The fact that individual compensation to some ex- 

 tent is tied to plan and project measures implies 

 that evaluation of employees and participants pro- 

 ceeds in similar fashion. Of course, subjective 

 judgment always enters into personnel evaluation, 

 but attempts are made to maximize reliance on ob- 

 jective criteria. Performance in meeting quantita- 

 tive plan targets affects not only income but also 

 careers of production managers, for example, and 

 thus is held to be an indicator of general managerial 

 capability. 



As planning becomes less precise and detailed in 

 applied and fundamental research, there is a commen- 

 surate increase in reliance on subjective evaluation. 

 In practice, a mix of objective and subjective crite- 

 ria is employed to take into account the originality 

 and long-range promise of R&D, its economic and so- 

 cial usefulness, etc. ^ At the same time, the pro- 

 cedure for performance evaluation tends naturally to 

 be internalized in research facilities, as the re- 

 searcher's professional colleagues may be the only 

 group qualified to judge performance. Still, though, 

 the formality and hierarchical procedures character- 

 istic of most Soviet bureaucracies are also present 

 in the research evaluation process . The results of 

 the evaluation, in turn, are an important input in 

 the decision to continue, modify, or terminate pro- 

 jects which extend beyond standard plan periods. Rec- 

 ommendations of consultative organs and expert groups 

 are transmitted up the hierarchy to respective GKNT, 

 Academy, and Ministry authorities for official deter- 

 mination of future establishment and project direc- 



92 

 tions. 7A 



Relatively little information is available concern- 

 ing performance evaluation criteria and procedures for 

 individual scientists. Presumably, they differ across 

 facilities. We briefly describe below the example of 

 the evaluation system developed and used at the Sci- 

 entific Research Institute of Physical Chemistry imeni 

 L. Ya. Karpov.93 The Karpov system, as it has come to 

 be known, is gradually being adopted in other Soviet 

 research facilities. 



235 



