Behavior strategies in a competitive environment. Strategic planning and competitive strategies Strategies for behavior in a competitive environment by example
2.2 Strategies for behavior in a competitive environment
Analysis of the competitive environment, the structure of competitive forces, the study of competitors, the firm's understanding of its position in the competitive environment allows the development of an appropriate strategy of behavior in the competitive struggle. F. Kotler and R. Turner distinguish four fairly clearly defined positions in which firms can be on the competitive field:
1) position of the leader in the market;
2) the position of challenging the market environment;
3) the position of the next leader;
4) the position of those who know their place in the market.
Market leader strategy.
The company-leader of the product market takes a leading place, and competitors also recognize this. To defend its leading position, the leading firm has a whole range of strategic alternatives at its disposal.
First, it can pursue an innovation strategy based on leadership in new products and systems to deliver them to customers. Second, the leader can use an entrenchment strategy to maintain competitive strength. This strategy focuses on maintaining affordable prices and updating the product with new sizes, shapes and brands. Third, the leader can implement a confrontational strategy that involves quick and targeted responses to the challenger.
A strategy that challenges the market environment
The goal of this strategy is to take the place of the leader. A firm that challenges the market environment must be strong enough but not in a leadership position. The main strategic goal of the growth of such firms is to capture additional parts of the market by recapturing them from other firms. There are two choices of strategies:
1) attack on the leader;
2) an attack on a weaker and smaller competitor.
For example, a firm can launch an attack on a leader only if it has clear competitive advantages, and the leader has disadvantages that the firm can use in the competitive struggle. To conduct a competitive struggle with any of these methods, the following means can be used:
Setting 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;
Improving customer service, especially the system of transportation and delivery of goods;
Improvement and expansion of sales and distribution systems;
Following the Leader Strategy
Following the leader is a competitor with a small market share, in its activities it coordinates its decisions with those of competitors. This strategy is typical for small businesses.
The follower's strategy of competitive behavior is that he does not seek to attack the leader, but strictly guards his market share. The Follower tries to retain its customers, although it does not refuse to gain its share in the newly emerging markets.
The strategy of firms that know their proper place in the market
The strategy of competition for firms that know their place in the market is focused on finding and capturing those segments that do not generate interest or are temporarily not occupied by stronger competitors. In order to conduct business in these unoccupied niches, a firm must have a strict specialization.
Competition can be conducted in a secret and open manner. The secret form takes place in determining the strategy of behavior between the largest firms, international corporations. The largest firms understand that open fighting is pointless. Therefore, they are forced to conspire. Since it is legally prohibited in an open form in most countries, it is carried out secretly. Firms, assessing the strength of each other, tacitly recognize the right of primacy for one subject. He becomes a "trendsetter", and the rest adapt to him.
Open competition is conducted by price and non-price methods. The essence of price rivalry comes down to price level manipulation and this attracts buyers. A system of various discounts is also used for special conditions for purchasing goods (on credit or for cash). However, a purely pricing strategy is in itself ambiguous, because there is a natural threshold for lower prices - the level of costs. In addition, dumping policies are prohibited by law in most countries. Competitors are also starting to cut prices. As a result, everyone suffers losses, and the balance of power remains the same.
Therefore, today many enterprises are abandoning price competition and moving to non-price competition. In this case, the object of manipulation is the quality of the product, its after-sales service, the organization of payment and other factors.
Information about the choice of the type of competition (price or non-price) is important for determining the competitive strategy of an enterprise.
3. Industry strategies based on the industry life cycle model
3.1 Strategies in the early stages of the industry
During the years of the industry's inception, the patterns according to which it will function have not yet been formed. Market parameters (capacity, segment structure, growth rate, etc.) can be estimated only by expert methods. There is uncertainty about the effectiveness of certain technologies, consumer preferences, and there may be difficulties in providing raw materials and components. Entry barriers to the industry at this stage are relatively low, so both large and small organizations can enter the industry market. Changes in the industry (innovations) are carried out dynamically, there is a short life cycle of goods (since after the start of their implementation on the market, they are often refined and improved).
Some of the most effective incipient strategies include:
A 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 the effect of scale and successfully resist competitors);
Defensive strategy (to protect your market share and defend against imitating competitors through patents, know-how, monopoly position, price and non-price competition, etc.);
The strategy of forming a corporate trademark (brand) - this helps to ensure prestige, confidence in the appropriate level of product quality;
Skimming strategy (setting high yen at the beginning of a novelty, and then decreasing them as the market becomes saturated). This allows you to quickly recoup the costs of R&D and market development;
Low yen strategy to conquer the market and quickly break away from competitors;
A strategy for expanding global demand (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 potential for growth in the industry;
The strategy of relentlessly following the leader (for imitating firms) and deliberately dividing the market;
A strategy of direct attack on the leader (most often this is the strategy of small venture capital firms).
In this group of strategies, there are four fairly well-defined positions in which firms can be in the competitive field:
1) Position of the leader in the market;
2) Position of challenging the market environment;
3) Follower position;
4) The position of the one who knows his place in the market.
Market leader.A firm that has chosen this strategy can try to implement it in the following ways:
1) Expand the overall market for the product by attracting new consumers, searching for new opportunities for using the product or intensifying the consumption of the product:
2) Expand your market share in the event that a course for accelerated growth is taken, or maintain the existing market share in the event that accelerated growth of the company is not expected.
A firm that challenges the market environment.The firm that has chosen this strategy must be strong enough, but not in a leadership position. The main strategic goal of such firms is to capture additional market shares by recapturing them from other firms. In the transition to the implementation of this goal, the company must clearly define for itself from whom it is going to win 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 attacking a leader:
1) The firm takes an open, direct blow to the leader. In this case, the competitive struggle proceeds according to the principle of "strength against strength". In such a fight, the one who has the most resources and who has strong advantages usually wins;
2) The firm carries out a flank attack on the leader. In this case, the attack goes along those directions in which the leader has weaknesses. Typically, these areas are either a region where the leader does not have a strong position, or a need that is not covered by the leader's product;
3) The firm is launching an attack in all directions. In this case, the leader has to defend his forward positions, and the rear, and the flanks. For successful completion, this type of attack requires much more resources from the attacking company, 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, wins him. The most common types of flank attacks are creating a replacement product or opening new geographic markets. A roundabout attack is also widely used in the form of the development and implementation of new product manufacturing technologies;
5) Guerrilla warfare.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 selects the markets where the leader is weakest and makes quick attacks on him in order to gain some advantage. At the same time, it is very important for the firm to have constant readiness both to start an attack and to stop it.
