tion of personnel, then, generally is assured, with 

 one major exception. Maximum salary levels are fixed 

 in relation to the nature of the organization at 

 which the scientist or engineer is employed. Accord- 

 ingly, the best S&T personnel have tended to gravi- 

 tate away from industry to the Academy system, and 

 within industry from production to R&D establishments. 

 This doubtless has hindered industrial R&D and asso- 

 ciated production assimilation, although in recent 

 years the relative position of industry seems to have 

 imp roved s omewha t . 



At the same time, certain deficiencies of the sys- 

 tem of planning and training scientific manpower mer- 

 it brief mention. Surpluses of specialists exist in 

 some, more traditional fields of science and technol- 

 ogy and shortages in other areas, such as computers, 

 biochemistry, and microelectronics — the main paceset- 

 ters of modern S&T progress. Experts in the modern 

 social sciences and management sciences are also 

 lacking. The orientation of planning and profession- 

 al training has not kept pace with changes in science, 

 technology, and organization. "Existing programs of 

 education are not designed to train specialists in 

 the subjects needed by modern society and by research, 

 planning, and design organizations," observes Gvishi- 

 ani.24 The acceleration of technical progress also 

 makes obsolete information, knowledge, and acquired 

 skills, so that the retraining of scientific, engin- 

 eering, and managerial personnel is becoming increas- 

 ingly necessary. This need is all the more pressing 

 in view of the mounting constraints on manpower re- 

 sources which require greater attention to qualita- 

 tive improvements rather to quantitative increases in 

 the size of the S&T establishment. 



Acquisition of material supplies, another control 

 mechanism, generally is planned at the same time that 

 basic R&D and production assignments are formulated. 

 Gossnab is the principal agency in charge of planning 

 and distribution of supply. The Soviet material and 

 technical supply system is conducive to large-scale 

 deliveries of fairly standardized products, but not 

 to the typical small-lot deliveries of special pur- 



190 



