> This is pretty much all any executive does at any company with any scale.
Totally false. They do allocate budget, but they also recruit, retain, and motivate the best staff members they can find. They proactively keep an eye on potential opportunities, order research when necessary and follow up on it. They keep track of how their business unit is operating (not just "are we working on the right problems?" in terms of allocation; also: are there morale problems? are there critical risks that need to be reduced? how will our market evolve around us as we operate? and more) and care for and feed it.
Don't underestimate how hard it is to keep a heterogeneous group of big egos all moving in the same direction, together. It's not at all just reading proposals in a vacuum and deciding what to fund. A company is a human organization, and the main job of an executive is to align that group of people towards a common goal.
Totally false. They do allocate budget, but they also recruit, retain, and motivate the best staff members they can find. They proactively keep an eye on potential opportunities, order research when necessary and follow up on it. They keep track of how their business unit is operating (not just "are we working on the right problems?" in terms of allocation; also: are there morale problems? are there critical risks that need to be reduced? how will our market evolve around us as we operate? and more) and care for and feed it.
Don't underestimate how hard it is to keep a heterogeneous group of big egos all moving in the same direction, together. It's not at all just reading proposals in a vacuum and deciding what to fund. A company is a human organization, and the main job of an executive is to align that group of people towards a common goal.