To compete with any of the five methods, the following means can be used:
§ Setting prices for products that are lower than those for the products of the attacked person;
§ Launching a new product on the market and creating new needs;
§ Improving customer service, in particular the system of transportation and delivery of goods;
§ Improvement and expansion of sales and distribution systems;
Follower competitive behavior.It consists in the fact that he does not seek to attack the leader, but clearly protects his market share. The follower tries to retain his customers, although he does not give up his share in the newly created markets. An important feature of running a business of such a company is that it is quite highly profitable and in its market strategy focuses on profit. This takes her away from the intense competition.
Competition strategy for firms that know their proper place in the market.It focuses 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 successfully conduct business in these unoccupied market niches, a firm must have a very strict specialization, very carefully study its area in the market, develop only within the limits of well-defined permissible 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), stage of the life cycle, 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 recession. Businesses in these industries are developing similar strategies:
1) Emerging industry strategies. Among the most effective strategies at the inception stage 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 the effect of scale and successfully counteract competitors);
§ Defensive strategy (to protect their market share and protect themselves from competitors - imitators through patents, know - how, monopoly position, price and non - price competition, etc.);
§ The strategy of forming a corporate trade mark (brand) - this helps to ensure prestige, confidence in the appropriate level of product quality;
§ The “skimming” strategy (setting high prices for a novelty at the beginning, and then decreasing them as the market becomes saturated);
§ A strategy of low prices to conquer the market and quickly break away from competitors;
§ Strategy for expanding global demand (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 potential for growth in the industry;
§ Strategy of relentlessly following the leader (for imitating firms) and deliberately dividing the market;
§ Strategy of direct attack on the leader.
2) Maturity strategy. At this stage, the following strategies are recommended:
§ Ensuring strong long-term relationships with suppliers and consumers, based on mutual trust and mutual benefit;
§ Development of a sales network;
§ Search for new market segments, development of new regions;
§ Revitalization of the development of a mature industry (with the help of 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 of production, use of cheap raw materials, cheap labor, etc.);
§ Strategy to expand the market for higher profits;
§ Profit stabilization strategy;
§ Strategy for improving performance.
3) Strategy at the stage of the industry downturn. At this stage, the following strategies are shown:
§ The strategy of searching for market niches or segments of the remaining stable demand;
§ A strategy of misinformation of competitors, promoting their massive exit from the industry in order to remain one of the few industry organizations and take a leading position;
§ Harvesting strategy (controlled reduction of investments in order to maximize income streams);
§ Strategy for entering international markets;
§ A strategy for narrowing the range of products manufactured to maximize the effect of scale;
§ Strategy for introducing technological and organizational innovations to improve production efficiency;
§ Strategy for exiting this industry (selling part or all of the assets).
5. Portfolio (corporate) strategies -these are strategies that describe the general direction of development of a firm with various types of business and is aimed at balancing the list (portfolio) of goods and services. Strategic decisions at this level are the most difficult, as they relate to the firm as a whole. This group of strategies includes:
1) Strategy based on the analysis of enterprise products on the BCG (Boston Consulting Group) matrix.
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 they require significant investments to ensure high growth rates;
§ “Cash cows” are former commodities - “stars” after a slowdown in market growth. These goods no longer require large investments, but they give a 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 because they are located in unattractive industries. Most often, these business units have to be disposed of.
The desired sequence of market development for most products is as follows:
As a result of the analysis using the BCG matrix, the following strategies are possible:
- Product development - "problem" to the "star" level;
- Investing in the growth of a "star"
- Maintaining the profitability of cash cows and investing in other divisions;
- Liquidation of a unit or "harvesting".
2) Strategy based on the analysis of the McKincey - General Electric matrix;
3) Strategy based on Arthur D. Little matrix;
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SECTIONII
ECONOMY AND EDUCATION
scientific adviser - Ph.D. D., prof.
Modeling and strategy selection
competitive behavior of agents in the market
The variety of competitive strategies and organizational forms of business entities creates many strategic opportunities and seemingly immense scope for an agent to choose a successful competitive strategy. In order to navigate this space of solutions and successfully fit into the market structure, you need to adequately assess your place in it.
One of the analyst's tasks 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 an organization in it. The most commonly used strategy forecasting using SWOT-analysis... The essence of the method lies in the formation of a matrix that takes into account the combination of the strengths and weaknesses of the organization, its capabilities and threats from the external environment. Also used benchmarking technology - 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 research object in functional cost analysis (FSA).
One of the meanings of the term “strategy” used in the strategic management literature 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 behavior strategies.
As shown by M. Porter and F. Kotler, in all industries with competitive interaction, there are three basic types of organizational behavior strategies - “skimmers”, “cost leaders” and “niche players”.
“Skimming cream ”Use their monopoly on the production and sale of innovative products, or simply significantly outstrip competitors not only in the development of new products, but also in bringing them to the market. In fact, it is possible to establish monopolistically (i.e., in the absence of real competition) high prices for goods in high demand. This strategy allows you to get high returns on invested capital even with a small market share, if you can gain a foothold on it, often these are companies created for a short-term project and disappearing when competitors appear (in particular, venture capital firms). However, this strategy is associated with high risk and requires proactive 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 beverages is liquidated). This is the stage of capturing and dividing the market.
“Cost Leaders ”Have effective mechanisms to capture resources and intensify production. They find ways to produce a unit of output using less labor and materials. This requires certain reserves in reducing costs or significant continuous investment in rationalizing production in order to maintain a constant price advantage and expand sales of products. They are adapted to live in resource-rich and, accordingly, densely “populated” systems (the market is divided). In the economic space, true competitors are firms (banks), which, by ousting all competitors from the market, have achieved an almost unsinkable position under these conditions and, in terms of the volume of operations, many times (and often orders of magnitude) surpass their closest rivals (for example, Microsoft).
3) Monopolistic competition Chamberlina refers to the normal equilibrium state of the market, excluding the "exploitation" of hired labor and corresponding to the needs of buyers. This equilibrium state does not require government intervention.
It is obvious that each of these three approaches characterizes only one side of the existing economic reality. Understanding its diversity requires a synthesis of these approaches. One of the attempts to synthesize neoclassical and neo-Keynesian approaches was undertaken in V. Maevsky's monograph “Introduction to Evolutionary Economics” (Moscow: 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 life cycle in economic systems is shown in works, etc.: theory imperfect competition Robinson matches ruderal (initial) stage of development of the economic system, theory perfect competition – competitive stage, and monopolistic competition Chamberlin - stress-tolerant (final) stage of system development.
