6 



forms could be created. Those with special competency for the new tasks 

 sought to gain legitimacy for their function and the measure of control that 

 its implementation required. The older elements resisted this effort and 

 there followed an unsettled interlude, usually painful in character, which 

 had as its purpose the establishment of boundaries which both parties could 

 accept as legitimate. As a new special-purpose entity achieves critical size 

 and irreversibility, there are three dimensions to watch. The first two 

 have to do with the kind of interfaces the new competency is able to achieve 

 in relating to authority and peer elements. The third is related to the 

 first two. It has to do with the capacity of the new entity to relate to 

 the juniors it attracts in such a way as to assure itself regenerative or 

 self-renewing capacity. 



The authority dimension represents the interfaces that an organi- 

 zation is able to develop both with its internal superiors and with external 

 superior organizations. Fortunately for mankind - and for its problem- 

 solving and adaptive capacities - the history of organizational evolution 

 has been, despite occasional setbacks, towards greater rather than less 

 authority dispersion. Thus it has been possible to accord the professionals 

 employed in the research organizations, appearing late on the scene, the 

 autonomy they needed to pursue goals that were not easily communicated and 

 thus difficult to supervise. The modern research-oriented university has 

 proven especially functional in this regard. Private and public research in- 

 stitutes that have rivaled its success have done so to the degree that they 

 have been able to replicate the university's organizational structure. The 

 old German professor of the last century provided the first step towards 

 the resolution of the authority issue. He may have been a crusty character. 



