Management and Industry in Russia: Formal and Informal Relations in the Period of Transition

An examination of production relations in Russian industry during the transition process. Using case studies, the focus is on the gap between formal and informal relations in the work place, a key feature of traditional Soviet industrial production. Focusing on four contrasting regions in Russia - Moscow, Samara, Kuzbass and the Komi Republic - a group of researchers uses a range of qualitative and ethnographical research methods to explore production relations in the Soviet enterprise. They present a series of longitudinal case studies of between two and four enterprises in each region. The economic, social and political developments in the region have also been monitored Each of the papers in this collection focuses on one aspect of life in a post-Soviet enterprise which they place in the context of the other case studies featured in this volume. The areas discussed include the Soviet system of production, attitudes to work, the specificity of Soviet production, paternalism in state management, the role of women, the role of middle management and the continuing importance of the plan and pay systems.