Difference between product and research

Having launched more than 4 major releases into production, I finally convince myself that I am qualified to talk about the difference between application research and product.
In research, you want to keep at least three new ideas going in parallel, because it's cheaper to fail any of them (the cost is just your time) than having nothing to show at the annual review. You grew used to failures, because that's what 99% of risky research is supposed be.

In production, you want to stick to the next release and make sure it's as solid as time allows, because anything went wrong in production, someone's head is going to roll. You became pragmatic the pace for advance. It's more important to make a strategic move than solve a hard problem.
 
Ideally, a company would need both. But only the really big monopolies can afford to have both, in their good times.
When the going gets tough, product group are much safer than blue-sky research.