associations and enterprises. If these two tasks are 

 not delimited organizationally between science-pro- 

 duction and production associations but are done with- 

 in the NPO, then confusion and a distortion of func- 

 tions takes place. The inclusion of enterprises en- 

 gaged in series production leads to an expansion of 

 manufacturing operations to the detriment of scientif- 

 ic R&D activity. The main function of the NPO — proto- 

 type development — becomes subordinate to the task of 

 fulfilling current production programs. 



Indeed the claims and fears of those adopting this 

 view are confirmed by experience. In several NPOs 

 the share of scientific research and experimental de- 

 sign comprises only 5 to 15 percent of the volume of 

 industrial production activity. Some of these NPOs 

 have, in fact, been subsequently renamed POs. In oth- 

 ers, R&D results are accumulating and cannot find an 

 outlet either at the association or at other enter- 

 prises of the branch. The share of new products orig- 

 inating in the NPO and assimilated into series produc- 

 tion has also declined in recent years at Elektroap- 

 parat and Kondensator . More than half of the work of 

 series production facilities at some NPOs deals with 

 assignments that have nothing to do with the activi- 

 ties of their own R&D units and sometimes even fall 

 outside the specialized profiles of the associations. 

 NPOs having major enterprises of series and mass pro- 

 duction have shown a strong tendency to become inter- 

 ested mainly in improving production indicators and 

 not in accelerating innovation. To weaken the desire 

 to maintain production runs of the same items and to 

 encourage greater product mix and renewal, a new rule 

 has recently been introduced. If an NPO issues a par- 

 ticular product more than three years, deductions to 

 its incentive funds are then reduced by 50 percent. ^ 



On the other hand, many specialists insist equal- 

 ly strongly that series or batch production jls_ an in- 

 tegral part of the NPO. The role of series produc- 

 tion facilities is not to increase industrial output 

 but to serve as an arena within which the NPO can 

 test and perfect its innovations under actual produc- 

 tion conditions. If NPOs lack series production ca- 

 pability, this forces them to transfer the assimila- 



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