The Professional Side
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The Research Chemist Important Source of Management Material A criticism leveled at the chemical industry in this time of technical personnel shortages is the movement of technical people into management positions. W e have asked Dr. Scott, who is himself a “displaced” research chemist, to present the general picture of why research men may be moved into management, how they react, what they contribute, and what arrangements can be made to recognize management-caliber people who wish to stay in research.
EFFORT as a development of human culture is a phenonienon which has reached its fullest flower in the United States-to such a n extent that the phrase has come to be recognized as a living svmbol for the name of our countr). Its practice is just as universal in modern industrial organizations as it is in the more easil) comprehensible spectacle of professional baseball. Moreover, the similarit! bet\\ een a business and a baseball team is a very real one in more than superficial w’a) s. Each pla)s to win; each seeks to obtain the best individual talent available for its roster: each strives to utilize that talent to the optimum advantage of the indiLidua1 and of the \L hole organization. T h e members of the industrial team are as easy to identifL as those of a baseball club: stockholders, research, production, sales, and management. Less obvious, perhaps. is the definition of their functions, particularly those of management. If the analogy to baseball may be extended, ho\vever. management can be compared to the role of team manager. Its primary responsibilities are purely administrative, and are concerned with po1ic)- forniulation, long-range planning, and the optimum utilization of talent: people. I t must anticipate the Lvhole season as well as the game of the day and the next play of that game. Although TEAXI
it ma) be of itself a team, management is as much a part of the industrial team as the baseball manager is of his, and wins or loses just as much. .At this point the parallelism between management and the baseball club manager might appear to diverge. This is not true. The manager u a s once a first string pla) er \\ ho developed his innate talents and interests to such a degree that he earned his position on the squad, but \ \ h o has attained his role as manager by virtue of other qualities \\hich may bear no direct relationship to his athletic prowess. Management is a group ivhose members have demonstrated those same distinguishing characteristics. I n the case of a baseball team the manager may have been a pitcher, a catcher. a shortstop, or a fielder. I n a chemical company, a member of management may have been a research chemist or engineer, a production man, or a salesman. It’s as simple as that, a n d as logical. T h e research chemist or engineer, in a ver)- real sense, is regarded as being a part of management as soon as he reports for work. His discoveries in the laborator)- \\ill have a profound influence on the future of his company even though at the moment he may not be called upon to participate in the executive decision to exploit those discoveries commercial1)-. His imagination, in-
SAMUEL L. SCOTT received his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Illinois and joined D u Pont in 1940 as a research chemist at the Experimental Station in Wilmington. Transferred to the Personnel Division of the Employee Relations Department in 1946,Dr. Scott’s function is the interviewing and assisting in placement of Ph.D. candidates in all technical fields.
genuity, and intelligence exert il far-reaching effect on his c o m p a n ) ’ ~ continued well-being. It is onlv natural that the management positions in research organizations todav are filled primarily 13)- research men whose creative ability and leadership qualities enable them to contribute importantly to the effecti\-eness of the laboratory. Furthermore, the expansion of technical opportunities in other phases of the chemical business-an inevitable outgrowth of the greater complexity of modern technology-has provided additional administrative positions which the research m a n can consider. .An)- such evolution results from the satisfaction of one or more of three conditions-need, inclination. and ability. T h e most compelling of these is probably need. I\-hile total employment in the chemical industry increased 14.3‘; between 1948 and 1953, the growth of technical employment during the same period was appreciab1)greater: 27.6pG for chemists, 45.1r0 for chemical engineers, and 61.9(> for other technical people. Even though some increase might be espected to accompany the gro\vth VOL. 48, NO. 9
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SEPTEMBER 1956
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THE PROFESSIONAL SIDE of the industry, the greater rate of employment of technical men would seem out of line with all normal expectation in spite of the fact that the more complex operations today require a higher number of men with technical backgrounds to effect them. Part of the answer lies in the trend toward greater numbers of management people in industrial organizations generally. For example, during the past 25 years the ratio of supervisory staff to production people has changed from one-to-15 to one-to-8. It is only natural that the industries which depend on research for their continued health and growth, should draw upon their research organizations to fill managerial positions in other phases of their business. T h e complexity does not confine itself to the research laboratoryit moves into production, into sales, into the additional services dictated by its very existence. Thus the research man is needed