fore, both the PO and NPO forms may include insti- 

 tutes and design bureaus. In the production asso- 

 ciation, scientific organizations are usually of lo- 

 cal significance and confine their research-develop- 

 ment-innovation activity primarily to the production 

 needs of the association. In the NPO, on the other 

 hand, these units are expected to conduct general- 

 purpose or branch-wide R&D, developing innovations 

 for the branch as a whole. The "head" organization 

 also differs. While this role belongs to an indus- 

 trial enterprise in the production association, it 

 is performed generally by a powerful research insti- 

 tute in the science-production association. 



The NPO fulfills the functions of a branch scien- 

 tific-technical center. Its chief task is to create 

 and apply new technology within the shortest possible 

 time. It is not predominantly a producing organiza- 

 tion but is intended primarily to carry out R&D on 

 new products and processes. Ideally, when a new 

 product has been brought successfully through its 

 first production runs by an NPO, the mass production 

 of the article is taken up by the production asso- 

 ciations. In line with their concern for the entire 

 research-to-production cycle, several NPOs have spe- 

 cial start-up plants and installation units which as- 

 sist other production facilities in introducing and 

 debugging new technology. 



Some NPOs specialize in the creation of new prod- 

 ucts. Others develop production technology and con- 

 trol systems. Still others concentrate on the de- 

 velopment and assimilation of new technological pro- 

 cesses. Among the most important tasks of NPOs are 

 reported to be the installation and adjustment of new 

 technology, the conduct of patent/license work, the 

 maintenance of S&T information services, the fore- 

 casting of new product demand, and the development of 

 estimates of labor and materials requirements. 



In internal organization and management the asso- 

 ciations exhibit a range of alternative formats. The 

 degree to which the enterprises in a production as- 

 sociation lose their autonomy varies widely. For ex- 



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