Microsoft research is well established and does some quite good work in many areas of computing technologies. Couple of early memos have surfaced which show how such a research group came to be. The memos and the slide-deck are an interesting read for anyone interested in research. The memo layout the plan for its activities, how it is structured, what processes need to be in place for successful adoption of the research outputs and indeed what useful research outputs should be (not just publications)..
Here are the links: