As rjs84 said in their response, the company’s highest priority needs to be maximizing profit. If you cannot sell a product, then you will not be able to fund development. With this in mind, a major determinate of project priority can come from audits. Whether done internally, by a consulting group, or by a regulating body, audits will point out the deficiencies in the company. As a result, resources will be reallocated to address any actions that are deemed necessary for remediation. Remediation often takes high priority and can pause or halt projects in R&D, since it is crucial for the company to address the corrective actions by a strict deadline in order to keep selling products. If there are not enough resources, this is where the company is most likely to hire more employees.