reason then, "If there are people, there can be or- 

 ganizations as well. "78 The fundamental and prob- 

 lematical elements involved in institutionalizing 

 the innovative spirit are not fully appreciated or 

 addressed. 



In general, all five types of introduction organ- 

 izations are severely limited in their capacity for 

 introducing innovations. There are very few of them. 

 Their legal status remains ill-defined. No formal 

 statute establishes their goals and functions, rights 

 and responsibilities, organizational and administra- 

 tive relations. Their activity is not properly stim- 

 ulated, planned, or monitored. 79 



Though there has been renewed interest recently in 

 expanding and developing this net of organizations, 

 Soviet opinion remains hotly divided. Some commenta- 

 tors feel that structures specializing exclusively in 

 innovation have a "right to exist." Given the con- 

 straints on existing research and production units, 

 many recognize that new instrumentalities can be use- 

 ful. Others stress that innovation is the proper 

 function of production units. What is needed is a 

 more favorable climate for innovation at plants. In- 

 deed, the formation of special introduction bodies 

 carries the possible danger that they, like R&D units 

 in the past and even still today, will become organi- 

 zationally separate from the production sector. As a 

 result, a set of superficial links may be created. 

 Innovation functions themselves may become distorted 

 and exaggerated. The vital interface problems that 

 plague the research-to-production process today would 

 not only persist but be compounded by still another 

 set of administrative barriers. As one observer ex- 

 plains, "Until the economy itself begins to work ful- 

 ly for the introduction of new technology, no organi- 

 zational structures by themselves will guarantee suc- 

 cess." 80 While there is growing awareness that new 

 approaches and perhaps even radical restructuring are 

 needed to provide the stimuli and the opportunities 

 for innovation, there is no clear consensus about what 

 shape these solutions should take. 



224 



