Trends: V.P. for the Future

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Most corporate planners, according to a study by the Stanford Research Institute, are trained engineers of about 45, with ten years' seasoning in their companies and experience in product development or market research. Though most corporate planners concede that successful planning requires the active participation as well as the support of the chief executive, planners have an unusual degree of independence. Unlike the Organization Man—whose slogan one businessman recently described as "I came, I saw, I concurred"—the planner often has to talk back. "He has to have the moral courage to tell management things it may not want to hear," says Aerojet-General Planner Charles W. Tait, "and so he jolly well ought to have job security."

Not Invited. More skeptical fellows around the shop accuse the corporate planner of living in an ivory tower, but— if true—this sometimes gives him a better view. Among executives who resist change, planners often encountered "the NIH attitude"—not invited here. Planners get their kicks vicariously, by persuading others to do things. "Because we make recommendations and not decisions, there's nothing for which we can take full credit," says Lockheed's Chief Planner James Lipp, an aeronautical engineer. Nonetheless, it was Lipp's cadre of engineers, scientists, economists and retired generals that advised Lockheed to buy Grand Central Rocket Co. and sent it into research that paid off recently in a Government contract. On the suggestion of Planning Chief O. G. Kennedy, Miles Laboratories tripled the capacity of its citric acid plant, merged three chemical divisions into one and opened two plants in Europe. Kennedy received one of the planner's ultimate rewards: he has been made president of the Miles products division. Though the field is new, several other planners have already reached the top, including Westinghouse President Mark Cresap and Northrop's Chairman Tom Jones.