By expanding the stage-gate system to include basic research, Exxon Research and Engineering Company is able to better direct the success of its science-based technology. OVERVIEW: The Exxon Research and Engineering Company (ERE) stage-gate system builds on product development gating systems, recognizing that research of a fundamental nature is often required to generate the science-based technologies needed to realize business opportunities. The ERE system adds early stage-gates for the basic research phases of technology development. Stages A and B initiate the research activities that generate the information required for assessments along nine key dimensions. These dimensions establish the decision criteria at each gate for advancing the project to the next stage. The dimensions for decisions, thus established in the early gates, proceed with increasing depth and detail throughout the later development gates. Gatekeepers-management representatives of each of the organizations needed to advance the project to commercialization use the gate criteria to make decisions. Initial experience with applications of the extended gate system shows the importance of flexibility, business involvement, and connection to the research planning process. Lorraine Cohen is coordinator of upstream programs for Corporate Research-Exxon Research and Engineering Company, Annandale, New Jersey. She joined ERE's Analytical and Information Division in 1979, and transferred to Corporate Research as project leader of the Innovation Group in 1986. In 1995, she joined the Strategic Planning and Programs Group, where she assumed her current position. She holds an M.S. in chemistry from the University of Connecticut and an M.B.A. in marketing from Rider University. E-mail: lyappsc@erenj.com Paul Kamienski is staff planning advisor in the Strategic Planning and Programs Group of ERE Corporate Research. In 1974, he joined the Exxon Research and Development Laboratories in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he conducted research and process development on several refining processes. In 1983, he was promoted to section head in ERE and subsequently managed technical areas in Research and in Engineering. He was interim manager of U.S. technology licensing, in 1994, and has been assigned to the Strategic Planning & Programs group at Corporate Research since 1995. Kamienski holds an M.S. and Ph.D in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota. E-mail: pwkamie@erenj.com Ramon Espino is director of the Chemical Sciences Laboratory of ERE Corporate Research. He joined Corporate Research in 1973 and became group head and, later, director of the Engineering Sciences Laboratory. In 1980, he transferred to Exxon Production Research, where he was manager of the Long Range Research Division. He returned to ERE's Corporate Research Division in 1984 as manager of Technology Transfer. In 1986, he became director of Product Research Division's Lubes and Specialties Laboratory. Since June 1993, when he returned to Corporate Research, he has been director of the Chemical Sciences Laboratory. Espino holds M.S. and Sc.D degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. E-mail: rlespin@erenj.com Exxon has a long-standing commitment to basic research as a key component of the generation of new technology for bottom-line impact, and we are working to make it a more effective contributor to technology. A critical requirement for a productive centralized basic research unit is the achievement of seamless interfaces between it and decentralized functional laboratories. Three management systems are key to achieving this transparency (1). First, planning is integrated with functional lab systems. Second, program execution involves cross-functional teams of basic and applied R, D & E practitioners. Third, programs are tracked and managed using a stage-gate system (2). These are accomplished through a structured framework that fosters objective assessment of business/technology opportunities and helps synchronize the complex cross-organizational activities that characterize technology generation, development and commercialization. …