The life cycle of competition (LCL) is a flow of life cycles (LC - a complete description of an object, including all stages of its development: “birth”, development, “withering away”) of agents, resources, their interactions and the entire system (market) as a whole. Therefore, the mathematical model of the life-cycle complex 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 (macroparameters).
Numerical modeling of the competition life cycle (LCL) fills in the gaps in its existing descriptions, which are of an informal qualitative nature. The prototype of the LCM model is the growth model during phase transitions in physical systems in which there is competition between the nuclei of a new phase for the substance of the initial (parent) phase. The life cycle model in economic systems takes into account the variable and fixed costs of each agent. Numerical modeling is carried out in the computing environment of "cellular automata".
A quantitative description of the life cycle policy allows us to establish: a) selection criteria at each of the stages and their economic interpretation; b) the existing basic types of scenarios for the development of the life cycle in economic systems and the possibility of identifying them 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 life cycle (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 form of each agent, the distribution of resources, particles of the environment and agents on the lattice form competition morphology model; their interactions with each other determine behavior model; external control the functioning of the model is realized by changing its parameters over time; a limited number of particles (resource) on the lattice allows observing everything stages of self-development systems (life cycle).
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 of the environment of agents' functioning in the consideration. In the traditional zero-sum game model, exchange leads to a redistribution of the resource between agents, which is typical only for a stable market that is divided among 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 capabilities.
A decrease in the level of the agent's fixed costs (with the same structure of assets) in the model is interpreted as a result of introducing a basic innovation (one or more), a decrease in the share of variable costs (with the same income) is interpreted as a result of introducing improving innovations (one or several). The results of calculations using the model will make it possible to substantiate the universality of the life cycle trajectory in economic systems, which is necessary for predicting the development of the system and managing it.
This work was carried out with the partial support of the Russian Foundation for the Humanities (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 socio-economic reforms in Russia in the overwhelming majority of cases is considered from the point of view of improving legislation, developing industrial policy, changes in the public administration system, etc. Education as a system-forming element of the functioning of society in such a context is rarely discussed. However, even when discussing ways to modernize Russian education, most of all "copies" break down around the problems of the content of secondary education, financing of the first higher education - in a word, society's attention is concentrated only on secondary and basic higher education. Much less often and almost exclusively on the pages of specialized publications there are reviews of business education programs, which usually boil down 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, to a significant extent, determines and will determine the course of socio-economic reforms in the country and therefore should become the subject of detailed discussion by specialists and representatives of the business community.
There are several components in higher education. 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 at the transfer of fundamental knowledge, as well as preparation for activities related to the skills of seeking, obtaining and developing knowledge. The key element here is precisely the acquisition of knowledge, while the development of skills serves the process of augmentation and transmission of knowledge. Vocational education is understood as education aimed at preparing for a specific professional practice. It is focused on the acquisition of practical knowledge and the formation of primary professional skills. In the system of vocational education, the training of specialists in the field of certain technologies and competencies (engineers, doctors, teachers, psychologists, etc.) and managers is distinguished.
The training of professional managers has a distinct specificity, since, on the one hand, it is more focused on obtaining practical skills, and on the other, it has a much greater element of creativity, a higher level of personalization, and a greater share of life experience. Accordingly, management training cannot, to the same extent as "purely professional" training, rely on templates. Sometimes the specified specifics of teaching management are 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 about business education).
Today, management education in Russia can be obtained in several ways.
The first - formal-traditional - method consists in obtaining a bachelor's or master's degree in management or a specialist diploma in this field. In other words, we are talking about the first higher education. This method is 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 from the first: it consists in obtaining education in management as a second higher education (in addition to any first). 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 who are already working as managers.
The third way is professional retraining in 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 the fundamental training of a specialist in a new field, and therefore their graduates are not given a new qualification, which in Russia, with its deep-rooted "trust" in government documents, is a serious drawback.
Finally, a relatively new type of educational programs in the field of management are MBA programs (higher management qualifications 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. at the initiative of the Russian Association of Business Education (RABO). MBA programs, in accordance with the concept approved by the Ministry of Education, are aimed at training highly qualified managers who are capable of leading the organization as a whole, that is, these are "generalist" programs, however, allowing 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 the final effective demand for business education is presented by individuals, and not by families or enterprises.
So which sectors of the economy will be primarily demanding 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 increasing their efficiency. These enterprises must have market criteria for their efficiency and their existence. Until now, many "old" manufacturing enterprises and the overwhelming majority of social enterprises exist to maintain their existing employment. Such enterprises - social institutions - generate no added value or produce negative value added.
We can assess the demand for business education only in the most general form, highlighting the priority HR strategies of enterprises and taking them as common for groups of enterprises of the same size.
The "quality undergrowth" strategy. Large businesses will have a constant demand for MBA and specialized workshop programs to fill dozens of jobs, starting with junior managers. In 5 years, thousands of large enterprises (instead of hundreds of today) will be characterized by such behavior in Russia, the estimate of aggregate demand is tens of thousands of MBA and MB (s) per year.
The "full team" strategy. Medium enterprises with more than 100 employees show demand for craftsmen only until the management team is filled with specialized managers. The required set ranges from executive + finance (minimal configuration) to executive + finance + marketing + informatics + HR + PR. It should be noted that the positions of functional managers can be replaced by graduates of the corresponding bachelor's programs. The total demand for master programs by 2010 will amount to 50-100 thousand per year.
A strategy for routine small businesses. Typically routine small businesses operate on a family basis and rarely have a demand for business education programs. Nevertheless, taking into account the Russian tradition of "preference for a higher education" and the absence of traditions of doing such a business, an effective demand for business education, even of a master's level, may arise in the market. An indispensable factor is the availability of a proposal for appropriate programs with preferential financial conditions (educational loans). In this case, it is possible to estimate the aggregate demand in thousands of applications per year, after 2010 - in tens of thousands.
Strategy for an innovative small business. Businesses of this kind, as a rule, are started by a group of specialists - bearers of intellectual capital (real or potential holders of intellectual property). The 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.
1990 - 2004 the bulk of Russian universities have organized academic programs in economic and management education, and over a quarter have organized programs of one kind that can be classified as business education. The strategies of universities, led by representatives of "traditional" faculties, are based on the attitude to business education as an externalization of the existing staff of the corresponding (and in some cases, non-core) faculties. Business education is viewed as a means of current replenishment of the university's budget, which can allow it to "wait 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, a relatively narrow group of leading universities can be distinguished, which
switched to a strategy of investing in business education programs, since 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. Obviously, such universities will rapidly expand their business education programs, but it can be assumed that, given staff and territorial constraints, their market share will even decline.
