the words of one Russian critic, the whole decision 

 process, becomes, "overloaded and frozen." According 

 to another, such an arrangement of structures and 

 functions contradicts the demands for an optimal 

 system of S&T planning and management." 



Functional Agencies Engaged in R&D 

 Planning and Management 



The role of state committees and other agencies 

 depicted in Figure 9-1 essentially is to manage a 

 subset of policy mechanisms on behalf of the Council 

 of Ministers of the USSR and the republic councils. 

 Administration of branch scientific and production 

 activities, which is the responsibility of the min- 

 istries, depends upon provision of a number of com- 

 mon services, such as planning, finance, and supply. 

 The Soviet leadership has chosen to concentrate pro- 

 vision of these services in particular state commit- 

 tees and functional ministries. Of these services, 

 planning has the most immediate and widespread im- 

 pact. Agencies concerned with planning of R&D and 

 related activities are the State Committee for Sci- 

 ence and Technology, the State Planning Committee, 

 and the USSR Academy of Sciences. Other agencies 

 manage complementary activities, such as finance and 

 supply, or specialized operations which support plan- 

 ning and management, such as the maintenance of stan- 

 dards. While there are few R&D and production facil- 

 ities administratively subordinate to these agencies, 

 the agencies have broad powers to establish proce- 

 dures and to issue binding orders on matters within 

 their competence. These orders significantly influ- 

 ence the operation of all facilities throughout the 

 Soviet economy. 



The basic task of this network of functional in- 

 terbranch agencies is to coordinate the vast and di- 

 verse Soviet R&D effort. On paper, these organiza- 

 tions possess formidable powers to enforce central 

 priorities and to facilitate uniform S&T policies. 

 In practice, however, they frequently lack the auth- 

 ority and means necessary to perform their integrat- 

 ing functions. Instead of regulating developments 



35 



