Chief Scientist

Chief Scientists are much more intimately involved in the day-to-day execution of scientific and technical projects. Each of these is usually limited to the laboratory, division, or facility in which he or she resides. As described earlier, senior technologists are often very eager to explore emerging areas. But, these explorations should be harnessed to contribute to the company's strategic direction. Earl maintained that a company should not have a separate technology strategy. Supporting this perspective, one study has found that short-term, product-focused R&D is positively correlated with the financial performance of the company, while long-term R&D is negatively correlated with it. (78) This one reason that it is important for the CTO to mentor the Chief Scientists and to direct their focus such that it contributes to the success of the company. Chief Scientists may also have informal networks of technologists that span business areas, but they do not have the official charter to cross-pollinate technologies. The CTO can organize an internal council of technologists to search out and apply the best technologies available across the company. (12) It is a good idea that internal summits to bring leading technologists together to share ideas. It could be a responsibility of a chief scientist to create leverage across many different business groups to identify potential combinations of technology that could become new products or services.