The strategy of behavior in a competitive environment. Strategic planning and competitive strategies. Introduction. A systematic approach to working with information
These are strategies for achieving competitive advantages and strategies for behavior in a competitive environment.
In contrast to this practice, another approach is being implemented, which focuses on the adaptation of goods and services. The adaptation strategy is based on existing differences between markets. These are differences in the behavior of buyers, in the organization of the market (including its structure, availability of information, regulation, geographical features, etc.), in the competitive environment, as well as differences in technical standards. It is known that European countries still have their own specific rules that force firms to produce the same product in numerous variants,
Much of what marketers do can be seen as an attempt to keep the customer in an environment where consumer behavior occurs, and thereby make the purchase more likely (regardless of that goes whether it's buying a product or consuming a service, such as saving money in the bank), as well as reducing the likelihood of the opposite reaction (for example, leaving the store, consuming an alternative good). An obvious example is the provision of credit services for those customers who cannot immediately and fully pay for the purchase with cash, changing the mood of consumers with the help of music playing in the store, using advertising that promises the desired reward associated with the purchase and use of the product, etc. And such a retention strategy is not at all manipulation (in the worst sense of the word), especially in a competitive environment. Providing the consumer with a more pleasant shopping environment or, for example, clear signposts for finding the right products, a clearer layout and design of the store, encourages the potential buyer to stay in the retail space and become
One of the key components of strategic management is strategy. The choice of strategy and its implementation constitute the main part of the content of strategic management activities. In strategic management, strategy is seen as a long-term, qualitatively defined direction for the development of an organization, relating to the scope, means and forms of its activities, the system of relationships within the organization, as well as the position of the organization in the environment. If the goals of the organization determine what the organization is striving for, what it wants to get as a result of its activities, then the strategy gives an answer to the question of how, with the help of what actions, the organization will be able to achieve its goals in a changing and competitive environment. Such an understanding of the strategy excludes certainty in the behavior of the organization, since the strategy, helping to move towards final state, leaves freedom of choice in a changing situation.
The formulated goal of the proposed business allows developing a strategy for the behavior of the project initiator during its implementation, taking into account the analysis of its own capabilities, the competitive environment and the situation in this market segment. Already at this stage, the project initiator can develop a strategy for choosing possible partners, determine the degree of their participation in the proposed business. The latter is especially important in innovative projects, because, as noted above, the project initiator does not have the necessary funds even for the initial stage, and the ability to interest a potential partner is the way to get initial capital for business development.
The difference between the two periods in the activities of the company is of great importance in determining its behavior (strategy and tactics) in a competitive environment. For example, the behavior of a firm in the short term is characterized by such a combination of curves (Fig. 38). This combination is always subject to specific economic laws, namely, the fact that the company seeks to maximize profits while minimizing costs. These two moments (goals) determine in general the same configuration of curves for all types of costs.
The formation of a corporate competitive strategy by using the achievements of innovative management is based on the interaction between the external environment, a functioning system (organization), which strives for stability, and the management system, which ensures the adaptation of the organization to the operating conditions (to the external environment). Strategy is a set of consistent behaviors that allow an organization to position itself in the environment, and changes in strategy can be seen as a response to changes in external conditions. All types of innovative strategies can be seen in Fig. 1.3.2.
Managing the competitiveness of an industrial firm in a state of crisis involves determining the strategy and type of behavior in interaction with the subjects of the business environment. There are various classifications of the competitive behavior of a firm in the external environment. Basically, they come down to the following types
They belong to the group of competitive strategies, which can also include strategies for behavior in a competitive environment. Each of them is based on the formation of a certain competitive advantage.
A competitive advantage is a unique tangible or intangible circumstance or an asset of a company, or a special competence (for example, the presence of innovative technologies, modern equipment, a trademark, staff qualifications, financial stability, security, as well as flexibility, adaptability, creativity, etc.)
Key competitive advantage strategies:
1. Cost minimization strategy (Cost Leadership) Assumes the provision of lower system costs for goods compared to competitors, while the price of the goods can either decrease or remain at the previous level. The advantage of this strategy is that it provides relatively effective protection against the 5 forces of competition by M. Porter. Inflation and the emergence of technological innovations have a negative impact on the strategy.
2. Strategy of differentiation. The goal of the strategy is to give the product distinctive features that increase competitiveness and meet the requirements of the buyer. Differentiation can also be carried out in relation to personnel, service offered, image, etc. On the one hand, giving new properties requires additional costs, which increases the cost, on the other hand, profitability is ensured by the fact that the buyer is willing to pay for a differentiated product. Among all the varieties of differentiation strategies, the following come to the fore:
2.1. A new approach to product quality
2.2. The strategy of knowledge management or the use of the intellectual potential of the staff. However, it can be divided into 2 types:
2.2.1. Codification strategy - involves the creation of a database based on the accumulated knowledge, and their fixation with the help of documentation, thus. developed documents or reference and search systems can be constantly used by new employees
2.2.2. Personification - involves the creation of a network of specialists unique in their competence. Knowledge is not codified, but accumulated and transferred by the method brainstorming, dialogues and consultations.
3. Focus strategy. Assumes specialization in the needs of various market segments ( various groups buyers). The purpose of this strategy is to satisfy the demand not of the entire market, but of a separate segment, and at a better level than competitors. It is usually used in the absence or lack of resources or in the presence of significant barriers to entry into the industry or market.
4. Innovation strategy. The goal is to increase competitiveness by creating fundamentally new products, technologies, or meeting market needs in a new way. The strategy is different high risk, but with a favorable result, it provides a significant jump in the level of profitability. It is carried out, as a rule, by large firms or small venture enterprises.
5. Rapid response strategy. Assumes success through rapid response to change external environment in the shortest possible time.
6. Synergy strategy. It involves obtaining a competitive advantage by connecting 2 or more business units (business units in the same hands). Synergy is achieved through the sharing of resources, through possible cost savings, the formation of joint marketing, management planning systems, etc. The synergy effect, however potentially large it is, does not appear by itself. It needs to be planned and retrieved. With synergy, horizontal and vertical integration is possible.
Strategies of behavior in a competitive environment
Analysis of the competitive environment, the structure of competitive forces, the study of competitors, analysis of the position of the enterprise allows you to develop a strategy for behavior in a competitive environment. The specific behavior of the enterprise depends on the position it currently holds.
F. Kotler and R. Turner distinguish 5 possible positions of the enterprise:
1. Market leader position. An enterprise can apply the following strategies:
1.1. Expand the overall market for the product by attracting new customers, by searching for new opportunities for using the product
1.2. Can expand its market share
1.3. The strategy of defending its position (leader) in the market through innovation, consolidation strategies (price fixing, changing appearance product), due to confrontation (price change, reputation impact), due to the delivery of anxiety to a competitor (influence on its supply process, sales, consumer opinion, etc.).
2. Position challenging the market environment. At the same time, the firm should be strong enough, but not a leader. Possible strategies:
2.1. Attack on the leader (possible if the leader has flaws)
2.2. Attack of a weaker and smaller competitor.
Attack methods:
1. Open direct strike (competitive struggle is based on the principle of "strength against strength" i.e. strengths)
2. Flank attack i.e. attention is paid to the competitor's weak areas of activity.
3. Attack in all directions (requires significant resources because attention is paid to all competitor products, all markets)
4. Bypass attack (the company does not attack a competitor, but creates a new market, then lures a competitor to this market and, having an advantage, defeats him)
5. Partisan struggle. Those markets are selected in which the competitor is weaker and some competitive advantages are created due to a quick attack.
3. The position of the follower. This strategy of competitive behavior is that the company does not seek to attack the leader, but clearly guards its market share. The follower tries to keep its customers, but when creating new markets, it also tries to win new customers. As a rule, these are highly profitable firms and their main goal is profit, not competition.
4. The position of a person who knows his place in the market. These enterprises are interested in studying those market segments that are not occupied by competitors or are not yet of strong interest to competitors. At the same time, the firm must have a strict specialization, constantly study the market and rely on a certain, as a rule, stable growth rate.
5. The position of fragmented firms. These are firms that do not have a pronounced leading position. When operating among such firms, the following strategies are used:
5.1. Standardization of activities (pharmacies)
5.2. Creation of a narrow production line
5.3. Focus strategy
Industry Strategies
When considering the industry, it is necessary to determine such indicators as its:
2) Life cycle stage
3) Scale
4) Cost level
5) Key success factors, etc.
