lems in restructuring frequently revolve around the 

 inability and unwillingness of scientists and engi- 

 neers to switch from one field or project to another. 

 The creation of large integrated research and pro- 

 duction complexes requires a corresponding psycho- 

 logical remolding of collectives which are used to 

 working in isolated groups. ^0 i n short, institution- 

 al restructuring involves considerable behavioral en- 

 gineering and attitudinal change. The organizational 

 issues, therefore, go beyond strictly structural and 

 technical factors, a point that some — but not all — 

 organizational reformers and "enthusiasts" realize. 



The second major deficiency concerns the organiza- 

 tional dissociation of R&D participants and the se- 

 vere coupling problems that this creates in moving 

 ideas from the lab into use. The traditional ap- 

 proach to innovation, based upon extreme functional 

 specialization by institutional performers, has left 

 the process structurally fragmented and shapeless. 

 Structural barriers have been created all along the 

 innovation chain. In essence, the process has been 

 unorganized and unmanaged. 



To overcome this fragmentation, special emphasis 

 is now being put on the need to apply a systems mod- 

 el of organization to innovation. Virtually every 

 major writer on science policy in the 1970s, in fact, 

 joined — if not led — the burgeoning systems movement 

 in the USSR today. Because it focuses attention on 

 interrelationships, interdependencies, and integra- 

 tion, the systems approach is regarded by many to be 

 a viable conceptual framework for analyzing and solv- 

 ing structural design problems. Its emphasis on 

 study of organization of the research-to-production 

 cycle as a total system is new and underscores the 

 emerging broader view of organizational structure as 

 a means of facilitating decision making, motivation, 

 and control. The application of a systems model 

 transforms the innovation process allegedly into "a 

 unified and self -regulating dynamic system." The re- 

 search cycle becomes "a continuous and goal-directed 

 process."^! Recent organizational policy aims, then, 

 at making the process both managed and manageable. 



267 



