenomena are inherently multifaceted, contextually embedded, and often intangible, features that require methodological approaches capable of embracing this complexity (Ritala et al., 2020).

Without this richness, research risks drifting away from the concrete needs of practitioners and from the situated realities of innovation work. Qualitative methods, and case studies in particular, can bridge this gap by generating nuanced narratives and context-sensitive insights that directly inform decision-making in both public and private settings (Grodal et al., 2021). They offer an opportunity to examine R&D processes at the intersection of multiple levels of analysis, temporal interdependencies, and contextual influences, thereby producing theories that may inform the organizational and managerial complexity of R&D practice.

We invite submissions based on single or multiple company case studies that explicitly identify the organizations examined and adopt rigorous qualitative methodologies. We particularly encourage contributions focused on the internal functioning of R&D, and on the lived experience of innovation work within organizations. Contributions may address diverse topics: e.g., R&D strategy, technology management, organization design, product and process innovation, micro-organizational and individual dynamics shaping R&D work, such as incentives, creativity, motivation, and learning, as well as internal mechanisms and routines supporting innovation and knowledge generation in R&D. Joint papers by academics and practitioners are particularly encouraged.

By rediscovering the value of company case studies, this track aims to reconnect research with practice, thereby strengthening the methodological and empirical foundations of our field and reaffirming the importance of studying R&D “in action” within real organizational contexts.