Of particular importance in developing a strategy for an enterprise of a particular industry is the stage of its life cycle:
1. Strategies at the stage of the birth of the industry. At the stage of the industry's inception, such parameters as market capacity, segment structure, growth dynamics, and others can only be assessed by an expert method, because the industry itself is in its infancy. At the same time, there is uncertainty about the effectiveness of individual technologies, consumer preferences, the possibility of forming a resource base, sales guarantees, etc. At the same time, at the stage of inception, entry barriers to the industry are relatively low, and changes within the industry are quite dynamic. The most effective strategies in this period are:
1.1. Strategy for developing and offering new types of goods and services to the market (Innovation strategy)
1.2. offensive strategy. It involves capturing the most capacious market share and achieving economies of scale
1.3. Defensive strategy
1.4. Assumes protection from competitors with the help of know-how, monopoly, pricing policy etc.
1.5. Formation of a trademark (brand), which provides prestige and a certain level of quality
1.6. Cream skimming strategy. Setting high prices for new products introduced.
1.7. Low price strategy - provides a quick break from competitors
1.8. Industry leadership strategy, involves the search for new consumers, expanding the ways and frequency of using the product
1.9. Follow the leader strategy
1.10. Direct attack strategy on the leader
2. Strategies at the stage of maturity. The maturity of the industry is characterized by a high level of competition and the difficulty of attracting new customers. On the other hand, there is a high experience of the seller, the optimal level of costs, the availability of service, the passage of the highest point of growth in the number of personnel and production capacities, the presence of marketing innovations, and possibly foreign economic activity. Recommended strategies:
2.1. Ensuring strong long-term relationships with suppliers and customers built on the basis of trust and mutual benefit.
2.2. Diversification strategy (expanding the range or distribution channels)
2.3. Occupation of new market segments
2.4. Industry revitalization (due to innovation, advertising, prices)
2.5. Cost reduction strategy (by saving or by increasing control)
2.6. Profit stabilization
2.7. Performance improvement (product quality, management)
3. Strategies at the stage of industry decline. The decline stage is characterized by a decrease in demand, increased competition, an increase in the role in relation to price-quality, the emergence of problems in expanding capacity, the difficulty of introducing innovations, increased international competition, a decrease in industry average profitability, the presence of an increase in quantity, mergers, entry, exit from the industry, etc. Recommended strategies:
3.1. Search for a segment with stable demand
3.2. Misinformation of competitors, contributing to their exit from the industry
3.3. Exit to international markets
3.4. Harvest strategy (assumes only sales without investment)
3.5. Narrowing strategy
3.6. Implementation of technological or organizational innovations
3.7. Exit from the industry (one-time or gradual)
Functional Strategies
Functional strategies are being developed functional departments or enterprise services. The purpose of a functional strategy is to allocate resources between departments, within a department, and determine the most efficient way to use them. Many economists believe that it is in the formation of functional strategies that a huge reserve of efficiency is hidden, since not only goals for each department are determined, but also ways to save costs. Functional strategies include:
1. Commodity marketing strategy. The main components are:
1.1. Research function. It consists in carrying out marketing research
1.2. Commodity policy. Associated with the formation of the assortment, with the description of goods, planning the volume of their sales by type of product, by market segments, incl. according to the product life cycle.
1.3. Pricing policy (includes methods of developing prices, at cost, at markup, based on dumping prices)
1.4. Sales (logistics distribution routes are being developed, factors influencing the distribution network, the offer of intermediaries, financial opportunities)
1.5. Sales intensity system, etc.
2. Strategy of personnel management. (It takes into account that each employee is an individual who has a set of certain qualities and changes his behavior under the influence various factors) The goal of the strategy is to form a competitive staff of the enterprise that allows achieving the goals of the company and the personal goals of each employee. As a result, the following is being developed:
2.1. Recruitment Policy
2.2. Organizational structure
2.3. Job Descriptions
2.4. Methods and system of remuneration
2.5. Policy of work stimulation and motivation
2.6. Professional development policy
2.7. Public relations
3. Innovation strategy. Provides several options:
3.1. Technological leadership (continuous development of technological innovations). The goal is to achieve leadership and gain the position of a technological engine
3.2. Follow the leader
3.3. Involves reactive innovation. The benefit of the strategy lies in having a pattern to follow.
3.4. Diversification strategy. It involves the development of complex innovations in various fields (in technology, in marketing, in finance)
3.5. imitation strategy. Based on the use of known technologies and their necessary development in accordance with market requirements
4. Technological strategy. Associated with the formation of the technical and technological policy of the enterprise. The goal is to ensure efficient production, taking into account cost savings and high labor productivity. Special attention is paid to quality, price and competitiveness. The strategy must contain a description technical support production process (availability of fixed assets, their level of productivity, degree of wear, capital productivity, capital intensity) and technological (availability efficient technology production)
5. Strategy of foreign economic activity. Develops rules for the behavior of a company in a foreign market in the role of an exporter and / or importer, or in the implementation of export / import operations. The strategy of foreign economic activity (FEA) may include:
5.1. Moving from aging to efficient sectors of the global economy
5.2. Implementation of foreign direct investment (purchase of 10-20% of the shares of a foreign company)
5.3. Creation of an international concern or a network of branches
5.4. Movement of capital from countries with high taxes to countries with relatively low taxes or to offshore zones
5.5. Use of a special type of lease - leasing
In this group of strategies, there are four quite clearly defined positions in which firms can be in the field of competition:
1) Position of the market leader;
2) Position challenging the market environment;
3) The position of the follower;
4) The position of a person who knows his place in the market.
Market leader. A firm that has chosen this strategy may try to implement it in the following ways:
1) Expand the overall market for the product by attracting new consumers, finding new opportunities to use the product, or intensifying consumption of the product:
2) Expand your market share in the event that a course is taken for accelerated growth, or maintain the existing market share if the company is not expected to grow rapidly.
A firm challenging the market environment. The firm that has chosen this strategy must be strong enough, but not occupying a leadership position. The main strategic goal of such firms is to capture additional parts market by winning them over from other firms. In the transition to the implementation of this goal, the company must clearly determine for itself from whom it is going to win back a part of the market. In this case, two options are possible:
1) Attack on the leader;
2) Attack on a weaker and smaller competitor.
There are five possible approaches to conducting an attack on the leader:
1) The firm undertakes an open direct blow to the leader. In this case, the competition is based on the principle of "strength against strength". In such a fight, the one who has more resources and who has strong benefits;
2) The firm carries out a flank attack on the leader. In this case, the attack goes in those directions in which the leader has weaknesses. Typically, these areas are either a region in which the leader does not have a strong position, or a need that is not covered by the leader's product;
3) The firm is attacking in all directions. In this case, the leader has to defend both his forward positions, and the rear, and flanks. This type of attack for successful completion requires much more resources from the attacking firm, since it is supposed to advance to all markets where the leader is present, and for all types of products manufactured by the leader;
4) Bypass attack. In this case, the firm does not attack the leader directly, but creates a new market, into which it then lures the leader and, having advantages in this market, defeats him. The most common types of evasive attack are the creation of a replacement product or the opening of new geographic markets. A bypass attack is also widely used in the form of the development and implementation of new technologies for the production of a product;
5) Partisan struggle. Typically, this type of struggle is resorted to by small firms that cannot afford other methods of attacking the leader. In guerrilla warfare, the firm chooses markets where the leader is weakest and launches rapid attacks on him in order to gain some advantage. At the same time, it is very important for the company to have constant readiness both to start the attack and to stop it.
The following means can be used to conduct competition in any of the five methods:
§ Establishing prices for products that are lower than those for the products of the attacked;
§ Launching a new product on the market and creating new needs;
§ Improvement of customer service, in particular the system of transportation and delivery of goods;
§ Improvement and expansion of marketing and distribution systems;
Competitive behavior of the follower. It consists in the fact that he does not seek to attack the leader, but he clearly guards his market share. The follower tries to keep its customers, although it does not give up its share of the newly created markets. An important feature of the business of such a firm is that it is quite highly profitable and focuses on profit in its market strategy. This takes her away from intense competition.
The competition strategy of firms that know their own proper place on the market. It is focused on finding and capturing those places in the market that do not generate interest or are temporarily not occupied by stronger competitors. In order to do business successfully in these unoccupied niches of the market, a firm must have a very strict specialization, study its market very carefully, develop only within well-defined allowable growth rates, and have a strong and influential leader.
4. Industry strategies. When considering an industry, it is necessary to determine such indicators as its type (administrative or economic), life cycle stage, scale, average costs, key success factors, etc. For example, based on the life cycle model, all industries can be divided into three groups: developing, mature and in decline. Businesses in these industries are developing similar strategies:
1) Strategies at the stage of the birth of the industry. Among the most effective strategies at the stage of the emergence of the industry are the following:
§ Strategy for developing and offering new types of goods or services to the market (innovation strategy);
§ Offensive strategy (capturing the most capacious consumer niche in order to use economies of scale and successfully counteract competitors);
§ Defensive strategy (to protect its market share and protect against competitors - imitators with the help of patents, know-how, monopoly position, price and non-price competition, etc.);
§ Strategy for the formation of a corporate trademark (brand) - this helps to ensure prestige, confidence in the appropriate level of product quality;
§ “Cream skimming” strategy (setting high prices for a novelty at the beginning, and then lowering them as the market is saturated);
§ Low price strategy to conquer the market and quickly break away from competitors;
§ Global demand expansion strategy (for industry market leaders), which is aimed at finding new consumers of the product, expanding the scope or frequency of use of the product - this strategy is promising if there is a large growth potential for the industry;
§ Strategy of relentless pursuit of the leader (for imitating firms) and conscious division of the market;
§ Strategy of direct attack on the leader.
