The re-formation of the managerial élite in the Czech Republic

Europe - Asia Studies

Volumn 48, Issue 2, 1996, Pages 285-303

  Clark, Ed ^a   Soulsby, Anna ^a  

^a NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

MANAGERIAL ELITE; POST-COMMUNIST SOCIETY; SOCIAL STRUCTURE;

CZECH REPUBLIC;

EID: 0029846658     PISSN: 09668136     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/09668139608412347     Document Type: Article

References (34)

1. See Mike Haynes, 'Class and Crisis - the Transition in Eastern Europe', International Socialism, March 1992, pp. 45-104.
2. Haynes; see also Alex Callinicos, The Revenge of History: Marxism and the East European Revolutions (Cambridge, Polity Press, 1991), p. 58; Sharon Wolchik, Czechoslovakia in Transition: Politics, Economics and Society (London, Pinter Publishers, 1991), p. 223.
3. Haynes; see also Alex Callinicos, The Revenge of History: Marxism and the East European Revolutions (Cambridge, Polity Press, 1991), p. 58; Sharon Wolchik, Czechoslovakia in Transition: Politics, Economics and Society (London, Pinter Publishers, 1991), p. 223.
4. E.g. Ghita Ionescu, The Politics of the European Communist States (London, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1967); David Lane, The Socialist Industrial State: towards a Political Sociology of State Socialism (London, Allen and Unwin, 1976); Ronald Hill, Soviet Political Elites: the Case of Tiraspol (London, Martin Robertson, 1977); Jacek Wasiliewski, 'The Patterns of Bureaucratic Elite Recruitment in Poland in the 1970s and 1980s', Soviet Studies, 42, 4, 1990, pp. 743-757; David Lane & Cameron Ross, 'The Social Background and Political Allegiance of the Political Elite of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR: the Terminal Stage, 1984 to 1991', Europe-Asia Studies, 46, 3, 1994, pp. 437-463.
5. E.g. Ghita Ionescu, The Politics of the European Communist States (London, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1967); David Lane, The Socialist Industrial State: towards a Political Sociology of State Socialism (London, Allen and Unwin, 1976); Ronald Hill, Soviet Political Elites: the Case of Tiraspol (London, Martin Robertson, 1977); Jacek Wasiliewski, 'The Patterns of Bureaucratic Elite Recruitment in Poland in the 1970s and 1980s', Soviet Studies, 42, 4, 1990, pp. 743-757; David Lane & Cameron Ross, 'The Social Background and Political Allegiance of the Political Elite of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR: the Terminal Stage, 1984 to 1991', Europe-Asia Studies, 46, 3, 1994, pp. 437-463.
6. E.g. Ghita Ionescu, The Politics of the European Communist States (London, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1967); David Lane, The Socialist Industrial State: towards a Political Sociology of State Socialism (London, Allen and Unwin, 1976); Ronald Hill, Soviet Political Elites: the Case of Tiraspol (London, Martin Robertson, 1977); Jacek Wasiliewski, 'The Patterns of Bureaucratic Elite Recruitment in Poland in the 1970s and 1980s', Soviet Studies, 42, 4, 1990, pp. 743-757; David Lane & Cameron Ross, 'The Social Background and Political Allegiance of the Political Elite of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR: the Terminal Stage, 1984 to 1991', Europe-Asia Studies, 46, 3, 1994, pp. 437-463.
7. E.g. Ghita Ionescu, The Politics of the European Communist States (London, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1967); David Lane, The Socialist Industrial State: towards a Political Sociology of State Socialism (London, Allen and Unwin, 1976); Ronald Hill, Soviet Political Elites: the Case of Tiraspol (London, Martin Robertson, 1977); Jacek Wasiliewski, 'The Patterns of Bureaucratic Elite Recruitment in Poland in the 1970s and 1980s', Soviet Studies, 42, 4, 1990, pp. 743-757; David Lane & Cameron Ross, 'The Social Background and Political Allegiance of the Political Elite of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR: the Terminal Stage, 1984 to 1991', Europe-Asia Studies, 46, 3, 1994, pp. 437-463.
