Management and Industry in Russia: Formal and Informal Relations in the Period of Transition
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Management and Industry in Russia Formal and Informal Relations in the Period of Transition Edited by Simon Clarke Professor of Sociology Centre for Comparative Labour Studies University of Warwick Coventry, UK MANAGEMENT AND INDUSTRY IN RUSSIA SERIES Centre for Comparative Labour Studies, Warwick Institute for Comparative Labour Relations Research, Moscow Edward Elgar Simon Clarke 1995. Copyright of individual chapters remains with the contributors. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a re- trieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the pub- lisher. Published by Edward Elgar Publishing Limited Gower House Croft Road Aldershot Hants GU11 3HR England Edward Elgar Publishing Company Old Post Road Brookfield Vermont 05036 USA British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Clarke, Simon Management and Industry in Russia: Formal and Informal Relations in the Period of Transition. I. Clarke, Simon 338.0947 ISBN 1 85898 062 3 Contents Preface vi The Authors xi 1. Formal and Informal Relations in Soviet Industrial Production Simon Clarke 1 2. Informal Relations in the Soviet System of Production Sergei Alasheev 28 3. On a Particular Kind of Love and the Specificity of Soviet Production Sergei Alasheev 69 4. The Mechanism of Paternalistic Management of the Enterprise: the Limits of Paternalism Petr Bizyukov 99 5. Paternalism in Russian Enterprises: Our Understanding Samara Research Group 128 6 The Position of Women in Production Lena Lapshova and Irina Tartakovskaya 139 7 Middle Management in Industrial Production in the Transition to the Market Pavel Romanov 170 8 We Didn’t Make the Plan Marina Kiblitskaya 198 9 Payment Systems and the Restructuring of Production Relations in Russia Valentina Vedeneeva 224 Index 240 v Preface The papers collected in this volume have all been written within the framework of a collaborative research project on the restructuring of management and industrial relations in Russia directed by Simon Clarke and Peter Fairbrother of the Centre for Comparative Labour Studies, University of Warwick.1 The research has been conducted since 1991 by teams of Russian researchers in four contrasting regions of Russia: Moscow, Samara, Kuzbass and the Komi Republic.2 In 1994 this research collaboration was institutionalised with the estab- lishment of a new inter-regional Centre for Comparative Labour Studies, based in Moscow. The core of the research is a series of intensive longitudinal case studies of between two and four enterprises in each region which have been studied continuously since the beginning of the period of reform at the end of 1991. In general two researchers work in each enterprise, one focusing on management, down to the level of shop chief, and the other focusing on shop floor relations. The research uses a wide range of qualitative and ethnographic research methods which are well es- tablished in Western sociology, but which were and remain largely unfamiliar in Russia. The research on which these papers are based was therefore path-breaking in being the first to be able to use qualita- tive and ethnographic research methods to explore the reality of production relations in the Soviet enterprise.3 Alongside the case studies, each research team has been monitoring the economic, social and political development of their region, includ- ing developments in other enterprises, following up local press and documentary sources with interviews and attendance at meetings. In- terview transcripts and field notes are regularly written up and circulated to all the research groups, with enterprise reports being up- dated every three months. The progress of the research is discussed at regular weekly meetings of each of the research teams, at which the materials circulated by the other groups are also discussed. All the vi Preface vii researchers meet together for residential seminars of between three and five days every six months. On the basis of the initial fieldwork the individual researchers iden- tified separate research themes around which to develop their own research, individually or in groups, within the broader framework of the project as a whole. This volume brings together papers which ad- dress different aspects of the relation between formal and informal relations in production. A companion volume will be published shortly, comprising a set of papers around the theme of conflict and change in the post-Soviet enterprise, and a further volume will bring together case study reports of the enterprises which have been the focus of the research.4 The research themes addressed in this volume were initially identi- fied and discussed at a seminar in Moscow in April 1993, and the first draft of each paper was written on the basis of fieldwork in the au- thor’s own enterprise, with additional material drawn from interview transcripts and research reports generated by the other case study en- terprises. These drafts were discussed extensively at the weekly meetings