I believe that both departments are necessary and need each other in order to work. Quality is very important because it helps with FDA regulations and making sure that the company and the employees do not get sued or fired for not following regulations and not following the management process correctly. R&D works with making the products that the Quality department looks over so the R&D group is extremely essential as they put out the final products that will make the company money and allow them to hire more experienced Quality personnel so as to improve the overall company. The main conflict comes from R&D pushing their ideas and agenda through with scientific backing that the Quality department then has to shut down or regulate. R&D may fully believe that their ideas or products are safe and meet the desired requirements of the scope but Quality is there to make sure that legally these ideas will not come back to hurt the company. Also, quality is important so that R&D can focus on their research and not have to worry about looking up FDA regulations or testing and measuring all of the finished products. If R&D had to do their job and the job of Quality there would be a increased chance of mistakes and in the medical device industry that can lead to some major consequences. Both are essential and need each other and it is common for both groups to argue with each other since both jobs directly affect the other ones work.