Globally, research has become a key driver for the achievement of status and the procurement of funding for higher education institutions. Although there is mounting pressure on institutions to become research active, many institutions are rooted in a strong tradition of teaching. These institutions find it challenging to develop research capacity and produce research outputs. This study investigates the differences in research management practices between a research active and a research non-active institution. A framework that places higher education institutions in two research development phases, namely instilling and broadening, as well as a postulated third phase, termed honing, is developed. The framework provides an indication of the types of management philosophies and research cultures that are evident for each phase. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)