2) The strategy is at the stage of maturity. The following strategies are recommended at this stage:
§ Ensuring strong long-term relationships with suppliers and consumers based on mutual trust and mutual benefit;
§ Development of the sales network;
§ Search for new market segments, development of new regions;
§ Revitalizing the development of a mature industry (through new forms and distribution channels, new original advertising, new pricing policy, use of government assistance, introduction of new technologies, etc.);
§ Low cost strategy (due to economies of scale in production, use of cheap raw materials, cheap labor, etc.);
§ Market expansion strategy for higher profits;
§ Profit stabilization strategy;
§ Strategy for performance improvement.
3) Strategy during the downturn of the industry. At this stage, the following strategies are shown:
§ Strategy for finding market niches or segments of remaining stable demand;
§ A strategy of disinforming competitors, facilitating their mass exit from the industry in order to remain one of the few industry organizations and take a leading position;
§ Strategy of "harvesting" (managed reduction of investments in order to maximize income streams);
§ Strategy for entering international markets;
§ A strategy to narrow the range of products produced in order to maximize economies of scale;
§ Strategy for the introduction of technological and organizational innovations to raise production efficiency;
§ An exit strategy from the industry (sale of some or all assets).
5. Portfolio (corporate) strategies - these are strategies that describe the general direction of development of a company with various types of business and are aimed at ensuring a balance of the list (portfolio) of goods and services. Strategic decisions at this level are the most complex, as they relate to the firm as a whole. This group of strategies includes:
1) Strategy based on the analysis of products of enterprises according to the BCG matrix (Boston Consulting Group).
According to this matrix, all products of enterprises are conditionally divided into 4 groups that require a special approach in terms of financing and marketing:
§ Stars are market leader products that are at the peak of their productive cycle, but require significant investment to ensure high growth rates;
§ "Cash cows" are former "star" products after the slowdown in market growth. These goods no longer require large investments, but they give good income at low growth rates;
§ "Problems" - fundamentally new products that have great prospects, but require significant financial investments;
§ "Dogs" - products that have a low market share and do not have growth opportunities, as they are in unattractive industries. Most often, these business units have to be disposed of.
The desired sequence for the market development of most products is as follows:
As a result of the analysis using the BCG matrix, the following strategies are possible:
- Product development - "problems" to the level of "stars";
- Investing in the growth of the "star"
- Maintaining the profitability of "cash cows" and investments in other divisions;
- Liquidation of the unit or "harvesting".
2) Strategy based on the analysis of the McKincey - General Electric matrix;
3) Strategy based on the Arthur D. Little matrix;
CHAPTERII
ECONOMY AND EDUCATION
scientific adviser - d.f.-m. n., prof.
Modeling and strategy selection
competitive behavior of agents in the market
The variety of competitive strategies and organizational forms of economic entities creates many strategic opportunities and seemingly immense scope for an agent to choose a successful competitive strategy. In order to navigate in this space of decisions and successfully fit into the market structure, it is necessary to adequately assess your place in it.
One of the tasks of the analyst is to identify the organization and the type of its strategic competitive behavior and the behavior of its competitors.
There are many methods for assessing the competitive environment and positioning the organization in it. The most commonly used strategy forecasting is SWOT-analysis. The essence of the method lies in the formation of a matrix that takes into account the combination of strengths and weaknesses of the organization, its capabilities and threats from the external environment. Also used benchmarking technology- a technology for comparing the quality (properties) of a manufactured or designed product with the best representatives of similar products on the market. The assessment of the competitiveness of products is also carried out at the stage of comparing the technical and economic indicators of the object of study in functional cost analysis (FSA).
One of the meanings of the term “strategy” used in the literature on strategic management, refers to competitive behavior. Competitive Behavior Strategy - following a certain model of behavior, the response of the enterprise to changing parameters of the external environment.
Basic competitive strategies of behavior.
As shown by M. Porter, F. Kotler, in all industries with competitive interaction, there are three basic types of strategies for the behavior of organizations - “skin cream”, “cost leaders” and “niche players”.
“Skimming cream ” enjoy their monopoly on the production and sale of innovative products, or simply significantly outperform competitors not only in the development of new products, but also in bringing them to the market. In fact, it is possible to monopoly (i.e., in the absence of real competition) set high prices for goods that are in high demand. Such a strategy makes it possible to obtain high returns on invested capital even with a small market share, if it is possible to gain a foothold in it, often these are firms created for some short-term project and disappearing when competitors appear (in particular, venture capital firms). However, such a strategy is associated with high risk and requires active behavior from the manager. This situation occurs as a result of the emergence (opening) of a new market (for example, banking services) or a significant change in economic conditions (for example, when the state monopoly on alcoholic products is liquidated). This is the stage of capturing and dividing the market.
“Cost Leaders ” have effective mechanisms for capturing resources and intensifying production. They find ways to produce a unit of output using less labor and materials. This requires certain reserves in cost reduction or significant continuous investments in the rationalization of production with the aim of a permanent cost advantage and expansion of product sales. They are adapted to exist in resource-rich and, accordingly, densely “populated” systems (the market is divided). In the economic space, true competitors are firms (banks) that, by ousting all competitors from the market, have achieved a practically unsinkable position under these conditions and are many times (and often orders of magnitude) superior to their closest rivals (for example, Microsoft) in terms of the volume of operations.
3) Monopolistic competition Chamberlin refers to the normal equilibrium state of the market, excluding the "exploitation" of wage labor and corresponding to the needs of buyers. Such an equilibrium state does not require government intervention.
It is obvious that each of these three approaches characterizes only one of the aspects of the existing economic reality. Understanding its diversity requires the synthesis of these approaches. One of the attempts to synthesize neoclassical and neo-Keynesian approaches was made in the monograph by V. Mayevsky "Introduction to evolutionary economics" (M.: Japan Today, 1997) based on the concept of simultaneous coexistence in one economic system of agents with different competitive strategies (innovators and conservatives according to J. Schumpeter), which are described by various theories of competition.
The hypothesis about the correspondence of the above-mentioned theories of competition to various stages of the FCC in economic systems is shown in works, etc.: theory imperfect competition Robinson matches ruderal(initial) stage of economic system development, theory perfect competition – competitive stages, and monopolistic competition Chamberlin - stress tolerant(final) stage of system development.
The life cycle of competition (LCC) is a flow of life cycles (LC - a complete description of an object, including all stages of its development: “birth”, development, “death”) of agents, resources, their interactions and the entire system (market) as a whole. Therefore, the mathematical model of the LCC includes descriptions of individual elements (microparameters): subjects (competing agents); objects (objects of their competition - resources) and field structures (fields of potential interaction of subjects and objects); as well as a description of the system as a whole (macro parameters).
Numerical modeling of the life cycle of competition (LCC) fills in the gaps in its existing descriptions, which are of a non-formalized qualitative nature. The prototype of the LCC model is the models of growth during phase transitions in physical systems in which the nuclei of a new phase compete for the substance of the initial (mother) phase. The LCC model in economic systems takes into account the variable and fixed costs of each agent. Numerical simulation is implemented in the computing environment of "cellular automata".
A quantitative description of the FCC allows you to establish: a) selection criteria at each stage and their economic interpretation; b) the existing basic types of scenarios for the development of the FCC in economic systems and the possibility of their identification in real markets based on empirical data; c) requirements for external control actions on the system in order to obtain a given scenario of the FCC (creation of institutional conditions that stimulate the innovative activity of agents, etc.).
The discrete form of writing the mathematical model of the LCC corresponds to the initial and boundary conditions: the structure and shape of each agent, the distribution of resources, particles of the medium and agents on the lattice form competition morphology model; their interactions with each other determine behavior pattern; external control the functioning of the model is implemented by changing its parameters over time; a limited number of particles (resource) on the lattice allows you to observe everything stages of self-development systems (LCC).
The proposed model can be considered as an example of the numerical implementation of the so-called. "zero-sum game", which received evolutionary properties due to the inclusion in the consideration of the environment for the functioning of agents. In the traditional “zero-sum game” model, the exchange leads to a redistribution of the resource between agents, which is typical only for a stable market divided between agents. The LCC model additionally includes an environment external to the population of agents (environment Z and free resource L ). Therefore, unlike the traditional model, the population of agents is an "open" system that dynamically interacts with the external environment (whose resources are limited), which methodically expands the class of these models, providing them with evolutionary possibilities.
