X THE EXECUTION OF R&D PLANS 

 AND THE UTILIZATION OF RESULTS 



As we have seen, the R&D plan commits the research 

 institute, design bureau, and production enterprise 

 to a comprehensive and detailed set of technical and 

 economic objectives. The annual plan, subdivided in- 

 to quarterly and monthly targets, is the basic opera- 

 tional document. It has the force of law, and is the 

 principal stimulus to implementation. 



Although certain objectives are imposed by superi- 

 or organs, and the plan must be approved in detail by 

 superior authorities, the performer establishment 

 manager does participate in plan formulation. The 

 manager has a certain degree of autonomy, especially 

 compared to earlier periods of Soviet history, but he 

 still lacks one common ingredient of autonomy: flexi- 

 bility. Even if the approval by superiors is merely 

 pro forma , the manager is still committed to the plan 

 for its duration. Only rarely are superior bodies 

 inclined to permit alterations in annual plan targets. 

 They discourage the raising and reducing of targets 

 because such actions can reverberate and disrupt the 

 economy. The plan is thus ambitious and inflexible: 

 this consideration alone fosters conservatism and 

 works against unpredictable activities like R&D. 



In this chapter we look at control mechanisms and 

 incentive systems used to put the plan into practice. 

 In their detail and comprehensiveness, plans provide 

 more than general directions for the performer estab- 

 lishment. Yet the manager still exercises discretion 

 in decisions concerning how plan tasks can be accom- 

 plished. To aid the manager in selecting the most 

 effective means of fulfillment, the state has creat- 

 ed an organizational structure and a set of decision 

 rules aimed at engendering strong effort and effec- 

 tiveness. Such incentives as the size of expected 



176 