of the relevant local research groups before being circulated to the other groups over the summer of 1993. The revised papers were then presented to a seminar held in Samara in September 1993, and were further revised and developed over the following six months. Thus, although each paper is individually authored and emerges from research in one particular enterprise, each has been through a long process of collective discussion and elaboration on the basis of comparative data. The papers have been translated from the Russian by Simon Clarke, in consultation with the authors and with help and advice from Vadim Borisov and Marina Kiblitskaya. Our original intention had been to rewrite the papers for a Western readership. However once the papers were completed we decided that this would be to distort an analysis which derives from a Russian context. We have therefore tried to keep the translations true to the style and analysis of the originals, so that they convey something not only of the object of the research, but also of the way in which the researchers think of that object. This means that we have not attempted to translate the original Russian into a non- sexist English, or to remove forms of expression which to Western readers may smack of political incorrectness, although we have dis- cussed the substantive issues extensively with our collaborators. viii Preface The introduction to the book has been written by Simon Clarke on the basis of material which has similarly been prepared, circulated and discussed among the research teams. Although the book was prepared by Simon Clarke, Peter Fairbrother has been a full and close collaborator at all stages of its preparation. Our research project is continuing for as long as we can secure the funding to sustain it (and any offers would be most welcome). In addition to the forthcoming publications already referred to, other results of our research can be found in the following publications: PROJECT PUBLICATIONS Simon Clarke, ‘Pochemu Krizis porazil sovietskuyu sistemu?’, Ezhegodnik Sotsiologicheskie Ocherki, 2, Moscow, 1992. Simon Clarke and Peter Fairbrother, ‘The Workers’ Movement in Russia’, Capital and Class, 49, London, 1992, pp. 7–17. Vadim Borisov, ‘The Fall of Russia’s Exchange and Mart’, Guardian, London, June, London, 1992. Simon Clarke, ‘Privatisation and the Development of Capitalism in Russia’, New Left Review, 196, November/December, London, 1992, pp. 3–27. Simon Clarke and Petr Bizyukov, ‘Privatisation in Russia: The Road to a People’s Capitalism?’, Monthly Review, 44, 6, New York, 1992, pp. 38–45. Simon Clarke, Peter Fairbrother, Michael Burawoy and Pavel Krotov, What about the Workers? Workers and the Transition to Capitalism in Russia, Verso, London, 1993. Simon Clarke, ‘Popular attitudes to the transition to a market economy in the Soviet Union on the eve of Reform’, Sociological Review, 41, 4, Keele, 1993, pp. 619–52. Vadim Borisov, ‘The Name Game’, New Statesman, 19 March, London, 1993. Veronika Kabalina and Alla Nazimova, ‘Privatisation through Labour Conflicts the Case of Russia’, Economic and Industrial Democracy, 14, Stockholm, 1993, pp. 9–28. Galina Monousova and Veronika Kabalina, ‘A Record of Labour Action Starting from 12 June, 1991’, Economics and Industrial Democracy, 14, Stockholm, 1993, pp. 133–41. Preface ix Simon Clarke, ‘Trade Unions, Industrial Relations and Politics in Russia’, Journal of Communist Studies, 9, 4, London, 1993, pp. 133–160. Leonid Gordon, Veronika Kabalina and Alla Nazimova, ‘Sotsial’no- trudovye konflicty pri perekhode k rynochnoi ekonomike’, Obshchestvo i Ekonomika, 2, Moscow, 1993, pp. 3–19. Simon Clarke and Peter Fairbrother, ‘The Emergence of Industrial Relations in the Workplace’, Richard Hyman and Anthony Ferner (eds), New Frontiers in European Industrial Relations, Blackwell, Oxford, 1994, pp. 368–397. Simon Clarke, ‘Trade Unions, Industrial Relations and Politics in Russia’, Martin Myint and Michael Waller (eds): Parties, Trade Unions and Society in East-Central Europe, Frank Cass, London, 1994, pp. 133–60. Vadim Borisov, Peter Fairbrother and Simon Clarke, ‘Is There Room for an Independent Trade Unionism in Russia? The Case of the Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Unions’, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 32, 3, London, 1994, pp. 359–378. Vadim Borisov, Simon Clarke and Peter Fairbrother, ‘Does Trade Unionism have a Future in Russia?’, Industrial Relations Journal, 25, 1, Glasgow, 1994, pp. 15–25. Simon Clarke, Peter Fairbrother and Vadim Borisov, ‘The New Workers’ Movement in Russia’, Critique, 26, Glasgow, 1994, pp. 55–68. Simon Clarke, Peter Fairbrother Vadim Borisov and Petr Bizyukov, ‘The Privatisation of Industrial Enterprises in Russia: Four Case Studies’, Europe-Asia Studies, 46, 2, Glasgow, 1994, pp. 179–214. Simon Clarke and Vadim Borisov, ‘Reform and Revolution in the Communist National Park’, Capital and Class, 53, London, 1994, pp. 9–14. Simon Clarke, ‘The Politics of Labour and Capital’, S. White, A. Pravda and Z. Gitelman (eds): Developments in Russian and Post- Soviet Politics, Macmillan, Harmondsworth, 1994.