The role of the informal organization in decision making on research and development

While an increasing amount of effort is going into the study of the administration of research and development, several facets of the process appear to have gone unnoticed. In particular, we argue that a study of the informal organizations of researchers may offer insights in the administration of such personnel that can lead to improvements in the formal organization. The possibilities explored are presented in the form of four testable hypotheses, which, if shown to be true, have definite implications for the management of research and development. For example, one tentative conclusion indicates a net value in the practice of rotating scientific personnel in and out of administrative positions, appointments being temporary for a fixed duration rather than permanent.