Identification of Factors for Successful Research Management in Administrative Organizations

The scientific development of any country is dependent on having optimal planning and management structures If we accept that the most important factor for management is decisionmaking then decisionmaking plans that are not researchbased will be unable to support or maintain a continuous process of scientific development A scientific decisionmaking method that is based on dialogue must take account risk and participatory approaches toward management However the management and planning structures currently prevail in Iran of which research management can be taken as a symbol do not take research seriously for a number of reasons eg a failure to see the need for scientific input into policymaking Consequently there is no effective scientific leadership and the country remains far from reaching its goals The planning and management systems in Iran should be seen as closed systems since they do not communicate with the rest of the countrys institutional structures Moreover decisionmaking and policy development in each discrete area is dominated by a single governmental organization which results in an expensive complex and inefficient bureaucracy governing the countrys scientific and administrative structures Rather than creating a unified national policy and decisionmaking system based on scientific research this role is broken up and divided among several different organizations which lead to unsuccessful scientific development in Iran Examples of this phenomenon are presented in this study to demonstrate the responsible organizations necessary for supporting Irans scientific and administrative policymaking and planning systems.