D. Scott Harper, Ph.D. is Sr. Partner with Business Advancement Inc. (BAI), a strategic growth advisory firm based in Glen Rock, NJ. He is devoted to helping leadership teams increase the strength and speed of connecting their innovative visions to actual business outcomes.
Scott helps clients sift through complexity and take full advantage of opportunities by discovering the hidden side of everything. His insights and guidance enable everyone from customers to the boardroom to create faster and more powerful decisions leading to innovation, transformation and growth.
Listeners around the world have commented on Scott’s incisive views as co-host of the professionally produced audio podcast series Growth Igniters® Radio with Pam Harper and Scott Harper, which launched in 2015. It has been featured in Marketplace, Seeking Alpha, and other media, and was named a Top Business Podcast in the 2022 PopCon Podcast Awards and as a Top 100 podcast by Thinkers360 Thought Leaders.
Before joining BAI in 2010, Scott held a succession of increasingly accountable innovation positions in the consumer healthcare industry. He was instrumental in leading dozens of projects supporting product launches collectively worth over $400 million in year one value. His groups’ work on speed-to-market processes was also worth additional millions in shorter product launch cycles.
He had the distinction of leading the first cross-functional group in Warner-Lambert Consumer Products to successfully launch a product, CoolMint Listerine Toothpaste. Some of the other household-name products Scott has been part of developing and supporting include CoolMint Listerine® Antiseptic mouth rinse and a host of different Listerine® products, Purell® Hand Sanitizer, and Neosporin® ointment.
As a visionary innovator, Scott received a dozen corporate innovation awards, including two top annual innovation awards from Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, as well as the Johnson & Johnson Excellence in Research Award. His reputation across the industry resulted in multiple appointments to lead Industry Sector committees. This included chairing an International Standards Organization (ISO) working group to develop new safety and testing standards for oral care products.
Scott holds five patents. In addition to his many scientific publications, he has been published and quoted in prominent business media outlets including Chief Executive Magazine, CEO.com, CEO World Magazine, Pharmaceutical Executive, FEI Daily, Life Science Leader, MD+DI, Chief Executive Magazine, and others. He obtained his Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Michigan.
In his off-hours, Scott can be found brewing craft beer, practicing Aiki Jiu-Jitsu, spinning a pottery wheel, climbing a cliff, creating a gourmet meal, caring for animals, or spending time enjoying his family and friends.
View D. Scott Harper’s LinkedIn profile