Level reduction fixed costs agent (with the same asset structure) in the model is interpreted as a result of the introduction of a basic innovation (one or more), a decrease in the share of variable costs (with the same income) is interpreted as a result of the introduction of improving innovations (one or more). The results of calculations using the model will make it possible to substantiate the universality of the trajectory of the FCC in economic systems, which is necessary for predicting the development of the system and managing it.
This work was supported in part by the Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation (Grant No. a “The Life Cycle of Competition”).
(Institute of Management, Marketing and Finance,
Borisoglebsk)
Business Education in Russia: Problems and Prospects
In this article, we will try to briefly describe the current state of business education in Russia and assess the prospects for its meaningful development.
The fate of social and economic reforms in Russia in the vast majority of cases is considered from the point of view of improving legislation, developing industrial policy, changing the system of public administration, etc. Education as a backbone element of the functioning of society in such a context is rarely discussed. However, when discussing ways to modernize Russian education most of all "copies" break around the problems of the content of secondary education, financing of the first higher education - in a word, the attention of society is concentrated only on secondary and basic higher education. Much less frequently and almost exclusively on the pages of specialized publications, reviews of business education programs appear, usually reduced to a direct comparison of the situation with business education in Russia and the developed countries of the West.
Meanwhile, the state of Russian business education largely determines and will continue to determine the course of socio-economic reforms in the country, and therefore should be the subject of detailed discussion by specialists and representatives of the business community.
In higher education, several components can be conditionally distinguished. The first - general education - is aimed at the formation of a general cultural erudition, a system of thinking and value orientations. The second component can be called academic. Academic education aims to transfer fundamental knowledge, as well as preparation for activities related to the skills of searching, obtaining and developing knowledge. The key element here is precisely the acquisition of knowledge, while the development of skills serves the process of increment and translation of knowledge. Vocational education is understood as education aimed at preparing for a specific professional practice. It is focused on the acquisition of practically significant knowledge and the formation of primary professional skills. The system of vocational education highlights the training of specialists in the field of certain technologies and competencies (engineers, doctors, teachers, psychologists, etc.) and managers.
The training of professional managers has distinct specifics, since, on the one hand, it is more focused on obtaining practical skills, and on the other hand, it has a much greater element of creativity, a higher level of personalization, and a greater share of life experience. Accordingly, management training cannot be based on patterns to the same extent as "purely professional" training. Sometimes the indicated specificity of management training is absolutized, arguing that management is an art, not a science. This is not entirely accurate. There are also scientific elements in management, and therefore we can talk about education in the field of management (or business education).
Today, education in the field of management in Russia can be obtained in several ways.
The first - formally traditional - way is to obtain a bachelor's or master's degree in management or a diploma of a specialist in this field. In other words, we are talking about the first higher education. This method is also implemented abroad, but it is not very popular, for example, in the USA, where it is believed that teaching general and functional management is much more effective if the student has practical experience.
The second way is a kind of derivative of the first one: it consists in getting education in the field of management as a second higher education (in addition to any first one). According to the current regulations, this can be done by studying for at least three years, which significantly reduces the attractiveness of such training for adults already working as managers.
The third way - professional retraining for programs of at least 500 hours, after which the graduate of the program receives the right to carry out a new professional activity for himself. These relatively short programs cannot provide fundamental training for a specialist in a new field, and therefore their graduates are not awarded new qualifications, which in Russia, with its deep-rooted "trust" in state documents, is a serious drawback.
Finally, a relatively new type of educational programs in the field of management are MBA programs (higher managerial qualification in the field of practical management, assigned to managers who have completed a special training program) "legalized" by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation in 1999. on the initiative of the Russian Association of Business Education (RABE). MBA programs, in accordance with the concept approved by the Ministry of Education, are aimed at training highly qualified managers capable of leading the organization as a whole, that is, these are "generalist" programs, although they allow for some specialization.
Getting a business education is one of the main investments in human capital that a person can afford during his life. International experience shows that it is individuals, and not families or enterprises, who make the final solvent demand for business education.
So which sectors of the economy will be the first to demand business education? It can be assumed that the demand for modern business education will be presented by sectors where enterprises are included in real market relations, that is, they are under pressure from competitors, and must constantly take care of improving their efficiency. These enterprises must have market criteria for their effectiveness and their existence. Until now, many "old" manufacturing enterprises and the vast majority of social enterprises exist for the sake of maintaining existing employment in them. Such enterprises - social institutions - do not produce value added or produce negative value added.
We can assess the demand for business education only in the most general terms, by identifying the priority personnel strategies of enterprises and taking them as common for groups of enterprises of the same size.
"Quality undergrowth" strategy. Large enterprises will continue to demand MBAs and specialized master programs to fill dozens of jobs, starting with junior managers. In 5 years, thousands of large enterprises (instead of today's hundreds) will be characterized by such behavior in Russia, the estimate of aggregate demand is tens of thousands of MBAs and MB(s) per year.
"Complete team" strategy. Medium-sized enterprises with more than 100 employees show demand for craftsmen only until the moment when the management team is filled with specialized managers. The required set varies from executive+finance (minimum configuration) to executive+finance+marketing+informatics+HR+PR. It should be noted that the positions of functional managers can be filled by graduates of the relevant bachelor's programs. The total demand by 2010 for master programs will be 50-100 thousand per year.
Strategy for routine small business. Typically, a routine small business exists on a family basis and rarely makes a demand for business education programs. Nevertheless, taking into account the Russian tradition of “preferring higher education” and the lack of traditions of doing such business, there may be effective demand for business education, even at the master level, on the market. An indispensable factor is the availability of an offer of appropriate programs with preferential financial conditions (educational loan). In this case, it is possible to estimate the total demand in thousands of applications per year, after 2010 - in tens of thousands.
Strategy for innovative small business. Businesses of this kind, as a rule, are started by a group of specialists - holders of intellectual capital (actual or potential holders of intellectual property). Demand for "business masters" can be presented in two forms: own training of "founders" (MBA, MBF) and attraction of ready-made functional specialists (MBF, PR, marketing). Estimated aggregate demand - thousands per year.
In 1990 - 2004 the main part of Russian universities organized academic programs of economics and management education, and more than a quarter - some programs that can be attributed to business education. At the heart of the strategies of universities, led by representatives of "traditional" faculties, is the attitude to business education as an externality of the existing personnel relevant (and in some cases non-core) faculties. Business education is considered as a means of current replenishment of the university budget, which can allow "waiting out" the fall in demand for traditional programs. Accordingly, universities not only do not invest sufficient funds in the development of business education programs, but consider these programs as a "cash cow" for other areas and constantly withdraw investment resources from there.
Against this background, one can single out a relatively narrow group of leading universities that
have switched to a strategy of investing in business education programs, as they consider it as one of the main areas of activity. The number of such universities does not exceed 15, two thirds of them are concentrated in Moscow and St. Petersburg. It is obvious that such universities will quickly expand their business education programs, but it can be assumed that, taking into account personnel and territorial restrictions, their market share will even decrease.
An alternative to public universities are private educational programs. Their "Achilles' heel" is the lack of their own teaching staff, which makes it impossible to organize constant contact between students and teachers, which is necessary for consulting and implementing educational projects. In addition, the lack of a legacy infrastructure also diverts resources and prevents investment in program development. There are prerequisites for a supply crisis, its inconsistency with effective demand.
What are the possible scenarios for the development of events in 2004-2010? and in the longer term? In the absence of a targeted policy of quality control of business education, the devaluation of the relevant programs may occur (similar to the devaluation of engineering education in the 1970s - 1980s, as well as economic and legal education in the 1990s). A clear discrepancy between the quality of "Russian MBAs" and international standards will lead to a narrowing of the opportunities for domestic firms in terms of penetrating foreign markets and weakening their competitive position in the national market. In the longer term, it is likely that "Russian" business education will be replaced by imported programs from middle-class Western business schools.
Given the formation of an effective quality control system for business education (primarily ensuring its publicity for consumers), but the lack of the necessary resources for the development of relevant programs, the most likely result will be the replacement of master programs on the market with programs of basic professional education in the relevant field, which to a certain extent can slow down the adaptation of education to realities Russian business. The impact of the education system on business development in this case will be neutral. However, high (monopoly) prices for quality Russian programs master level programs will gradually encourage universities to invest in the creation of such programs, which in the long term after 2010 will lead to market adaptation of the main body of Russian universities.
Positive changes in the education system:
The emergence of new diverse specialties;
Universities received the right to include in syllabus disciplines that complement education in the specialty (university component);
Access to education in non-state universities has expanded on paid education in state universities.
Negative changes:
The growing number of people who have received higher education does not correspond to the real needs of the economy;
Graduates (50-60%) cannot find a job in their specialty;
The state does not form an order for specialists, which would provide for crediting education at a university of any form of ownership and employment.
