ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at patterns of interaction that affect the nature of relationships between the business and technical functions: the impact of initial negotiations, and the relationship between contracts and technical personnel. It describes the organizational effects of specific types of contracts, considering first their impact on dealings between the sponsor and contractor. The chapter examines problems in two key areas in which the business and technical forces frequently test one another out: the administration of incentive contracts and engineering-design changes. If the business system is treated as though it were a mere nuisance, tacked on to the end of a technically oriented program, it can become defensive and possibly even destructive. The oscillations can be amplified or attentuated by the relationship between the business and technical systems. One might cynically add that business criteria also favor the man who saves his innovations and breakthroughs for noncontract work in order to have a clear title to a patent.
