As part of our recent research report, “Retooling R&D for a New Era,” we asked leaders of R&D and innovation groups at large companies about where organizational support is strongest. This report was underwritten by Wazoku.
The data visualization below shows how much support R&D and innovation-oriented groups receive from other parts of the company, and specific executives.
How to use this visualization: Scroll down to see the various departments and positions, and their level of support for R&D. Pull down the “Region” menu at right to see what the data looks like for different parts of the world. You can also click the “down arrow” at bottom right to download the data in various formats.
According to our 78 survey respondents, R&D divisions tend to receive strongest support from the CEO, COO, or key business unit chiefs, followed by the board of directors. As one respondent put it, the CEO and board “understand that if we don’t invest in innovation, we die.” We found that the two least supportive functions, according to R&D professionals, were human resources and finance, followed closely by marketing. “We do not use HR or the recruiting team; we do our own hiring, due to past poor experiences,” wrote one respondent.
In this survey, 79 percent of our respondents were at the Director level or above.
(Featured image by Matthew Maillet on Unsplash.)