An effective solution to the problems of business education in Russia cannot be achieved without attracting significant resources for the development of the personnel, information and methodological base of the relevant programs. If today's budgets for business education programs usually include competitive pay for teachers, provision of students with teaching aids and maintenance of conditions for minimal "social attractiveness" (maintenance of premises, canteen service, etc.), then in the vast majority of programs there are no resources for retraining teachers, inviting practitioners, collection and analysis specific situations from the practice of Russian business. If free resources appear, they are usually withdrawn to cover current needs in the "business education - cash cow" model or to pay rent in the model of a private business education program.
Resources must be sought within the education system itself. The market reform of vocational education will lead to a rapid change in the inefficient management of universities, to a change in inertial survival strategies for investment strategies to search for and develop new educational markets. Certainly, business education is one of the main markets of this type.
The largest contribution of the state to the development of business education - and at the same time solving the problem of resources - would be a system of state guarantees for educational loans. As already noted, consumers of business education are much more likely than consumers of other educational programs to anticipate and plan their future career and income. Given the shortage of highly qualified managers in the labor market, the growth of expected income in the first few years after graduation will make it possible to repay the loan. The formation of a system of effective educational loans will increase the number of applications for master programs by 2-2.5 times and increase the profitability of programs by an average of 1.3-1.5 times. It is the system of business education that can become the first training ground for the education reform.
(Ural State Technical University);
scientific adviser - d.f.-m. n., s. researcher
Systematic solution to the problem of increasing the efficiency of enterprises based on information technology
Introduction. A systematic approach to working with information
According to the systematic approach, the quality of work with information consists of three parts: reliability, completeness and timeliness (relevance) of information. If all three conditions are met, the work goes efficiently. The timeliness of obtaining certain information from the system allows us to talk about the appearance of certain data. When their authenticity is guaranteed, we can really talk about information. If its completeness is ensured in all necessary and essential aspects, then the most important thing appears - knowledge.
Suppose that the company's sales volume increased by one and a half times. It is possible that the additional revenue generated as a result is significantly less than the costs incurred to support this growth. The sales increase ratio is just data. More detailed information in relation to specific categories of customers and goods is already information. And only its analysis in the context of costs, marketing activities and market prospects leads to knowledge of whether such sales growth is really profitable, and if so, how to strengthen it in the future.
Another important aspect of the systematic approach to information is its inextricable connection with the true balance of the enterprise, the state and dynamics of its assets and liabilities. Thus, we can talk about almost automatic control of the economic activity of the enterprise. The internal balance can be presented to the owner or the first manager in the most convenient form for him, with any number of lines and the desired degree of analytics.
The main problems of Russian enterprises in the field of working with information
The accounting and reporting system that exists at most domestic enterprises, which was adopted back in Soviet time, implies the presence of a huge mass of paper media, which are inconvenient, difficult and time-consuming to process. In addition, this is often impractical - when the processing process is finally completed, its results will inevitably become outdated. Leaders by this time will face new problems and questions.
At domestic enterprises, the exchange of elementary, routine information about current processes is of paramount importance. In companies, especially large ones, it is quite common to notice that the accounting department does its own thing, the supply department does its own thing, the sales department does its own thing ... A complex system in which all data is brought together to optimize the activities of each department is very rare. Any plant usually has several warehouses, and the stocks lying on them often duplicate each other in terms of nomenclature. Without coordination from single center, without a single operational accounting, it may happen that there are too many positions at a certain specific moment, and there are no others at all. And this can turn into not just an irrational use of financial resources, but also an obstacle to the implementation of an important and profitable order, lost profits.
Even less often, there is a holistic picture in the case of the territorial distribution of business, when the parent company has an extensive branch network. Often, the information systems of such a company are broken, the information necessary for management is collected and analyzed at the "headquarters" with a significant delay. For manufacturing enterprises with branches in other areas, a single information system helps to optimize the division of duties and functions between departments, work with customers. With a single information field, answers to most questions can be obtained almost immediately. And without using information technologies in full, “bureaucratic rigmarole” is inevitable, when the answer has to be expected for days, or even weeks. Today, customers are very spoiled, and not everyone wants to wait for a response to their request for longer than a few minutes.
Enterprise Information Pyramid
The optimal combination of efficiency and reliability when working with information is provided, in particular, by a clear understanding of what is called the "information pyramid". Its foundation is operational accounting data, the initial level of the array of information collected. The higher we climb this pyramid, the more generalized and structured information becomes. Structuring and collapsing information in this process reflects the system of values, indicators, priorities of the enterprise and its leaders.
There is no general standard for "collapsing" information, there are general principles. One of the basic ones is technological guarantees that all the necessary volume of primary information will be collected in the prescribed form, on time and according to a certain methodology. This allows you to rely on the following principle - the ability to visually see the dynamics of the development of individual processes and, through this, the organization as a whole. Moreover, with the correct arrangement of the "information pyramid" on its lower floors - a maximum of detail and a minimum of dynamics, and on the upper - vice versa. This allows management not to get lost in the details and keep abreast of the trends and dynamics that are most significant for the business at the moment.
The Information Pyramid is perhaps the best mirror of an enterprise as an object of management. These are not just numbers and balance lines. This is a reflection of real business processes with all their advantages and disadvantages. The hierarchy of the "information pyramid" is directly related to the personnel hierarchy of the organization. The level of awareness, the level of authority and the level of responsibility constitute a single complex.
The impact of IP on various areas of the enterprise
A good information system allows you to collect data, consolidate it, structure it and provide it to managers on-line - in real time. As a rule, such a system is built as follows. In the central office - the necessary server and software to account for all the most important processes. Exactly the same software is installed in branches and remote subdivisions engaged in the same type of business. With a given frequency or in on-line mode, a database of the head enterprise is formed, with the help of which the head and all services constantly keep abreast of what is happening. As a result, warehouse stocks, logistics, the movement of working capital, etc., are optimized.
Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of accounting
From a technical point of view, efficiency becomes maximum. The whole question is in the expedient degree of discreteness of obtaining data. It depends on their specifics, on the specifics of the enterprise. One information must be received daily, the other is enough once a week, or even once a month. Information technologies make it possible to model the information flow in such a way that its various components will reach different recipients exactly in the form and at the time that is necessary for the most effective work of each manager, and not only the manager. One information slice is important for the general director, another for the financial one, the third for the technical one, the fourth for the accountant, and the fifth for the cashier...
A good information system provides that coherence of actions in which money, time, effort and resources are used most efficiently. In principle, it is impossible to achieve such a degree of balance without modern information technologies. Only software products provide each section of the enterprise, each business process with the necessary and sufficient flexibility, and not to the detriment of the flexibility of the entire business organization as a whole. Finding such a "golden mean" is difficult, even more difficult to constantly maintain it. And right here Computer techologies irreplaceable.
Currently, most enterprises are beginning to use information technology in order to restore elementary order. First of all, it must be set efficient system operational accounting. It can be called differently: managerial, economic, production. Either way, it's about traffic control. material resources and costs.
Monitoring of business information in real time
With the help of structural and mathematical models, based on primary information, a visual picture is formed that reflects the life of an enterprise in specific indicators, graphs, tables, from which trends and dynamics of what is happening are visible. This means that you can timely notice both new opportunities and new threats to your business.
Clear evidence of the integration of information technology into a specific production process - CNC machines (numerical program management), known since Soviet times. Today, this area is even more developed, and we can talk not just about individual operations, but about control finished products but also about the quality of the entire technological process, about managing production from a single center. Information technology makes it possible to raise the manufacturability of production by an order of magnitude. And to reduce by an order of magnitude the proportion of defects in finished products.
In addition, modern technologies make it possible to monitor finished products during operation. With a CRM module (client resource management) normally built at the enterprise, feedback from consumers is constantly carried out, and products are improved on its basis.
Requirements for the personnel of the enterprise
Information technology is sometimes referred to as high technology. Naturally, this implies a high qualification of personnel. But if we look deeper into the problem, we can see two differently directed vectors. On the one hand, in order to effectively use a fairly wide range of modern software products, one must have a certain level of thinking, education, and culture of working with technology.
On the other hand, the widespread introduction of information technology at the enterprise can significantly reduce the level of requirements for the qualification of personnel in ordinary positions. It was information technology that allowed the world's leading companies to massively transfer the production of their high-quality goods to developing countries with cheap labor.
Development of corporate culture
As a source of a single information space, high tech have the most favorable impact on the corporate culture of the enterprise. Even if a person, as they say, without looking up, sits at a computer for a whole shift, he still feels like a part of the company, part of the team. With the advent of internal networks, the feeling of a closed workplace did not remain in principle. Even on a business trip, having access to the internal information resources of the enterprise, the employee can fully communicate with his department, participate in the collective solution of tasks facing the entire team. Such constant involvement, of course, increases both labor productivity and the degree of loyalty of the personnel of their company.
Internal portals are a very convenient source of operational information. At the same time, the time required to bring new employees up to date is sharply reduced. If there are changes in the documentation, in the instructions, then they can be made quickly and centrally. The experience of the entire organization is not just recorded in electronic form - it can be optimally structured for practical use and is always available to those who need it in the required volumes.