Private educational programs are an alternative to public universities. Their "Achilles' heel" is the lack of their own teaching staff, which does not make it possible to organize constant contact between students and teachers, which is necessary for consulting and carrying out educational projects. In addition, the lack of an inherited material base also diverts resources and prevents investment in program development. There are prerequisites for a supply crisis, its discrepancy 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 corresponding programs may occur (similar to the devaluation of engineering education in the 1970s - 1980s, as well as economic and legal education in the 1990s). The obvious inconsistency of the quality of "Russian MBA" with international standards will lead to a narrowing of the capabilities of domestic firms in terms of penetrating foreign markets and weakening their competitive positions in the national market. In the longer term, it is likely that "Russian" business education will be replaced by imported programs from mid-range Western business schools.
Provided the formation of an effective system of quality control of 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 vocational education in the relevant field, which to a certain extent can slow down the adaptation of education to the realities of Russian business. The impact of the education system on business development in this case will be neutral. Nevertheless, high (monopoly) prices for high-quality Russian master-level programs will gradually stimulate 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 a variety of new specialties;
Universities received the right to include in the curriculum disciplines that complement education in a specialty (university component);
Access to education in non-state universities has expanded on a fee-paying basis in state universities.
Negative changes:
The growing number of people with higher education does not correspond to the real needs of the economy;
Graduates (50-60%) cannot find work in their specialty;
The state does not form an order for specialists, which would provide for crediting of 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 payment of teachers, providing students with teaching aids and maintaining conditions of minimal "social attractiveness" (maintenance of premises, buffet services, etc.), then the vast majority of programs lack resources for retraining teachers, inviting practitioners, collection and analysis of specific situations from the practice of Russian business. If free resources become available, they are usually withdrawn to cover current needs in the business education model - cash cow, 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 ineffective management of universities, to a change in inertial survival strategies to investment strategies for finding and developing new educational markets. Of course, 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 a solution to the problem of resources - would be the system of state guarantees for educational loans. As noted, consumers of business education are much more likely than consumers of other educational programs to anticipate and plan their future careers and income. In the context of a shortage of highly qualified managers in the labor market, an increase in the 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 raise 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 testing ground for educational reform.
(Ural State Technical University);
scientific adviser - Ph.D. n., p. n.s.
System solution of the problem of increasing the efficiency of enterprises based on information technologies
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 is efficient. The timeliness of obtaining certain information from the system allows us to speak about the appearance of certain data. When their reliability is guaranteed, it is already possible to talk about information. If its completeness is ensured in all necessary and essential aspects, then the most important thing appears - knowledge.
Let the sales volume at the enterprise have increased by one and a half times. It is possible that the resulting additional income is significantly less than the costs incurred to support this growth. The sales increase rate is just data. More detailed information in relation to specific categories of customers and products is already information. And only its analysis in the context of costs, marketing activities and market prospects leads to knowledge about whether such sales growth is really beneficial, and if so, how to increase it in the future.
Another important aspect of a 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 sheet can be presented to the owner or chief executive in the most convenient form, 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 existing at most domestic enterprises, which was adopted back in Soviet times, implies the presence of a huge mass of paper carriers, 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. By this time, the leaders will already 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, the sales department does its own ... A complex system, within 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 a single center, without a single operational accounting, it may happen that some positions at a particular moment are too many, others are not at all. And this can turn into not just an irrational use of financial resources, but also a hindrance in the execution of an important and profitable order, a lost profit.
Even less often there is a holistic picture in the case of 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 industrial enterprises with branches in other areas, a unified 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 the use of information technologies in full, a "bureaucratic gimmick" 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 more than a few minutes.
Enterprise information pyramid
The optimal combination of efficiency and reliability when working with information is ensured, 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 collected information. 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 "folding" information, there are general principles. One of the basic ones is technological guarantees that all the necessary amount of primary information will be collected in the prescribed form, on time and according to a certain method. This allows you to rely on the following principle - the ability to visually see the dynamics of 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 - the maximum detail and minimum dynamics, and on the upper - vice versa. This allows the management not to drown in trifles and to keep abreast of the trends and dynamics that are most significant for the business at the moment.
"Information pyramid" is perhaps the best mirror of the 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.
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 constructed as follows. The central office has the necessary server and software to keep track of all the most important processes. Exactly the same software is found in branch offices and remote divisions engaged in a similar type of business. At a given frequency or in on-line mode, a database of the parent enterprise is formed, with the help of which the manager and all services constantly keep their finger on the pulse of what is happening. As a result, warehouse stocks, logistics, movement of working capital, etc., 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 appropriate degree of discreteness of data acquisition. It depends on their specifics, on the specifics of the enterprise. One information needs to be received daily, the other is enough and 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 come to different addressees 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 informational slice is important for the CEO, another for the financial, the third for the technical, the fourth for the accountant, and the fifth for the cashier ...
A good information system provides the coherence in which money, time, effort and resources are used most effectively. In principle, it is impossible to achieve such a degree of balance without modern information technologies. Only software products provide each part of the enterprise, each business process with the necessary and sufficient flexibility, and not at the expense of the flexibility of the entire business organization as a whole. It is difficult to find such a "golden mean", it is even more difficult to maintain it constantly. And here it is computer technologies that are irreplaceable.
Nowadays, most enterprises are beginning to use information technology in order to establish basic order. First of all, an effective operational accounting system must be installed. It can be called in different ways: management, economic, production. In any case, we are talking about controlling the movement of material resources and costs.
Real-time monitoring of business information
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.
A clear evidence of the integration of information technology into a specific production process is CNC (numerical control) machines, known since Soviet times. Today this area is even more developed, and one can speak not just about individual operations, about control of finished products, but also about the quality of the entire technological process, about production management from a single center. Information technologies make it possible to raise the manufacturability of production by an order of magnitude. And an order of magnitude to reduce the proportion of defects in finished products.
In addition, modern technologies allow monitoring of finished products and during operation. With the CRM (client resource management) module normally built at the enterprise, feedback from consumers is carried out constantly, on its basis the products are improved.
Requirements for the personnel of the enterprise
Information technology is sometimes called high technology. Naturally, this also implies high qualifications of personnel. But if you look at the problem deeper, you can see two oppositely 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 a culture of working with technology.
