SPENDING MORE ON R&D IS NOT THE ANSWER, SPENDING RIGHT IS

Wrigley's acquisition by Mars demonstrates, again, that simply spending more on R&D is not the answer when a company needs innovative products.

He (Bill Wrigley CEO) hired scores of food scientists, chemists, and engineers for an innovation center he opened in 2005 on a 7.6-acre Chicago site that he hoped would yield the next greatest thing since chewing gum...Bill Wrigley tried to do big things but never had a breakthrough.

There is a link between innovation and corporate longevity (demonstrated too clearly by the story of Wrigley). Both innovation and corporate longevity require long term commitment to continuous learning outside of the corporate parent.
Innovation and corporate longevity are bottom up initiatives that strive to keep the individual highly engaged with the world outside the business; with customers, with new markets and nascent ideas.
When the people who work at any company (Wrigely, Polaroid, EMI Records, etc.) are complacent and concerned about maintaining the status quo, investing in a new R&D facility will not be a panacea.