The procedure for the development and implementation of IS
After the formation of ideas about the necessary "information pyramid" among the first managers of the enterprise, they proceed to the choice of software products and analysis of their potential. Representing the essence of its information needs, the enterprise begins to more clearly analyze specific software products, delving into what kind of operational accounting data they are able to operate and in what form they “push” this or that information to the top of the “information pyramid”.
Today the market offers a lot of software products designed for business management. They are structured by segments: consumers, types of activities, sizes, volumes of information, degree of automation of specific jobs.
The process of development and implementation of IS consists of the following main steps.
1. Based on the relevant questionnaires, a concept is drawn up, which clearly indicates where bottlenecks exist and how to expand them. Specific goals are set and ways to achieve them, an arsenal of technical means that are optimal for these tasks are formulated. Thus, the frame is designed information systems.
2. Training of personnel for the implementation of the system and its training is being carried out.
3. The implementation process is carried out directly.
4. Continuous monitoring of system operation.
For the implementation of the development and implementation of IS in the enterprise, there are two options: a) buy ready-made software products; b) automate business processes by the company's full-time programmers.
Each option has its pros and cons. At first glance, the finished product is more expensive, especially since the cost of implementation is usually added to its direct price. And these costs are comparable to the price of the product itself, sometimes even significantly exceed it. But all these costs are justified if they correspond to the level of problems that need to be solved with the help of information technology. It is sometimes difficult to calculate the net effect of implementation. However, it is possible to operate with such a concept as “loss from non-implementation”. If inaction is costing more and more, then the sooner the enterprise implements the necessary information systems, the better for it.
Analyzing the second option - independent programmer creativity - we can note two paths followed by the majority of supporters of this approach. Sometimes external companies are involved, as a rule, small software firms. They prepare a software product specifically for a specific customer. But there are few such cases. More often, enterprises create internal working groups, which, being in the state of the organization, develop the corresponding software.
Conclusion. IS and the enterprise - a complete system
The visible, material part of the enterprise and its information system form a single whole, the process of development and modification goes both ways. On the one hand, the system is configured for specific business processes of the enterprise. On the other hand, part technological processes can be modified or even arise due to emerging new opportunities and resources provided by the information system.
A reflection of this integrity are two existing basic approaches to enterprise automation: 1) impose an information system on existing business processes; 2) build business processes in accordance with the new requirements dictated by the system. There is no consensus among experts on this issue. A reasonable compromise is to use the advantages of both approaches, depending on the specifics of the enterprise, specific conditions, and features of the information system being installed. To better understand the existing business processes, to identify their pros and cons, it is logical to start from the actual state of affairs. To optimize the activities of the enterprise in accordance with the requirements of the time, international standards, world experience, it is advisable to fully take into account the conceptual essence of the information system. A harmonious synthesis of these two approaches is able to ensure the dynamic movement of a particular business to a more perfect state, which, in general, is the foundation of success in the competitive struggle.
At the moment, we have a significant potential for the development of business and the economy as a whole. Since the implementation of information systems in Russia naturally lags behind Western Europe, the United States, and Japan, we have specific opportunities. First, take ready-made, tested. And secondly, to take into account someone else's experience, other people's achievements and mistakes. As a result, the road, which was sometimes very winding for many foreign pioneer companies, is now more direct for domestic enterprises. understandable, and, importantly, less expensive.
Literature:
Throughout the 20th century, the concept of modernization of education in China has undergone significant changes, reaching the level of transition to the information society model at the beginning of the 21st century. Education at this stage stands at the crossroads of all processes and, in fact, determines the quality of the modernization changes in society.
The successes of Chinese modernization in the 1990s are explained by several factors: first of all, by the fact that it ceased to be a directive descended from above, but began to obey the opposite impulse - public initiative and mechanisms of social self-development; it departed from the original technocratic interpretation, acquiring a broader complex character. The Chinese leadership joined in the realization that modernization goes far beyond economic restructuring, it requires profound transformations in the political, sociocultural and spiritual fields. Particular attention was paid to the transformation of the value orientations of society, the style and quality of its life, and social relations. As a result, changes in the very type of human personality are assumed.
Despite all the successes achieved, the Chinese leadership has repeatedly noted that education does not fully meet national needs. One cannot but agree with the opinion of Chinese scientists: “… due to differences in the material base, culture of the population and educational traditions, the path of China's entry into the information society, especially the entry of education into the information age, will be very different from developed countries. But we should not, emphasizing these differences, be content with lagging behind.
In the Chinese modernization of the education system, it seems to us, there are features that are quite typical for the countries of the Far East region: the paternalistic role of the state in organizing, coordinating reforms and setting goals; special, growing out of Confucian priorities, the role of education as the main source of state prosperity, as a result, plans for the development of education are at the center of all national planning; preservation of national ethical and cultural values while borrowing Western methods and techniques; active attraction of public funds and appeal to investors - compatriots abroad. However, while China, like many Asian countries, still pays too high a price for the preparation of "human capital", the above specific features of its strategy give hope that in the next one or two decades it will overcome the abyss separating it from the most country successes South-East Asia and become equal to them.
Literature:
1. Human development report 2001. N-Y. -0xford, 2001, P.171-172.
2. “China is on the path of modernization and reform. ". M.: Publishing company "Eastern Literature" RAS, 1999. Pp. 368.
3. Deng Xiaoping Building socialism with Chinese characteristics. Articles and speeches. - M.: 1997; Economic reform in China: Evolution and real fruits. - M.: Oriental literature. RAN, 1997.
(BPGU named after Biysk);
Labor productivity and regulation of labor
relations in industry and the agricultural sector
Labor productivity is a qualitative indicator of the dynamics of the development of society and the growth of national wealth. The quantitative measurement of labor productivity in the practice of planning and accounting in the USSR was not widely used. To determine the level of dynamics, growth rates and comparisons of labor productivity at various enterprises and for different periods of time, the most widely used cost (value) method of measurement. It was applied from enterprises to industries and in general National economy. In industry, the total volume of gross output in wholesale prices x (quite stable) was divided by the average number of all industrial and production personnel. In agriculture - by dividing gross output in monetary terms (in comparable prices) by the average headcount.
Soviet statistics recognized that the methods used often led to large distortions in the calculations of the dynamics of labor productivity in enterprises and industries due to changes in the product range, labor intensity, production organization, etc.
However, the very dynamics of production served as the basis for improving the welfare of society and, first of all, through public distribution funds and relatively stable prices for goods and services. Serious conflicts arose primarily in a situation where attempts were made to stimulate agricultural production by reducing rates and prices in industry.
During this period, the country maintained almost full employment of the able-bodied population. At the same time, there was, of course, no direct connection between wages and the level of labor productivity in each production, which generally corresponded to the rule that productivity growth was ahead of wage growth. It should be noted that the heads of enterprises, in order to maintain a normal (from a social point of view) labor collective, sought to ensure for their enterprises an increase in wage funds and other social distribution funds, which was essentially one of the manifestations of social partnership. The trade unions were the holders of the social security fund.
Currently, labor relations in Russia have changed. But as before, most researchers believe that the main task of the state is to create conditions for the growth of labor productivity, which will solve the whole range of labor relations: wages, employment, social guarantees, insurance, etc. within the so-called labor market.
It should be noted that at present, the integral assessment of labor productivity is GDP produced per capita of the country. The comparability of this indicator both between countries and regions of Russia, and even more so between enterprises, is complicated by the fact that bringing it to one price requires the use of the purchasing power parity of currencies (PPP). The methodology of its calculations gives acceptable results for countries with fairly stable convertible currencies. For calculations at the regional level, only expert estimates are allowed. On the other hand, the volume of GDP itself largely does not correspond to the real one due to the shadow component. (meaning the results of the shadow economy.) Attempts to resolve labor disputes on the basis of partnerships between employers and workers with the participation of trade unions are more formal than real, since the trade unions are currently not the fund holders of the social insurance fund.
Under these conditions, the problems of labor relations in many respects acquire purely corporate or regional aspects. In this regard, it should be said directly that such a situation puts subsidized regions in particularly difficult conditions.
At the same time, it is necessary to distinguish between regions with a predominantly industrial population and cities with a so-called. city-forming industrial enterprises and agro-industrial regions. Altai has a clearly defined character of the region of this type.
The essence of the need for such a division lies in the fact that the regulation of labor relations in populated regions of the first type on the basis of labor productivity requires real state attention and special tools from the arsenal. scientific organization labor [see according to this K. Adamecki "The system of scientific organization of labor."]
The peculiarity of the agro-industrial regions is that work force is not alienated from the land as a means of production in relation to the inhabitants of cities with city-forming enterprises. The viability and economic activity of the population of these cities is determined primarily by market (external) economic factors, which set the pace of labor productivity. Employees cannot plan or predict effective performance.
