Presented are papers and discussion summaries from the first research management conference for mental retardation research centers (Denver, 1974). Basic concepts and application principles of management by objectives are analyzed in a two-part paper by E. Douglas Hodo. Reviewed in a paper by Richard Surles and Norm Ellis is a decision system for management planning and evaluation. Richard L. Hopkins presents an overview of changes in grants management practices in the National Institutes of Health from 1950 to the present. Elements of standardized reporting procedures are discussed by Michael J. Begab. A final paper by Benjamin Dowd considers aspects of organizational theory, including assumptions and definitions, analytical models of the organization as a social system, and behavioral science models of personal and organizational effectiveness. Among six appendixes are bibliographies on management by objectives and on planning, programing and budgeting systems. (CL)