On the other hand, the widespread introduction of information technologies at the enterprise can significantly reduce the level of requirements for the qualifications of personnel in ordinary positions. It is information technology that has 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 technologies have the most favorable effect on the corporate culture of an enterprise. Even if a person, as they say, without stopping, sits at the computer for a whole shift, he still feels like part of the company, part of the team. With the advent of internal networks, the feeling of a closed workplace has disappeared in principle. Even on a business trip, having access to the internal information resources of the enterprise, an employee can fully communicate with his department, participate in the collective solution of tasks facing the entire team. Such constant involvement certainly increases both labor productivity and the degree of loyalty of the staff to their company.
Internal portals are a very convenient source of work information. At the same time, the amount of time required to bring new employees up to date is dramatically reduced. If changes are ripe 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 top managers of the enterprise, they proceed to the choice of software products and the analysis of their potential. Presenting the essence of its information needs, the company 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 to "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 workplaces.
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 the bottlenecks exist and how to address them. Specific goals are set and ways to achieve them are formulated, an arsenal of technical means that is optimal for these tasks. Thus, the framework of information systems is designed.
2. Personnel are being trained for the implementation of the system and trained.
3. The implementation process is carried out directly.
4. Continuous monitoring of system operation.
There are two options for the development and implementation of IS at the enterprise: a) buy ready-made software products; b) automate business processes with the help of the company's full-time programmers.
Each option has its own pros and cons. At first glance, the finished product is more expensive, especially since the cost of implementation is usually added to its immediate 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 using 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 costs more and more, then the sooner the company implements the necessary information systems, the better for it.
Analyzing the second option - independent programming creativity - we can note two paths followed by most of the supporters of this approach. Sometimes external companies are involved, usually small software firms. They prepare a software product specifically for a specific customer. But such cases are few. Most often, enterprises create internal working groups that, being in the organization's staff, develop the corresponding software.
Conclusion. IP and the enterprise - a holistic system
The visible, material part of the enterprise and its information system form a single whole, the process of development and modification goes in both directions. On the one hand, the system is configured for specific business processes of the enterprise. On the other hand, part of the technological processes can be modified or even arise due to the emerging new opportunities and resources provided by the information system.
This integrity is reflected in two existing basic approaches to enterprise automation: 1) to 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 on this issue among specialists. A reasonable compromise is to use the merits of both approaches, depending on the specifics of the enterprise, specific conditions, and features of the information system being installed. In order to better understand the existing business processes, to identify their pros and cons, it is logical to start from the actual state of affairs. In order to optimize the activities of the enterprise in accordance with the requirements of the time, international standards, and world experience, it is advisable to take into account the conceptual essence of the information system in full. The 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 introduction of information systems in Russia, naturally, lags behind Western Europe, the United States, Japan, we have specific opportunities. First, take ready-made, tried and tested. And secondly, take into account someone else's experience, someone else's achievements and mistakes. As a result, the road, which was sometimes rather winding for many foreign pioneer companies, is more straightforward for domestic enterprises today. understandable, and, importantly, less expensive.
Literature:
Over the course of the 20th century, the concept of modernization of education in China has undergone significant changes, reaching at the beginning of the 21st century the level of transition to the information society model. Education at this stage stands at the crossroads of all processes and, in fact, determines the quality of modernization changes in society.
The successes of Chinese modernization in the 90s are explained by several factors: first of all, by the fact that it has ceased to be a directive descended from above, but has begun to obey the opposite impulse - public initiative and mechanisms of social self-development; it moved away from the original technocratic interpretation, acquiring a broader complex character. The Chinese leadership joined the realization that modernization goes far beyond the framework of economic restructuring, it requires deep transformations in the political, socio-cultural and spiritual areas.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 are assumed in the very type of person's personality.
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 way 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 be content with lagging behind in emphasizing these differences. "
In the Chinese modernization of the education system, it seems to us, there are traces 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 prosperity for the state, as a result, education development plans are at the center of all national planning; preserving national ethical and cultural values \u200b\u200bwhile adopting Western methods and techniques; active attraction of public funds and an appeal to investors - compatriots abroad. However, despite the fact that China, like many Asian countries, is still paying too high a price for the preparation of "human capital", the above specific features of its strategy allow us to hope that in the next one or two decades it will overcome the chasm that separates it from the greatest successes of the countries of South-East Asia, and will be on a par.
Literature:
1. Human development report 2001. N-Y. –0xford, 2001, P. 171-172.
2. “China 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 .: Eastern literature. RAS, 1997.
(BPGU named after, Biysk);
Labor productivity and labor regulation
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 is not widespread. To determine the level of dynamics, growth rates and comparisons of labor productivity at different enterprises and for different periods of time, the value (value) method of measurement has become the most widespread. It was used from enterprises to industries and the whole national economy. In industry, the total volume of gross output in wholesale prices x (fairly stable) was divided by the average number of all industrial production personnel. In agriculture - by dividing gross output in monetary terms (in comparable prices) by the average number on the list.
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 range of products, labor intensity, organization of production, etc.
However, the very dynamics of production served as the basis for increasing the welfare of society, primarily through public distribution funds and relatively stable prices for goods and services. Serious conflicts arose primarily in a situation when attempts were made to stimulate agricultural production by reducing rates and prices in industry.
During this period, almost full employment of the able-bodied population was maintained in the country. At the same time, of course, there was no direct connection between wages and the level of labor productivity in each production facility, which generally corresponded to the rule of outstripping the growth of productivity of wage growth. It should be noted that, in order to maintain a normal (from a social point of view) labor collective, the heads of enterprises 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 unions were the holders of the social security fund.
Labor relations in Russia have changed. But still, most researchers believe that the main task of the state is to create conditions for the growth of labor productivity, which will allow solving the entire complex of labor relations: wages, employment, social guarantees, insurance, etc. within the framework of the so-called labor market.
It should be noted that at present, the GDP per capita of the country is recognized as the integral assessment of labor productivity. The comparability of this indicator both between the countries and regions of Russia, and even more so by enterprises, is complicated by the fact that bringing it to the same prices requires the use of the purchasing power parity index (PPPP). The methodology for calculating it gives acceptable results for countries with fairly stable convertible currencies. For calculations at the regional level, only expert estimates are permissible. On the other hand, the volume of GDP itself largely does not correspond to the real one due to the shadow component. (This refers to 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 not currently fund holders of the social insurance fund.
In these conditions, the problems of labor relations in many ways acquire purely corporate or regional aspects. In this regard, it should be said directly that this situation puts subsidized regions in especially difficult conditions.