8. E.g. Ghita Ionescu, The Politics of the European Communist States (London, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1967); David Lane, The Socialist Industrial State: towards a Political Sociology of State Socialism (London, Allen and Unwin, 1976); Ronald Hill, Soviet Political Elites: the Case of Tiraspol (London, Martin Robertson, 1977); Jacek Wasiliewski, 'The Patterns of Bureaucratic Elite Recruitment in Poland in the 1970s and 1980s', Soviet Studies, 42, 4, 1990, pp. 743-757; David Lane & Cameron Ross, 'The Social Background and Political Allegiance of the Political Elite of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR: the Terminal Stage, 1984 to 1991', Europe-Asia Studies, 46, 3, 1994, pp. 437-463.
9. Anthony Giddens, 'Elites in the British Class Structure', in P. Stanworth & A. Giddens (eds), Elites and Power in British Society (London, Cambridge University Press, 1874), pp. 1-21; Ray Pahl & J. Winkler, 'The Economic Elite: Theory and Practice', in Stanworth & Giddens (eds), pp. 81-101; Richard Whitley, 'The City and Industry: the Directors of Large Companies, their Characteristics and Connections', in Stanworth & Giddens' (eds), pp. 65-80.
10. Anthony Giddens, 'Elites in the British Class Structure', in P. Stanworth & A. Giddens (eds), Elites and Power in British Society (London, Cambridge University Press, 1874), pp. 1-21; Ray Pahl & J. Winkler, 'The Economic Elite: Theory and Practice', in Stanworth & Giddens (eds), pp. 81-101; Richard Whitley, 'The City and Industry: the Directors of Large Companies, their Characteristics and Connections', in Stanworth & Giddens' (eds), pp. 65-80.
11. Anthony Giddens, 'Elites in the British Class Structure', in P. Stanworth & A. Giddens (eds), Elites and Power in British Society (London, Cambridge University Press, 1874), pp. 1-21; Ray Pahl & J. Winkler, 'The Economic Elite: Theory and Practice', in Stanworth & Giddens (eds), pp. 81-101; Richard Whitley, 'The City and Industry: the Directors of Large Companies, their Characteristics and Connections', in Stanworth & Giddens' (eds), pp. 65-80.
12. Frank Parkin, 'Strategies of Social Closure in Class Formation', in F. Parkin (ed), The Social Analysis of Class Structure (London: Tavistock, 1974), pp. 1-18.
13. For a more prolonged conceptual discussion, see an earlier version of this article: Anna Soulsby & Ed Clark, 'The Formation and Re-formation of the Managerial Elite in the Czech Republic', paper presented at the European Science Foundation: European Management and Organisation in Transition workshops, Dynamics of Industrial Transformation: East-Central European and East Asian Comparisons: Budapest University of Economic Sciences, Hungary, 4-7 May 1995.
14. Cf. Wasiliewski, See also, for example, Ionescu, p. 61 ff.; Lane, p. 109.
15. In order to fulfil promises of confidentiality, the names of all the enterprises have been changed. Details of the enterprises have been kept to the minimum necessary for developing the arguments in this article. More detailed information on the enterprises can be found in our other articles and papers cited in these footnotes.
16. Montaže Jesenice is a special case in our sample. As an independent enterprise it has only existed since 1990, when it was separated from Jesenické Strojírny, in which it was the site assembly division. For all information that goes back before 1990, we assume that employment in Jesenické Strojírny counts the same as employment in Montaže Jesenice.
17. In reality, there is some ambiguity here, since there is a handful of managers who had been employed in their enterprises for a period before they moved on to promoted posts within the state economic planning apparatus. With the disbandment of these structures in the two or three years leading up to the Velvet Revolution, these former enterprise managers were re-engaged by their enterprises.
18. Giddens.
