Theoretical Approaches to Studying Psychological Ensuring of Personnel Management in Scientific Organizations

Introduction. The paper addresses the issue of psychological ensuring of personnel management in Russian scientific organizations. For the first time, the types of scientific organizations in the Russian Federation are analyzed to account for their opportunities and limitations of employing existing international techniques for personnel management under the conditions of growing globalization and informatization in the field of research activities. Theoretical Basis. When choosing a theoretical approach for psychological ensuring of personnel management, it is important to take into consideration the type of scientific organization in terms of its research activities (theoretical/applied), form of financing (budget/commercial/mixed), and the place the research activities occupy among a researcher’s professional responsibilities (central/peripheral). Results. The study reviewed the following theories and theoretical models: the model of the peaks of a scientist’s creative productivity (G. J. Feist), the model of gift economy in the field of research activities (K. Vermeir), and various hybrid models. According to the study analyses, the concept of motivation for scientific activity (T. V. Razina) can be instrumental in assessing the role of ten types of motivational subsystems when carrying out research activities and developing the means of stimulating them. The study concentrates on the following theoretical models for establishing creative environments: (a) the dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation (I. Nonaka and colleagues) that is applicable for any organization and (b) the model of creative environments for the research process in academic circles or commercial research laboratories suggested by A. P. Wierzbicki and Y. Nakamori. The paper also analyses certain characteristics of virtual organizations that determine specific aspects of personnel management process and reflects on particular models for its implementation. Discussion. The theories and theoretical approaches to managing research teams, encompassed in the study were analyzed specifically in application to scientific organizations in Russia. The main obstacles for their ‘direct’ use there lie in ethnic, national, and specific cultural characteristics of Russian research facilities, limited use of information technology, and the lack of socio-economic and political stability in the country. Highlights • Cultural and historical specificity, as well as the vast variety of types of scientific organizations in Russia, determine the need for the development and considerable modification of the existing methods and techniques for personnel management. • Gradually establishing creative environments in Russian research teams that would take into their specific characteristics has a great potential for the practice of personnel management. • Carrying out empirical studies on creative productivity – its peaks and the factors that determine them (e.g., age, academic degree) is important for psychological ensuring of personnel management in Russian scientific organizations.

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