At the same time, one should distinguish regions with a predominantly industrial population with cities that have so-called. city-forming industrial enterprises and agro-industrial regions. Altai has a distinct character of this type of region.
The essence of the need for such a division is that the regulation of labor relations in populated regions of the first type on the basis of the labor productivity indicator requires really state attention and special tools from the arsenal of the scientific organization of labor [see. on this K. Adamecki "System of scientific organization of labor."]
The peculiarity of agro-industrial regions is that the labor force is not alienated from the land as a means of production relative to the inhabitants of cities with city-forming enterprises. The viability and economic activity of the population of these cities is determined primarily by the conjuncture (external) economic factors that set the rate of labor productivity. Employees cannot plan or predict effective performance.
The peasant economy does not require the ideas of NOT for the development of effective labor productivity (F. Taylor, K. Adametsky.). A characteristic feature of the family-labor economy is determined by the effect of the "bending supply curve" (definition): when a certain level of saturation of the needs of "eaters" is reached, peasants for an increase in prices for their products, not by an increase, but by a decrease in production, since they save on free from the point of view of production costs work of his family. The owner of the yard is also an employee. Note that in the theory of "harmonization" K. Adametsky there is for each industrial industrial enterprise its own optimum labor productivity, which, if exceeded, leads to wastefulness. Not taking into account these differences between industrial and agricultural organizations leads in practice to the 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 social policy of Russia: transformation processes at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries: Monograph.- Barna 3.-308s.
(BPGU named after, Biysk);
scientific adviser - Ph.D. D., Assoc.
On the issue 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 price. These theories are the labor theory of value by K. Marx and the theory of marginal utility, which have different categorical apparatus and research methodology.
Of the two named theories, only in the theory of Karl 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 reducing prices for monopolistic enterprises. Also in this theory there is a category "economic utility" as the ability of a thing to satisfy needs. Or K. Marx's theory is based on the categories “value of a commodity”, which is created by abstract labor, and “economic utility of the same commodity,” created by concrete labor.
The production of goods, according to Marx, is the dialectical unity of the material-material process of labor and the monetary process of value creation. The methodology of dialectical materialism proves that the process of creating the value of a commodity is logically evaluated by the "surplus value" indicator, and the labor process - by the "capital investment" indicator. Because: 1) after the sale of the product and the receipt of profit (surplus value), the enterprise will necessarily reimburse its costs (cost), from which you can mentally abstract yourself away; 2) more surplus product (in 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 the theory of marginal utility, i.e., the changing tastes of his contemporaries, reflecting 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 a particular 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 Karl Marx, is the law of value: "According to the law of value in force in the exchange of goods, equivalents are exchanged, equal amounts 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 the pace of scientific and technological progress ... In the era of pre-monopoly capitalism, the so-called. free K. (free competition) of fragmented and relatively small enterprises that produce goods for an unknown market. During this period, such forms of competition as intra-industry competition and inter-industry competition appear in the most "pure" form. "
“During the K. century. (intra-industry competition) individual producers seek to reduce their production costs in order to gain additional profit. " K. Marx writes about the same: "... surplus profit ... arises ... as a result of a decrease in production costs, production costs."
It is clear that only by increasing labor productivity, the manufacturer is able to reduce the costs of producing goods, which, according to the labor theory of value, reflect the labor time spent on manufacturing a unit of goods. According to Marx, "... the great individual productive power of the labor employed reduces ... the costs of production ...", because "... the decrease in production costs is due to the fact that ... the best methods of labor, new inventions, improved machines , chemical means, etc., in short, new, improved, above average means of production and production methods. "
It should be noted that the consumer on the market of free, that is, pure (perfect) competition, where the supply exceeded the demand for the same product, was “... all homogeneous goods were of the same quality in the market.
Thus, in the first half of the 19th century, according to the theory of Karl Marx, with an increase in labor productivity, the costs (cost) for the production of goods always decreased. There is no other way in his theory.
Of course, with a decrease in the cost in the previous price of the goods of the same competing manufacturer, 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 lowered the base price of his product so that the individual profit at its new lower price was higher than the industry average base price profit by the amount of surplus profit. According to Marx, "... a manufacturer who uses a new invention before it has found general distribution, sells cheaper (market price) of his competitors and still higher than the individual value of his goods ... He thus realizes the surplus profit" the reduced price of each of its products.
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 "... is reduced precisely to the excess of individual profit over average profit."
Academician: "Surplus profit is an increase in the individual profit of individual enterprises and companies above its average industry level as a result of a decrease in individual production costs."
In the 19th century, in the pre-monopoly market, according to Marx, the law of value manifested itself qualitatively through the practice of pricing a competitive manufacturer as follows: with an increase in labor productivity, the individual cost of goods decreased, which allowed the manufacturer to somewhat reduce its price so that the individual profit, contained in the reduced price, always increased at the same time.
So, according to Karl Marx, the law of value, firstly, through an increase in the profit contained in the price of a commodity, economically stimulates a decrease in its cost and, as a consequence, the introduction of the achievements of scientific and technological progress into production; secondly, in the practice of pricing perfect intra-industry competition since the 16th century, that is, 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 visually changes the price structure.
Karl Marx showed that after the introduction of a new, more productive technology, the commodity producer reduces the individual production costs of a unit of goods of the same quality from 0.92 shillings. up to 0.71 sh. and doubles labor productivity, from 12 to 24 pieces. To seize the market for an additional 12 pieces. goods, he is obliged to reduce the original price of 1,0 shillings. before the new - 0.83 shillings. This does not contradict the law of increasing labor productivity. Of course, the price reduction is beneficial to the buyer (consumer). In this case, the mass of the surplus product of a given producer increases, therefore the relative surplus value (profit) in the exchange value of a unit of his production must increase and increase from 0.08 shillings. (1.0 shillings - 0.92 shillings) to 0.12 shillings. (0.83 shillings - 0.71 shillings). Undoubtedly, the growth of surplus value (profit) in the equilibrium unit price is beneficial to the seller (producer).
It should be noted here, according to Marx: 0.92 shillings. - average industry costs; 0.08 shill. - industry average profit; 0.71 shill. - individual costs; 0.12 shill. - individual profit; 1.0 shill. (0.92 + 0.08) - market (base) price; 0.79 shill. (0.71 + 0.08) - individual price; 0.83 shill. (0.71 + 0.12) is the new price at which a competing manufacturer sells its product; 0.21 shill. (1.0 - 0.79) - excess surplus value; 0.04 shill. (0.83 - 0.79 \u003d 0.12 - 0.08) - surplus profit.
