1,216 research outputs found
Restructuring with What Success? A Case Study of Russian Firms
No full textThis case study of enterprise restructuring utilizes data collected from thirty-two former state-owned firms in Taganrog, Russia, in the summer and fall of 1999. These data are used to construct three composite measures of enterprise restructuring. When defined broadly to include several dimensions of the restructuring process, the "restructuring threshold" is achieved by half of the privatized firms participating in the project. The firms achieving this threshold are distributed across all industries included in the sample. Regardless of the composite measure used, more than one-third of the former state-owned firms participating in this project attained the "active" restructuring designation. The results indicate that (1) production assortment changes appear to be ongoing among those firms engaged in restructuring activities, (2) employment changes appear to involve a mixed strategy with regard to timely wage payments, workforce size, and the benefits package; and (3) outsider ownership is more prevalent among the group of firms designated as restructuring than among those firms that failed to achieve the "restructuring threshold." To put into perspective the economic and business environment in which these former state-owned firms operate, a comparison is made to a group of de novo firms that were surveyed under the auspices of the same project.Russia, enterprise restructuring, privitization
Mark Linz Oral History
No full textMark Linz was director of the American University in Cairo’s AUC Press in the mid-1980s and then from 1995 through 2012. He recounts his publishing career from the 1950s through early 1980s with international publishing houses in New York and elsewhere, beginning in his native Germany. Linz outlines the history and leadership of the AUC Press prior to his arrival as director in 1984, and lays out its reorganization (including steps like upgrading its print shop, introducing a marketing manager, and establishing a bookstore) and financial status and growing role within the university. His return to the directorship in 1995, the Press’ growth in staff, and new marketing and sales strategies are also addressed. Linz discusses the development of the AUC Press’ publishing program and output over the years he was director (and during the time of his first successor), including its focus on Arabic literature in translation and its relationship with author Naguib Mahfouz. Other topics covered are international collaborations and co-publishing, and book design and production. In a separate oral history Linz discusses his experience of the 2011 revolution and its impact on AUC Press and its bookstores and other facilities
Barriers to Investment by Russian Firms: Property Protection or Credit Constraints?
No full textA multitude of explanations for low investment by Russian firms have been offered: high inflation, high interest rates, falling production, falling GDP, an underdeveloped banking system, a confiscatory tax regime, calls for the re-nationalization of industry, excessive regulations, and an underdeveloped legal system, among others. This paper's basic premise is that investment in Russia will not occur if firms are unable to ensure the security of their property and property rights; that is, if the risk of destruction or expropriation is high. Nor will investment occur if access to investment funds is limited. Data collected from 264 Russian firms in the spring and fall 2001 are used to construct a security index and credit index in order to evaluate the relative importance of property protection and access to financing on the investment activities of manufacturing, retail, and other service sector firms in Moscow, Rostov, Taganrog, and Vladivostok. For the firms participating in this survey, the reported percentage of profit reinvested is significantly higher among firms which responded positively to questions about the effectiveness of police and courts in protecting their property and property rights, and significantly lower among firms which made above-average payments (official and unofficial) for property protection. Unofficial payments alone lower investment by 20%. Firms with access to credit reported reinvesting a significantly greater share of their profits. All other things equal, firms in Moscow, and firms in food processing and food distribution reinvested a significantly greater share of their profits. Manufacturing firms reported reinvesting a significantly smaller share of their profits in comparison to retail shops or other service sector companies. These results do not vary with the amount of collateral a firm has; that is, whether the firm owns or leases its premises.Russia, investment, property protection, credit, transition cost
Motivating Russian Workers: Analysis of Age and Gender Differences
No full textWhat motivates Russians to work? This paper utilizes survey data collected in May/June 2000 from 1200 employees in three regions of Russia to analyze the gender and generational differences in factors influencing motivation to work. Five main results emerge. First, Russians are not significantly different from their counterparts in the United States in terms of what is important to them at their place of work. Organizational commitment, however, emerges as only weakly positive among Russian workers; among managers the signal is much stronger. Second, there is little confusion on the part of managers regarding what is important to their workers. Managers' only mistake was to think workers valued their praise. Third, Russian workers have very low expectations of receiving any reward which they desire. This result, similar to results generated by American workers in the mid-1980s, is especially strong among the women and the older generation of workers participating in this survey. Fourth, gender differences involve the relative importance of particular motivators rather than differences in the ranking of motivators from most important to least important. That is, the Russian women participating in this project tended to express stronger feelings toward each of the motivators than the men, but the women did not rank order the motivators any differently than the men. Fifth, in many instances, generational differences disappeared when work experience was held constant. Age was only significant when expectation of receiving a particular reward was involved.Russia, motivation, gender, transition
Job Satisfaction Among Russian Workers