Peasant farming does not require the ideas of NOT to develop effective labor productivity (F. Taylor, K. Adamecki.). A characteristic feature of the family-labor economy is determined by the effect of the “curving supply curve” (definition): when a certain level of saturation of the needs of “eaters” is reached, the peasants increase the prices for their products not by increasing, but by reducing production, since they save on free from the point of view of production costs labor of his family. The owner of the yard is also a worker. Let us note that in the theory of “harmonization” by K. Adamecki there exists for each production industrial enterprise its optimum productivity, which, if exceeded, leads to extravagance. Not taking into account these differences between industrial and agricultural organizations leads in practice to paradoxes noted by the authors (, A.M. Sergienko) in the following works. [see 1. and 2..]
Literature:
1. State regulation of the economy. M. INFRA-M, 20s
2. Economic activity of the population in the labor market and the social policy of Russia: transformational processes at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries: Monograph.- Barna3.-308p.
(BPGU named after Biysk);
scientific adviser - Ph.D. n., Assoc.
To the question of labor productivity
(New reading of Marx)
Political economy knows two great theories that study the problem of equivalent exchange with the help of the category "value", the monetary expression of which is the price. These theories are the labor theory of value of K. Marx and the theory of marginal utility, which have a different categorical apparatus and research methodology.
Of the two named theories, only in the theory of K. Marx the value of value is determined by the amount of working time necessary for society, and with its help it is possible to theoretically solve the practical problem of increasing labor productivity and lowering prices for monopoly enterprises. Also in this theory there is a category of "economic utility" as the ability of a thing to satisfy needs. Or the theory of K. Marx is based on the categories of "the value of a commodity", which is created by abstract labor, and "the economic utility of the same commodity", created by concrete labor.
The production of goods, according to Marx, is the dialectical unity of the material process of labor and the monetary process of creating value. The methodology of dialectical materialism proves that the process of creating the value of a commodity is logically evaluated by the indicator "surplus value", the labor process - by the indicator "capital investments". Because: 1) after the sale of the goods and the receipt of profit (surplus value), the enterprise necessarily reimburses its costs (cost), from which one can mentally ignore for the time being; 2) more surplus product (in terms of money - surplus value) can be obtained only with the help of more productive means of labor or technology (monetary value - capital investments).
But Marx ignores the foundations of marginal utility theories, that is, the changing tastes of contemporaries who reflect through their sensations the objective reality that existed at one time or another, or the psychological motivation of the economic behavior of an individual consumer in relation to this or that thing. In other words, it excludes the individual approach that is present in the theory of marginal utility.
It is known that the representative of equivalent exchange in practice, according to the theory of K. Marx, is the law of value: “According to the law of value, which operates in the exchange of goods, equivalents are exchanged equal to the amount of materialized labor ...”
wrote: "... competition sets in motion the law of value inherent in commodity production ..."
Leading economists are sure: “Competition is an objective law of commodity production, acting as an external coercive force that forces economic agents to increase labor productivity, expand production, accelerate scientific and technological progress... In the era of pre-monopoly capitalism, the so-called. free competition (free competition) of fragmented and relatively small enterprises producing goods for an unknown market. During this period, in the most "pure" form, such forms of competition as intra-industry competition and inter-industry competition appear.
“In the course of K. century. (competition intra-industry) individual producers seek to reduce the cost of production of their products in order to obtain additional profit. K. Marx writes about the same: "... additional profit ... arises ... as a result of a decrease in production costs, production costs."
It is clear that only by raising labor productivity is the producer able to reduce the cost of producing a commodity, which, according to the labor theory of value, reflects the labor time spent on manufacturing a unit of a commodity. According to Marx, "... the greater individual productive power of the labor employed reduces... production costs..." because "... the reduction in production costs is due to the fact that... the best labor methods, new inventions, improved machines are used , chemicals, etc., in short, new, improved, above average means of production and methods of production.
It should be noted that the consumer in the market of free, i.e., pure (perfect) competition, where the supply exceeded the demand for the same product, was "... it does not matter from which particular company he purchases this product ...", because on the pre-monopoly market, all homogeneous goods had the same quality.
Thus, in the first half of the 19th century, according to the theory of K. Marx, with an increase in labor productivity, the costs (cost) for the production of goods always decreased. There is nothing else in his theory.
Of course, when the cost price in the previous price of the goods of the same competing manufacturer decreases, the individual profit contained in this price always increases. The production volumes of this manufacturer are increasing.
In order to capture the sales market, a manufacturer with individual costs below the industry average reduced the base price of his product so that the individual profit in its new lower price was higher than the industry average base price profit by the amount of additional profit. According to Marx, "... a manufacturer who applies a new invention before it has found general distribution sells cheaper (the market price) of his competitors and still higher than the individual value of his goods ... He thus realizes the additional profit" contained in discounted price for each product.
Academician writes: "Enterprises with high labor productivity ... when selling their products ... even at slightly reduced prices receive additional profit ...", which, together with the industry average profit of the base price, determines the individual profit of the new reduced price. Because, according to Marx, surplus profit "... comes down precisely to the excess of individual profit over average profit."
Academician: “Incremental profit - increment of individual profit individual enterprises and companies above its industry average as a result of lower individual production costs”.
In the 19th century, in the pre-monopoly market, according to Marx, the law of value manifested itself qualitatively through the pricing practice of a competitive producer as follows: with an increase in labor productivity, the individual cost of goods decreased, which allowed the manufacturer to slightly reduce its price so that the individual profit contained in the reduced price always increased at the same time.
So, according to K. Marx, the law of value, firstly, through an increase in the profit contained in the price of a product, economically stimulates the reduction of its cost and, as a result, the introduction of the achievements of scientific and technological progress into production; secondly, in the practice of price formation, perfect intra-industry competition since the 16th century, i.e., for the past five hundred years, has always solved the problem of equivalent exchange.
On pages 327-329 of the first volume of Capital, K. Marx described how intra-industry competition clearly changes the price structure.
K. Marx showed that after the introduction of a new, more productive technology, the commodity producer reduces the individual costs of producing a unit of goods of the same quality from 0.92 shillings. up to 0.71s. and doubles labor productivity, from 12 to 24 units. To capture the sales market for an additional 12 pcs. goods, he is forced to reduce the original price of 1.0s. to new, 0.83s. This does not contradict the law of increasing labor productivity. Of course, lowering the price is beneficial to the buyer (consumer). At the same time, the mass of the surplus product of this producer increases, so the relative surplus value (profit) in the exchange value of a unit of his product must increase and increases from 0.08s. (1.0s - 0.92s) to 0.12s (0.83s - 0.71s). Of course, the growth of surplus value (profit) in the equilibrium price of a unit of production is beneficial to the seller (manufacturer).
It should be noted here, according to Marx: 0.92s. - industry average costs; 0.08s. - industry average profit; 0.71s. - individual costs; 0.12s. - individual profit; 1.0s. (0.92 + 0.08) - market (base) price; 0.79s (0.71 + 0.08) - individual price; 0.83s. (0.71 + 0.12) is the new price at which a competing producer sells his product; 0.21s. (1.0 - 0.79) - excess surplus value; 0.04s. (0.83 - 0.79 \u003d 0.12 - 0.08) - additional profit.
Literature:
1. Book one. The process of capital production. Chapter Six: The Results of the Direct Process of Production [Unpublished manuscript for the first volume of Capital] Vol. II (VII) P.69.
2. Marx and Rodbertus. Preface to the first German edition of K. Marx's The Poverty of Philosophy // Works. 2nd ed. T.21. pp.189-190.
3. Political Economy: Dictionary / Ed. etc. M.: Politizdat, 1990. S.215-S.217.
4.
5. Capital. Criticism of political economy. T.3. Book 3. The process of capitalist production taken as a whole. Part 2 // Op. 2nd ed. T.25. Part 2. S.192-S.195.
6. Capital. Criticism of political economy. T.3. Book 3. The process of capitalist production taken as a whole. Part 1 // Op. 2nd ed. T.25. Part 1. P.260.
7. Political Economy: Dictionary / Ed. and others. 3rd ed., add. M.: Politizdat, 1989. P.48.
8. Capital. Criticism of political economy. T.3. Book 3. The process of capitalist production taken as a whole. Part 2 // Op. 2nd ed. T.25. Part 2. P.194.
9. Political Economy: Dictionary / Ed. etc. M.: Politizdat, 1990. P.118.
(BPGU named after Biysk);
scientific adviser - Ph.D., prof.
Labor productivity and its specifics
in the conditions of the Russian economy
Labor productivity is characterized by the ratio of results and labor costs and is the most important indicator of the effectiveness of any socially useful activity. Increasing labor productivity is a priority direction in the development of the economy of industrialized countries. At present, this problem is especially relevant for Russia, since in the conditions of a crisis and a sharp decline in production, an increase in labor productivity is the main source of real economic growth.