Literature:
1. Book one. Capital production process. Chapter Six: Results of the Direct Production Process [Unpublished manuscript for the first volume of Capital] Vol. II (VII) P.69.
2. Marx and Rodbertus. Preface to the first German edition of Karl Marx's "Poverty of Philosophy" // Works. 2nd ed. T.21. Pp. 189-190.
3. Political Economy: Dictionary / Ed. et al. 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 // Works. 2nd ed. T.25. Part 2. P.192-P.195.
6. Capital. Criticism of Political Economy. T.3. Book 3. The process of capitalist production taken as a whole. Part 1 // Works. 2nd ed. T.25. Part 1. P.260.
7. Political Economy: Dictionary / Ed. and others. 3rd ed., add. Moscow: 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 // Works. 2nd ed. T.25. Part 2. P.194.
9 .. Political Economy: Dictionary / Ed. et al. M .: Politizdat, 1990. P.118.
(BPGU named after, Biysk);
scientific adviser - Ph.D., prof.
Labor productivity and its specifics
in 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 industrially developed 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 the reserves for its growth. It would be unjustified to ignore this important area of \u200b\u200btheoretical development. At all stages of economic construction in our country and abroad, great attention was paid to the development of the theory of labor productivity. In the conditions of 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, as well as the competitiveness of the goods produced increases. 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 has acquired a noticeable importance, which makes it possible to clarify conceptual provisions and form a complementary conceptual apparatus. As convergent points, it is proposed to select 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 in practice, it is necessary to distinguish between the action, manifestation and use of the economic law of increasing labor productivity, since the operation of the law is associated with its deep essence, manifestation - with its superficial, external connections, and use - with the ability to apply in practice both deep and superficial communication.
It has been established that market relations, due to the priority functioning of the self-regulation mechanism, looseness of entrepreneurial activity, the use of flexible methods of labor and production motivation, create, in comparison with the command-administrative system, relatively more effective preconditions 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 product quality, which is a prerequisite for growth in 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 sales markets, and objective opportunities. growth in profits.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, the growth of labor productivity presupposes not only a reduction in the costs of living labor and an increase in the costs of materialized labor with a general reduction in total labor costs, but in the conditions of the modern scientific and technological revolution, the economy of both living and past labor is increasingly provided simultaneously, opening new horizons for accelerating 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 conditions create natural preconditions for a certain initial level of labor productivity;
Technical and organizational ones predetermine the development of the productive forces of society;
Socio-economic represent an integral system of social relations both in the sphere of production and in the non-production sphere and mediating the technical and organizational interaction of the means of production and labor.
In January, inflation met a third of its annual growth target. Its indicator for the first month of 2005 exceeded all the most pessimistic expectations of experts and amounted, according to the official information of the Federal State Statistics Service, 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 was it higher - 3.1%. Recall that the Central Bank has set the bar for the maximum inflation rate at 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 acquired a peculiar form: the drop in production was not accompanied by an adequate reduction in employment, in other words, we are talking about a latent form of unemployment. Hence, the beggarly salary, which does not allow even simple reproduction of the labor force.
Participants at the Copenhagen World Summit on Social Development (6-12 March 1995) emphasized that relegating unemployment issues to the sidelines compared to fighting inflation has gone too far. That the international resurgence of the ideas of full employment, which were widespread after the Second World War, would create the basis for cooperation between 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 time people stay in this state. For an increasing number of people in our country, unemployment is becoming stagnant and fraught with loss of labor skills.
The consequence of all this was a rapid drop 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 money income 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 - the salary at the main place of work reaches 70-80% of all employee income, that is, it serves as the main source of ensuring his normal life. And so it was with us. But by mid-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 incomes and wages, attention is drawn to the degree of their differentiation.
In conditions of financial distress, social spending fell sharply to 9% of GDP. According to UN human resources development experts, it is necessary to bring social spending to at least 20% of GDP.
Undoubtedly, the level of education of the population is also the cause of poverty. For a population without vocational education, the likelihood of falling into the group of the poor strata of society is very high.
In 2000, the share of people with higher education in the composition of the poor strata of the population was 20.6%, while the share of people with basic secondary education was 46.1, and those with primary education was 54.8%. These indicators show: the lower the level of education, the higher the degree of poverty.
At present, 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 to 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 strengthening the position of the state in the world arena, cannot be considered of high quality. To ensure quality education, its equal accessibility for all citizens, an institutional restructuring of the education system is required based on the effective interaction of education with the labor market. The economy of tomorrow is an innovative economy of knowledge, investment projects and high technologies. To overcome the growing gap between the content of education, educational technologies, the entire structure and infrastructure of the educational sphere, the level of human resources 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 educational content and technologies 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 vocational education and about a third of graduates of institutions of secondary vocational education are not employed in their specialty received at an 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 responsibility of educational institutions for the final results of educational activities. The independent forms and mechanisms of participation of citizens, employers, professional communities in solving educational policy issues, including in the processes of independent public assessment of the quality of education, are not sufficiently developed. Poor integration of educational and scientific activities in the long term can lead to a significant reduction in the human resources of the scientific sphere. The lack of full-fledged links between vocational 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 for integration into the world educational and economic space. The inflexibility and inertia of the education system is largely related to the problem of the lack of teaching and management personnel of the required qualifications. Due to the low level of wages, the state education system is becoming an increasingly less attractive sphere of professional activity. The low level of official wages and the underdevelopment of mechanisms for additional legal earnings 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, which lags behind the real needs of the industry, does not allow the development of human resources capable of providing the modern content of the educational process and working using modern educational technologies.
The most attractive career option for a teacher is associated with the prospect of appointment to administrative positions; however, effective mechanisms for the rotation of management personnel in the education system have not been developed. Low qualifications of a significant part of the administrative and managerial personnel do not allow the development of the education system on the basis of the introduction of effective forms and technologies of organization and management.
The weak susceptibility of the traditional education system to external demands and the shortage of qualified personnel are a consequence of the inconsistency of the mechanisms of public administration operating in this area with the task of creating favorable conditions for the development of the education system. At the same time, 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 assessing the quality of education, as well as mechanisms for identifying, supporting and disseminating the best examples of innovative educational activities. A significant degree of inconsistency between the declared goals and objectives of transformations with the results that are achieved in the process of their implementation is a consequence of the fact that each of the subjects actively acting in the open educational space interprets these goals and objectives in their own way. In the absence of a federal target program, which is one of the main tools for implementing a unified state policy in the field of education, that is, without the use of program-targeted 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, adopted on January 10 of this year by the Russian government, will indeed become such a decision.
