Why Did Soichiro Honda Make Research a Separate Company?

David Senra, reading Sol Sanders, says Soichiro Honda made research a separate company because more than 99% of Honda research is total failure, and left inside the parent company it would have been treated like a stepchild. That company's purpose is the pursuit of profits.

The split followed a trip to the Isle of Man, then the top motorcycle race. German and Italian machines with the same number of cylinders had three times the horsepower. Honda came back discouraged, then decided to concentrate on research and find out why. He reorganized the company, set up a special research organization, gave it independent status, and made it a separate company. Good research cannot be an appendage on manufacturing. A research organization should let each person do their best work, while a manufacturing company should be organized for maximum efficiency. Honda Research gets a specific portion of Honda's sales and, in return, hands every development to Honda Manufacturing.