In the context of Russia's transition to market relations, there is an urgent need to comprehend new methodological approaches to labor productivity and identify reserves for its growth. It would be unjustified to leave without due attention this important line of theoretical developments. At all stages of economic construction in our country and abroad, much attention was paid to the development of the theory of labor productivity. In a transitional economy, the dependence of labor productivity on changes in the structure of production, the state of the economic mechanism, the prevailing market conditions, and the competitiveness of manufactured goods is increasing. In connection with the growing integration of domestic economic theory into the world scientific system, the issue of mutual enrichment with the achievements of various scientific schools and doctrines, which makes it possible to clarify the conceptual provisions and form a complementary conceptual apparatus. As convergent moments, it is proposed to choose the initial axioms about labor productivity as the most important economic category, as a decisive factor in the intensive development of the economy.
In theory and practice, one should distinguish between the action, manifestation and use of the economic law of increasing labor productivity, since the action of the law is associated with its deep essence, the manifestation - with its superficial, external connections, and the use - with the ability to put into practice both deep and superficial connections.
It has been established that market relations, due to the priority functioning of the mechanism of self-regulation, the looseness of entrepreneurial activity, the use of flexible methods of motivating labor and production, create relatively more effective prerequisites for the susceptibility of scientific and technological progress, the activation of the personal factor, and together with them for growth labor productivity, which is confirmed by the indicators of countries with developed market economies.
In market conditions, it is of particular importance to improve the quality of products, which is a prerequisite for the growth of labor productivity, since it increases the reliability and durability of products, and, moreover, additionally affects the efficiency of labor costs by expanding demand for products, entering new markets, an objective opportunity profit growth.
Contrary to well-established notions, the growth of labor productivity implies not only a reduction in the cost of living labor and an increase in the cost of materialized labor with a general reduction in total labor costs, but in the conditions of the modern scientific and technological revolution, savings of both living and past labor are increasingly being ensured, opening up new horizons for accelerating the economic growth and cheaper production.
Factors affecting the level of labor productivity are classified according to the following criteria and combined into groups:
Natural and climatic create natural prerequisites for a certain initial level of labor productivity;
Technical and organizational predetermine development productive forces society;
Socio-economic represent an integral system of social relations both in the sphere of production and in the non-production sphere and mediate the technical and organizational interaction of the means of production and labor.
In January, inflation fulfilled a third of the annual growth plan. Its indicator for the first month of 2005 exceeded all the most pessimistic expectations of experts and, according to official information, amounted to Federal Service state statistics, 2.6% (earlier it was assumed that prices could rise by 2.1% - 2.4%). This is the highest figure in the last three years. Only in January 2002 it was higher - 3.1%. Recall that the Central Bank set the bar for the maximum inflation rate at around 8.5% this year. According to the unanimous opinion of experts, he will not be able to keep prices within the stated limits, inflation by the end of the year may be, according to various estimates, from 9% to 15%
The decline in employment is a natural process in an economic downturn. In Russia, however, it took on a peculiar form: the decline in output was not accompanied by an adequate reduction in employment, in other words, we are talking about a hidden form of unemployment. Hence, the beggarly wage, which does not allow even a simple reproduction of the labor force.
Participants in the Copenhagen World Summit on Social Development (March 6-12, 1995) stressed that putting unemployment in the background compared to the fight against inflation has gone too far. That the revival on an international scale of the ideas of full employment, which were widespread after the Second World War, would create the basis for the cooperation of states in the interests of increasing productive employment. This approach is an important attribute of the "welfare state".
The problem lies not only in the number of unemployed, but also in the length of stay of people in this state. In our country, for an increasing number of people, unemployment is becoming stagnant and fraught with the loss of labor skills.
The consequence of all this was a rapid decline in the already low standard of living of the population. According to the most optimistic estimates, it is no more than 60% in relation to 1991. According to official statistics, during the period of reforms, the level of real monetary incomes of the population decreased by an average of 40%. It is known that wages at the main place of activity should be the main source of income. A stable parameter in developed countries is that the salary at the main place of work reaches 70-80% of the total income of an employee, that is, it serves as the main source of ensuring his normal life. And we were like that. But by the middle of 1994 this share was already only 45%, and now it is approaching 30%. Consequently, the salary has lost its main functions - reproductive and stimulating, and is essentially a labor benefit.
When analyzing the current situation in the sphere of income and wages, attention is drawn to the degree of their differentiation.
In conditions of financial distress, spending on the social sphere dropped sharply to 9% of GDP. In the opinion of UN human resource development experts, it is necessary to increase social spending to at least 20% of GDP.
Undoubtedly, the level of education of the population is also the cause of poverty. For the population without professional education, the probability of falling into the group of the poor strata of society is very high.
In 2000, among the poorest segments of the population, the proportion of people with higher education amounted to 20.6%, while the proportion of people with basic secondary education was 46.1, and with primary education - 54.8%. These indicators show that the lower the level of education, the higher the degree of poverty.
Currently, the lack of institutional mechanisms in the field of education that ensure the connection between the development of human capital and the growth of the well-being of the country's citizens leads to the fact that the education system reproduces the dependent attitude of citizens towards the state, does not form, and sometimes restrains the activity of the individual in the labor market. Education that does not affect the success of citizens, the efficiency of the economy, does not lead to a strengthening of the state's position on the world stage, cannot be considered of high quality. To ensure quality education, its equal accessibility for all citizens, it is necessary to institutionally restructure the education system based on effective interaction between education and the labor market. The economy of tomorrow is an innovative economy of knowledge, investment projects and high technologies. In order to overcome the growing gap between the content of education, educational technologies, the entire structure and infrastructure of the educational sphere, the level of personnel potential of the education system and the needs of the economy in the new conditions, it is necessary to create mechanisms focused not only on the country's internal socio-economic needs, but also on ensuring Russia's competitiveness in the global labor market. Accelerating the pace of technology renewal leads to the need to develop adequate educational content and appropriate learning technologies. The success of the development of the content and technologies of training is largely related to how effectively the growing discrepancy between the quality of education and the requirements of employers will be reduced.
This lag is primarily expressed in the lack of an adequate response of the vocational education system to the needs of the labor market. More than a quarter of graduates of institutions of higher professional education and about a third of graduates of institutions of secondary vocational education are not employed in the specialty received at the educational institution. And in the case of entering a job in their specialty, they do not know modern and effective ways of working in production. The modern Russian education system is characterized by the virtual absence of the responsibility of educational institutions for final results educational activities . Independent forms and mechanisms for the participation of citizens, employers, and professional communities in resolving issues of educational policy, including in the processes of independent public assessment of the quality of education, are not sufficiently developed. Weak integration of educational and scientific activities in the future can lead to a significant reduction in human resources scientific field. The lack of full-fledged connections between professional education and research and practical activities leads to the fact that the content of education and educational technologies are becoming less and less adequate to modern requirements and tasks of ensuring the competitiveness of Russian education in the world market of educational services. This negatively affects the readiness of the Russian education system to integrate into the global educational and economic space. The inflexibility and inertia of the education system is largely related to the problem of a shortage of teaching staff and management personnel the necessary qualifications. Due to the low level wages the state education system is becoming less and less attractive area of professional activity. The low level of official wages and the underdevelopment of mechanisms for additional legal income lead to an increase in the volume of shadow financial flows in the education system. The decline in the prestige of the teaching profession is the main reason for the outflow of qualified personnel to other areas of activity. The system of retraining and advanced training lagging behind the real needs of the industry does not allow for the development of human resources capable of providing the modern content of the educational process and working using modern educational technologies.
The most attractive option for the teacher career development associated with the prospect of appointment to administrative positions, however effective mechanisms rotation of managerial personnel in the education system has not been developed. The low qualification of a significant part of the administrative and managerial personnel does not allow the development of the education system based on the introduction of effective forms and technologies of organization and management.
Weak susceptibility traditional system education to external demands and the shortage of qualified personnel are a consequence of the discrepancy between the mechanisms of state administration operating in this area and the task of creating favorable conditions for the development of the education system. At the same time, the mechanisms for involving public and professional organizations in the formation and implementation of educational policy are not sufficiently developed. There are no conditions for the development of independent forms of education quality assessment, as well as mechanisms for identifying, supporting and disseminating the best examples of innovative educational activities. A significant degree of discrepancy between the declared goals and objectives of the transformations and the results that are achieved in the process of their implementation is a consequence of the fact that each of the subjects actively operating in the open educational space interprets these goals and objectives in its own way. In the absence of a federal target program, which is one of the main tools for implementing a unified public policy in the field of education, that is, without the use of program-target methods, the existing contradictions cannot be eliminated, and the tasks facing the field of education will not find their solution.
This situation not only indicates the level of education as the cause of poverty, but also emphasizes the urgency of solving this problem in the country. I would like to hope that the Federal Target Program for the Development of Education for years, adopted by the government of the Russian Federation on January 10 this year, will indeed become such a solution.
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