Russian labour culture: how it looks in comparison

Abstract

Assuming that national culture should not be disregarded especially at a time of massive economic restructuring as having serious influence on labour relations and type of management, we make an attempt to reveal its features empirically and compare them with those of other national cultures, identifying whose cultural characteristics are closest to the Russian one. The article examines Russian labour culture by measuring it with the help of Hofstede's universal indices in an empirical study of employees of four industrial enterprises in different parts of Russia. The measuring tool allows a comparative perspective; we also offer interpretations of the obtained indices, enriching them by illustrations from informal interviews with the employees of those enterprises. The results brought Russia close to a number of European countries that had welfare-state orientation and strong institutional and historical connections with Russia, such as Finland, Germany, Austria and Israel. The article argues that experience in the field of labour relations and organizational models of these countries should not be discounted, although reformers often place their hopes mainly on the Anglo-Saxon or American models.

Keywords:

• labour culture
• national culture
• comparative perspective

Notes

1. The study was conducted in the period from 1967 to 1973. IBM employees working in over 50 countries were polled.

2. Indices are calculated on the basis of answers to test questionnaires. These indices reflect the degree to which some or other cultural parameter is manifested. The scales have been designed so that empirically obtained average index values gravitate towards either 0 or 100. The values close to 100 mean that the reflected characteristic, such as individualism, for example, is manifested to the fullest, while values close to 0 mean the opposite or, to be exact, the maximum manifestation of the opposite characteristic, such as, in this case, collectivism.Checking the instrument: a validity verification that reveals a correspondence between the content of the questions and the values of indices was done on the basis of the data we have obtained. There are correlations between the factors identified through the analyses of answers to test questions and indices values.

3. One should bear in mind that the indices Hofstede used at the end of the 1980s were calculated according to indirect indications, literature and fiction sources and expert assessments. We have a serious doubt that such estimates and interpretation with the use of sources containing cultural or stereotypical descriptions are not biased.