their research agendas to incorporate specific re- 

 quests from industry. 



A second type of adaptation-diffusion organization 

 is of a more mixed profile. Along with introducing 

 new technology, it also engages in repair and con- 

 struction work. Examples include several associa- 

 tions that have been set up by the USSR Ministry of 

 Non Ferrous Metallurgy. Enterprises in this branch 

 are generally not able to conduct technological mo- 

 dernization and improvements on their own. Some of 

 these "introducing" associations have a specific en- 

 gineering specialty; Uralenergotsvetmet , for example, 

 installs evaporative cooling equipment for metallur- 

 gical plants, pneumatic transport systems for loose 

 and pulverized materials, and special pneumatic dust 

 collecting devices. Economic savings from innova- 

 tions by this one association alone are estimated to 

 have been about 30 million rubles for the period 1971 

 to 1975. 



Soiuztekhosnastika represents the third variety of 

 introduction organization. This association deals 

 mainly in the installation of different interbranch 

 engineering devices. One of its chief tasks is the 

 creation and broad dissemination of a uniform system 

 of standardized multipurpose assembly and readjusta- 

 ble equipment. Soiuztekhosnastika contains several 

 regional divisions that service plants in Moscow, 

 Novosibirsk, Kiev, and other major industrial cities. 



A fourth group of innovation organizations is made 

 up of the Centers for Scientific Organization of La- 

 bor at various research institutes. Conducting all 

 their work through economic contracts, these centers 

 resemble, to a certain extent, management consulting 

 firms in the West. They serve essentially as organ- 

 izational intermediaries between R&D establishments 

 and the world of production. Their business involves 

 not only the introduction and diffusion of new tech- 

 nology but also the propagation of knowledge and mo- 

 dern production experience. The Center for Scientific 

 Organization of Labor and Production Management under 

 the All-Union Institute of Economics and Labor Organ- 

 ization in the oil and gas industry falls into this 

 classification. 



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