19. Cf. Ed Clark & Anna Soulsby, 'Transforming Former State Enterprises in the Czech Republic', Organization Studies, 16, 2, 1995, pp. 215-242; Anna Soulsby & Ed Clark, 'Privatisation and the Restructuring of Enterprise Social and Welfare Assets in the Czech Republic', Industrial Relations Journal, 26, 2, 1995, pp. 97-109.
20. Cf. Ed Clark & Anna Soulsby, 'Transforming Former State Enterprises in the Czech Republic', Organization Studies, 16, 2, 1995, pp. 215-242; Anna Soulsby & Ed Clark, 'Privatisation and the Restructuring of Enterprise Social and Welfare Assets in the Czech Republic', Industrial Relations Journal, 26, 2, 1995, pp. 97-109.
21. This is a common term used to refer to those individuals, often themselves communists or sympathisers, who stood out publicly against the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion. They were persecuted in some way during the normalisation process, losing party membership, their career prospects, and those of their family members.
22. During 1994 this individual returned to an engineering position, and his place was taken by an external member of the new private board of directors. The latter's background has all the hallmarks of nomenklatura status.
23. Agstroj is a more complicated case, where the balance of power is contested not only between former communists and non-communists, but also between the incoming directors from the merging engine manufacturer and the post-1989 but pre-merger Agstroj directors. We were not allowed to get close enough to this recognised conflict to understand its dynamics and implications.
24. Cf. Wasiliewski, p. 754.
25. Anna Soulsby & Ed Clark, 'The Role of Managers in the Emergence of the Privatised Enterprise in the Czech Republic', paper presented at the sixth annual international conference of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-economics, Paris, 15-17 July 1994.
26. See Franz-Lothar Altmann, 'Employment Policies in Czechoslovakia', in J. Adam (ed.), Employment Policies in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (London: Macmillan, 1987); see also Gerald McDermott, 'Rethinking the Ties that Bind. The Limits of Privatisation in the Czech Republic', paper presented at the conference on the 'Social Embeddedness of the Economic Transformation in Central and Eastern Europe', Berlin, September 1993; and Soulsby & Clark, 'The Role of Managers ...'.
27. See Franz-Lothar Altmann, 'Employment Policies in Czechoslovakia', in J. Adam (ed.), Employment Policies in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (London: Macmillan, 1987); see also Gerald McDermott, 'Rethinking the Ties that Bind. The Limits of Privatisation in the Czech Republic', paper presented at the conference on the 'Social Embeddedness of the Economic Transformation in Central and Eastern Europe', Berlin, September 1993; and Soulsby & Clark, 'The Role of Managers ...'.
28. See Franz-Lothar Altmann, 'Employment Policies in Czechoslovakia', in J. Adam (ed.), Employment Policies in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (London: Macmillan, 1987); see also Gerald McDermott, 'Rethinking the Ties that Bind. The Limits of Privatisation in the Czech Republic', paper presented at the conference on the 'Social Embeddedness of the Economic Transformation in Central and Eastern Europe', Berlin, September 1993; and Soulsby & Clark, 'The Role of Managers ...'.
29. Cf. Ian Jeffries, Socialist Economies and their Transition (London, Routledge, 1993), p. 248; Martin Myant, Transforming Socialist Economies (Aldershot, Edward Elgar, 1993), p. 158.
30. Cf. Ian Jeffries, Socialist Economies and their Transition (London, Routledge, 1993), p. 248; Martin Myant, Transforming Socialist Economies (Aldershot, Edward Elgar, 1993), p. 158.
31. See McDermott; also Soulsby & Clark, 'The Role of Managers ...'.
32. Cf. Soulsby & Clark, 'Privatisation ...'.
33. ibid.
34. See, for example, Ed Clark & Anna Soulsby, 'Enterprise Restructuring and the Community in the Czech Republic: the Role of Embeddedness', paper presented at the Economic and Social Research Council's East-West Initiative Workshops, London, 9-10 December 1994.