oping network models and grid schedules to include 

 steps related to application, but even this extension 

 can force consideration of the entire research-to- 

 production cycle as an integral unit. With clear de- 

 lineation of responsibility, culpability for failure 

 is easier to fix. Network approaches also require 

 careful scheduling and provide a framework for ac- 

 commodating unanticipated developments. All of these 

 elements reduce project uncertainty and risk and ben- 

 efit considerably the production establishment, which 

 must function in an environment hostile to "slack" 

 and uncertainty. 



An interesting policy development is the creation 

 of standard "systems" for regulating activities. The 

 State Committee for Standards is responsible for de- 

 veloping methodologies for technical norms, standards, 

 and quality certification programs, and for oversee- 

 ing application of such methodologies. Such functions 

 are of course essential in any industrial economy, but 

 particularly so in the Soviet Union where the absence 

 of an effective market mechanism means that the state 

 must ensure that common design, development, and pro- 

 duction practices are utilized where such commonality 

 is advantageous. This is particularly useful in 

 avoiding unnecessary duplication of effort in design. 



In recent years, Gosstandart has developed certain 

 families of procedures to ensure that standards for- 

 mulated in a decentralized manner will be comparable 

 and transferable throughout the economy. The first 

 such system was the Unified System of Design Documen- 

 tation (YESKO) , intended to unify design approaches. 

 Other unified systems since developed include those 

 for standardizing data processing techniques (YESSTEM) , 

 classification and coding (YESKK) , computer languages 

 (YESPD) , and procedures for evaluating product qual- 

 ity (YESKAP) . The most ambitious system is the Uni- 

 fied System for Technological Preparation for Produc- 

 tion (YESTPP) , directly aimed at the problem of in- 

 troducing R&D results. It incorporates elements of 

 the other special systems and in total contains 3500 

 state standards on all phases of the preparation of 

 new products and processes, including design, devel- 



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