bersome mechanisms for settling disputes and forcing 

 decisions. The considerable time spent in negotia- 

 tion and getting approvals indicates, in fact, a lack 

 of effective coordinating bodies and conflict-resolv- 

 ing practices, especially at the interfaces of agen- 

 cies where management is critical to assure continu- 

 ous action. 



Indirect Control Mechanisms and Incentive Systems 



In addition to direct, administrative control mech- 

 anisms, Soviet authorities are beginning to apply in- 

 direct techniques to structure the environment and 

 influence the decision rules of the performer estab- 

 lishment so that the manager or researcher supports 

 innovation. Many of these mechanisms are in fact 

 formal inactive programs while others concern pro- 

 grams which facilitate supply, sales, technology 

 transfer, and other activities, all of which increase 

 managerial flexibility and effectiveness. In this 

 part, we briefly comment on several indirect mecha- 

 nisms of particular importance in R&D program control. 

 Mechanisms which predominantly concern the production 

 establishment are left until the discussion of utili- 

 ization of results, even though they may impact on 

 the conduct of R&D in such organizations. 



An adequate supply of personnel, material inputs, 

 and capital equipment is of course a prerequisite for 

 any R&D program. The Ministry of Higher and Special- 

 ized Secondary Education forecasts future labor re- 

 quirements (by profession and skill) of science and 

 of the economy in concert with Gosplan, the GKNT, and 

 the Academy of Sciences. In accord with planned man- 

 power needs, students are induced to follow certain 

 career paths with stipends and the standard attrac- 

 tions of employment following graduation. Given the 

 tremendous expansion in the number of scientists and 

 engineers over the past two decades, the quantity and 

 quality of S&T personnel have generally not slowed 

 down R&D. While salary ranges are fixed for certain 

 categories of employees, R&D facilities effectively 

 bid for workers in a manner similar to competition 

 for labor in the United States. Appropriate alloca- 



189 



