tion of new products and processes to other organi- 

 zations. That prolongs the process and reduces the 

 quality of innovation. In effect, the NPO is exclud- 

 ed from the most important stage connected with the 

 introduction of R&D results into the economy and can- 

 not perform its role of connecting link between sci- 

 ence and industry. When the NPO concentrates mainly 

 on "preproduction" work, it cannot really qualify as 

 a "science-production" association.^ 



Views also differ concerning the place of the NPO 

 at the research end of the innovation process. For 

 that matter, there is no agreement in the Soviet Union 

 about the place and role of basic research more gen- 

 erally in the research-to-production cycle. ^ Until 

 recently, major NPOs like Pozitron themselves per- 

 formed fundamental research equal to nearly 10 per- 

 cent of their total scientific research effort. It 

 became necessary to abandon this practice by the mid 

 1970s, however. While a few NPOs still engage in 

 some exploratory research, the majority contract with 

 institutes of the Academy of Sciences to conduct fun- 

 damental research for them. ' Befitting their role 

 and development as "branch" institutions, NPOs focus 

 predominantly on applied R&D. 



At the same time, the scope and volume of scien- 

 tific research and development vary widely among NPOs. 

 In some associations the share of R&D may be less than 

 10 percent of the total cost of production activity 

 while in others it may account for as much as 50 per- 

 cent. ^8 Some Soviet specialists believe that a fixed 

 percentage should be established for the ratio of 

 "science" and "production" activity as a mandatory 

 condition for the functioning of an NPO. Though he 

 disagrees with this view, Taksir notes that when a 

 complex is headed by a small research institute which 

 conducts an insignificant volume of R&D (less than 

 10-12 percent) , then the NPO is generally unable to 

 direct effectively the research-to-production cycle. 

 Arkhangelskiy also demonstrates that the capacity of 

 the R&D center must be nearly 20 percent of the pro- 

 duction capacity for an NPO to perform successfully 

 its various functions. ^ 



210 



