Morrison, Claudio (2004) Soviet management and transition : the case of the Russian textile industry. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the rationality of the continued use of soviet management practices in post-soviet industrial enterprises a decade after the 'transition to a market economy' on the basis of a detailed case study of a textile enterprise in Ivanovo oblast' in Russia.

The thesis consists of two parts. The first part of the thesis comprises a critical review of the western literature on the management-controlled enterprise and the literature on the ·soviet industrial enterprise. The thrust of the critique is that the dominant management discourses abstract the enterprise from its social context and present western management practice as the epitome of rationality. Against this, Marxist-inspired approaches emphasise the embeddedness of the enterprise in a particular form of social relations, and so the embeddedness of management rationality. This provides the underlying theoretical thread of the analysis of the case study material.

The second part of the thesis comprises a detailed case study of one textile enterprise. The analysis; of the case study material is presented in three chapters, covering management structures and practices, the wage and payment system and labour discipline. The analysis of the case study data shows that the rationality of soviet management practices is underpinned by the peculiar character of the social relations in the workplace which were characteristic of the soviet system of production and which have been sustained, and even strengthened, in the chaotic and unstable circumstances of the market economy as managers put a priority on maintaining social stability as a condition for maintaining the stability of production. The central findings of the thesis are briefly summarised in the conclusion.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Industrial management -- Soviet Union, Industrial management -- Russia (Federation), Textile industry -- Russia (Federation) -- Case studies
Official Date:	June 2004
Dates:	Date Event June 2004 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Sociology
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	viii, 339 leaves
Language:	eng

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