in a variety of industrial activities, in the aggregate referred to as managemtnt. He moves into these positions to satisfy the need, and the migration has a salutary effect on the whole organization. It strengthens the management team, and it promotes better understanding and liaison rvith the philosophy and objectives of the research staff. T h e individual researcher knows that the same opportunity exists for him, if he is qualified and so inclined, and he trusts the judgments of a n administration whose memhers have undergone the same training and experience as he. This is beneficial even though he may realize that his chance of reaching top management is statistically small. The position of a research man who has advanced into a top-level administrative position which embraces activities so broad and diverse as to preclude his continued participation in research is not unique to industry. A close relationship exists in academic circles, where the talented research professor may become a dean or college president and find that he must relinquish part or all of his research program. His colleagues might regret the exigencies of the situationfrom an objective, long-range viewpoint, with regard to the students
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
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who otherwise would have henefited from their frequent contacts with that inspirational individualbut they welcome the opportunity to rely on the judgment of a man whose stature they respect and whose experience is closely comparable to their own. T h e industrial research chemist feels the same way as his academic peer. IVith regard to inclination, it is reasonable to expect that a fraction of research chemists, just as is true of those in other professional pursuits, would lean toward administrative outlets. Someone is sure to interject the opinion that the decision of top research men to exchange the laboratory bench for the mahogany desk often has nothing to do with inclination but is a result of the external pressures or inducements occasioned by recognition of his singular talents. The need for administrators exists, and this need has undoubtedly influenced many such decisions. T h e inducements may take the form of increased economic rewards or enhanced prestige. Research men, like everyone else, have been reared in the great American tradition that to “get ahead” is the proper and only course of action. I n a very few instances there may be negative forces which affect decisions to go into administrative work, such as the fear that failure to accept an opportunity to move into such a position may brand the researcher as lacking in ambition or gratitude or may prejudice his future progress forever. .4 number of chemical companies have demonstrated their comprehension of this circumstance by devising nonadministrative positions which recognize and reward the superior research talent. One type of such positions, sometimes designated as the research associateship, is awarded to those top-notch laboratory people N hose primary abilities and interests lie in the research realm. The research associateship program is an intelligent plan which effectively refutes the charges that research men must go into management in order to advance. Other high-level nonadministrative staff positions which require advanced technical training for their competent execution provide opportunities for research men
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SEPTEMBER 1956
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THE PROFESSIONAL SIDE
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whose interests develop along more humanistic than scientific routes. There is little doubt that all researchers who have accepted administrative posts have done so voluntarily. Even though a man mal- have followed his inclinations to go into research without a thought to managerial possibilities, it can and does happen that he may discover that he also enjoys administrative work. His cornpan)-, needing managerial talent, must grant him the privilege of changing his mind and avail itself of the opportunity to utilize a n individual who knows its problems and wants to help solve them. T h e last-but-not-least condition to be considered is that of ability. T h e old-fashioned notion that all researchers are highly introverted individuals who are so dedicated to their experimentations that they have no talent for anything other than abstract phenomena may still exist but it is rapidly becoming extinct. No doubt there will always be a sufficient number of extreme cases to give credence to the caricature to those who choose to look for it-this is true in every Malk of lifebut supremacy in one type of endeavor is too often accompanied by superiority in others to be ignored. T h e top-notch research m a n can, and frequently does, possess as much administrative ability as a top-notch an)-one-else. If he does, he should have the opportunity to exercise that ability. T o return to the earlier parallelism between industry and the baseball team, it would seem that in both instances the role of manager requires not only the responsibility of inspirational leadership and personal example but also the ability to select those individuals who will be most productive on either the industrial or athletic team. T h e industrial manager who supervises research personnel must accept the premise that each employee is individually constituted. H e must exercise rare judgment in determining whether the chemist or engineer is achieving the greatest degree of satisfaction from his present field of work or whether, irrespective of need, his inherent capacities could be better utilized in another sphere of activity.