No full textWhy do Russians work without wages? This paper investigates the extent to which job satisfaction and attitude toward work in general may account for the observed behavior of Russian workers. To analyze the level and determinants of job satisfaction among Russian workers, this paper utilizes survey data collected from 1,200 workers and managers employed in seventy-six organizations in Moscow, Saratov and Taganrog The paper is divided into five parts. Part 1 presents the three measures of job satisfaction used in this analysis. Response patterns, analyzed by occupational status, gender, and generation, are discussed. Part 2 first explores gender and generational differences in attitudes toward work in general, and then examines the relationship between attitude toward work and job satisfaction. The results indicate that both gender and generation are significant in response patterns regarding attitudes toward work. Generational differences also are significant in response patterns relating the results of working hard to performance, productivity, and doing the job well. Regression analysis documents the positive relationship between attitude toward work and the level of job satisfaction. Part 3 focuses on the relationship between job satisfaction and performance. Three noteworthy results emerge. First, regardless of the specification or measure, there is a strong positive correlation between job satisfaction and performance. The relationship is not affected by gender, age, or educational attainment level of the respondents. Second, it is not possible using these data to establish causality between job satisfaction and performance. It appears, instead, that unspecified factors may be affecting the two conditions simultaneously. Finally, the results generated from these data are not significantly different from results based on previous surveys of U.S. workers, as well as a survey completed in 1996 of Russian and Polish workers. Part 4 analyzes the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Among the workers participating in this survey there is, generally, only a moderate degree of organizational commitment. Commitment is highest among workers who feel they are making a contribution. The results document a positive relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment, although the causality is not well-defined. Concluding remarks are offered in Part 5.Russia, job satisfaction, performance, organizational commitment
Barter, Credit, and Welfare: A theoretical inquiry into the barter phenomenon in Russia
No full textThis paper develops a model to investigate the welfare implications of barter in Russia and other transition economies during the 1990s. We argue that barter is a welfare-improving phenomenon that acts as a defense mechanism against monetary instability. When firms react to tighter credit markets by switching to barter, the risk they face diminishes, allowing for a higher level of production.Barter, welfare, Russia, money, credit, payment system, interest rate
Attitudes and Performance: An Analysis of Russian Workers
No full textThis paper investigates the relationship between locus of control and performance among Russian employees, using survey data collected at 28 workplaces in 2002 in Taganrog and at 47 workplaces in 2003 in Ekaterinburg. We develop a measure that allows us to categorize the Russian employees participating in our survey as exhibiting an internal or external locus of control. We then assess the extent to which there are significant differences between “internals” and “externals” in work-related attitudes that may affect performance. In particular, we focus on (1) attitudes about outcomes associated with hard work, (2) level of job satisfaction, (3) expectation of receiving a desired reward, and (4) loyalty to and involvement with one’s organization. In each case we identify where gender and generational differences emerge. Our main objective is to determine whether Russian employees who exhibit an internal locus of control perform better than employees with an external locus of control. Our performance measures include earnings, expected promotions, and assessments of the quantity and quality of work in comparison to others at the same organization doing a similar job. Controlling for a variety of worker characteristics, we find that (1) individuals who exhibit an internal locus of control perform better, but this result is not always statistically significant; (2) even among “internals,” women earn significantly less than men and have a much lower expectation of promotion; (3) even among “internals,” experience with unemployment has a negative influence on performance.locus of control, Russia, motivation, performance, gender
The impact of employee motivation on firm competitiveness in a digital age with agile ways of working
No full textsubmitted by Viktoria Susan Gruber, BScMasterarbeit Johannes Kepler Universität Linz 202
Die Sorge für unser gemeinsames Haus!: Herausforderungen der bahnbrechenden Enzyklika Laudato si' von Papst Franziskus
No full textDieser Beitrag ist ein Kommentar der Enzyklika "Laudato si'" von Papst Franziskus. Der Text bietet Einblicke in die Hintergründe der Enzyklika und benennt die wichtigsten sozialethischen Motive, die die Argumentation des Papstes kennzeichnen. Insbesondere wird der systematische Zusammenhang von sozialer Gerechtigkeit einerseits und Nachhaltigkeit andererseits deutlich hervorgehoben.This article represents a commentary on the enzyclical "Laudato si'" by Pope Francis. The text features insights into the background of the encyclical and enumerates the main ethical arguments characterising the Pope's point of view. The author particularly emphazises the correlation of the principle of social justice on the one hand with the principle of sustainebility on the other hand
Restructuring with What Success? A Case Study of Russian Firms
No full textThis case study of enterprise restructuring utilizes data collected from thirty-two former state-owned firms in Taganrog, Russia, in the summer and fall of 1999. These data are used to construct three composite measures of enterprise restructuring. When defined broadly to include several dimensions of the restructuring process, the "restructuring threshold" is achieved by half of the privatized firms participating in the project. The firms achieving this threshold are distributed across all industries included in the sample. Regardless of the composite measure used, more than one-third of the former state-owned firms participating in this project attained the "active" restructuring designation. The results indicate that (1) production assortment changes appear to be ongoing among those firms engaged in restructuring activities, (2) employment changes appear to involve a mixed strategy with regard to timely wage payments, workforce size, and the benefits package; and (3) outsider ownership is more prevalent among the group of firms designated as restructuring than among those firms that failed to achieve the "restructuring threshold." To put into perspective the economic and business environment in which these former state-owned firms operate, a comparison is made to a group of de novo firms that were surveyed under the auspices of the same project.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39708/3/wp324.pd
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