Improving the effectiveness of the marketing system is associated with choosing the right marketing management strategy. The strategic planning process for individual enterprises and business areas includes 8 steps:
1. Business mission
Each strategic division of the company must define its specific mission, which fits into the overall mission of the company. This mission specifies the specificity of the goods, their scope, competitive position, market segments, vertical positioning, and geographic location.
2. Analysis of the external sphere: its opportunities and dangers It is necessary to know what external factors should be kept under control in order for the company to achieve its goals. Macro- and micro-factors affect the receipt of profit by the enterprise, and therefore it is necessary to monitor changes in these factors and the main trends in their development.
To succeed, a company must not only meet the requirements of the market in which it intends to operate, but also exceed the potential of its competitors. The best chance of success is with the company that offers the most appreciated product in the market that can stand the test of time.
Threats can be defined as some kind of danger caused by unfavorable trends or developments that, in the absence of protective marketing action, will lead to a drop in sales or revenues. These factors are classified according to their severity and likelihood of occurrence.
3. Analysis of the internal environment: advantages and disadvantages
A favorable combination of circumstances only of an external nature is not enough. An enterprise must have the inner strength to succeed in these circumstances. Therefore, you must always know the level of competitive strength of your enterprise.
The assessment of the benefits can be carried out by the company's management or an independent consultant on the following parameters: marketing, financial, production and organizational aspects. The purpose of studying the strengths and weaknesses is for the company to decide for itself the question of whether it is worth settling down with the achieved position or it is necessary to fight for the best.
Sometimes the poor performance of an enterprise is not explained by the fact that individual services are weak, but by the fact that they lack coordination in their work. Therefore, it is necessary from time to time to assess the relationship between departments in order to check the state of its internal environment. In order for an enterprise to survive in a highly competitive environment, it is necessary to learn how to manage these processes so that they proceed in concert.
4. Formulation of enterprise goals
After the company has identified the main, strategic, mission, has analyzed its advantages and disadvantages, opportunities and threats, it can formulate its goals for the planning period. This stage is called "setting goals".
As a rule, the company pursues the achievement of several goals, among which can be named such as increasing the company's income, increasing sales, increasing market share, reducing the risk of activities, maintaining reputation. To better coordinate the planning and implementation of the plan, it is necessary to determine the importance of the goals in a hierarchical order, starting with the most important. In this case, it is necessary to provide a quantitative expression of the goals set. For example, achieve a 20% increase in return on investment in the next 2 years. The detailing of long-term goals simplifies the planning, implementation and control process.
Implementation of the set goals should be carried out consistently. They are sometimes achieved through trade-offs, the most typical of which are:
high profit or a large share of the enterprise in the market;
profitable or unprofitable goals;
risky goals with rapid growth, or not risky, but not promising anything special.
5. Strategy formulation
Goals indicate the milestones that the company wants to achieve, strategies are the ways to achieve them. The company develops its own strategy for solving its problems. It is customary to distinguish four types of competitive strategies:
1) Leader's strategy.
The firm occupies a dominant position, and this is recognized by its competitors. Often, the leader is a "reference point" for competitors who attack, imitate, or avoid him.
The leader contributes most to the development of the underlying market. By expanding the underlying market, the leader benefits the entire set of competitors in the market. A similar strategy (expansion of primary demand) is chosen at the initial stages of the product's life cycle.
The goal of a defensive strategy is to protect your market share against the most dangerous competitors. It is often adopted by an innovative firm that is attacked by imitating competitors after opening a new market. An offensive strategy aims to increase market share. Used by dominant firms using the experience effect.
Demarketing strategy aims to reduce its market share and is designed to protect the firm from accusations of monopoly.
2) The "challenging" strategy.
A non-dominant firm can either choose to follow the leader or attack the leader, i.e. challenge him. In this case, two problems arise: the choice of a bridgehead for an attack and an assessment of its capabilities for reaction and defense.
When choosing a beachhead, two alternatives are taken into account.
Frontal attack consists in using the same means that the leader himself uses, without trying to find his weak points. This method requires a significant superiority of the attacker's forces (in military strategy, this ratio is taken as 3: 1).
A flank attack involves fighting in those directions; where the leader is weak or poorly protected. It can be a regional market or a sales network.
The assessment of response and defense capabilities should take into account the following criteria:
* vulnerability. In relation to what strategic maneuvers, events and actions the competitor is most vulnerable?
* provocation. What actions can threaten a competitor's goals so much that it will be forced to fight back even if it worsens its economic performance?
the effectiveness of the rebuff. What actions can be taken that the competitor will not be able to effectively respond to, even if he tries to resist or repeat them?
The classic "challenger" strategy is to attack through the price. offer the same product, but at a significantly lower price. The more market share the leader owns, the more effective it is, since accepting a lower price means very large losses for him. The challenging firm will lose significantly less, especially if it is small.
3) The "follow the leader" strategy.
A competitor firm with a small market share that adopts adaptive behavior. It pursues the goal of peaceful coexistence and a conscious division of the market. Such behavior most often occurs in a situation of oligopoly, when the possibilities of differentiation are small. This is where creative market segmentation comes into play. The firm may focus on certain segments where it is better able to realize its specific competence. Improves technology to reduce costs. Concentrates on profit.
4) The strategy of the specialist.
The specialist is only interested in one or a few segments, not the market as a whole. The goal is to become a big fish in a small river, not a small fish in a big river. This competitive strategy coincides with the concentration strategy.
6. Program formulation
After formulating and adopting the strategy, the company proceeds to drawing up a supporting program. For example, a travel company has decided to become the leader in high quality customer service. She must develop a training program for all her employees, hiring new employees who can attract the people the company needs, improve the quality of the product, force sales, and conduct an advertising campaign.
7. Implementation
No strategy, even the best, and the programs that support it can get anywhere if the company cannot implement it. The entire staff of the company must accept the strategy, believe in it, and behave accordingly. It is the responsibility of management to inform their employees in advance of the new strategy so that everyone understands their role in the joint effort to implement it. To implement the strategy, the company must have all the necessary resources, including qualified personnel.
8. Feedback and control
In the process of implementing its strategy, the firm needs to check the results and adjust plans in accordance with changes in the business environment.
Some factors are quite stable from year to year, others change very quickly, and others gradually. Monitoring the external and internal environment can be carried out in the fastest way by applying a matrix analysis of the state of affairs of the enterprise, focusing on the positive and negative aspects.
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