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Abstract
This article provides a business history of the medium-sized wood processing enterprise Kosmet Šper, established for local development purposes in weakly-developed socialist Kosovo. It explores business reorganisations undertaken by local political elites and management aimed to align the enterprise’s continued operation with socialist Yugoslavia’s market-oriented economic reforms of the 1960s. The first part of the article scrutinises these interventions and argues that the locus of ultimate political decision-making shifted to the units of the federal state. The second part of the article looks at the increasing authority transferred to professional managers in return for keeping the underperforming enterprise running. This led to a paternalistic style of management, but the legitimacy of the management remained subject to overlapping challenges of function, ethnicity, and origin. Part three explores the labour force fluctuations caused by the shift of responsibility for the performance of the enterprise to internal production failures.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 A note on writing: I use the Serbian writing of the enterprise (Kosmet Šper), which was how it was registered and most often depicted in the sources. For names of places and enterprises in Kosovo, I give the Albanian and Serbian writing when first mentioning, and then use the Albanian writing throughout the text. In order to allow the reader to contextualise the unpublished archival sources, I provide the English translation from Serbian and Albanian.
2 Parallel to market reforms, the Yugoslav state was decentralised in the 1960s into republics and provinces with increasingly far-reaching competences. Kosovo was upgraded from an autonomous region to an autonomous province within the Republic of Serbia.
3 ‘Odluka o društvenom planu sreza Kosovska Mitrovica’ [Decision on the social plan for the district Kosovska Mitrovica], Službeni list Autonomne kosovsko-metohiske oblasti [Legal Gazette of the Autonomous Region Kosovo-Metohija] 12/19 (1957): 173–80; ‘Društveni plan sreza Kosovska Mitrovica za 1958 godinu’ [Social plan for the district Kosovska Mitrovica for the year 1958], Službeni list Autonomne kosovsko-metohiske oblasti 13/14 (1958): 132–41.
4 Regional Archives of Mitrovica, fond 88 (factory archive Kosmet Šper) / box 11 (hereafter RAM 88/11): Decision by the People’s Municipal Council, 2 April 1958.
5 RAM 88/11: Workers’ Council (hereafter WC), 1 July 1958.
6 RAM 88/11: Economic Office Belgrade, ‘Investment programme for the construction of a veneer packaging shop in Kos. Mitrovica’, 1959.
7 RAM 88/11: Unaccounted overview of the merger of Kosmet Šper, 1960.
8 RAM 88/11: District of Kosovska Mitrovica, ‘Report from the commission for the revision of investment programmes on the evaluation of investment studies for the acquisition of machinery for Kosmet Šper’, 12 November 1958.
9 RAM 88/21: People’s Municipal Council Mitrovica, ‘Information on business and results of the receivership over Kosmet Šper’, September 1963.
10 RAM 88/21: People’s Municipal Council Mitrovica, ‘Information on the situation and a proposal for measures to solve the problems of the wood industry enterprise Kosmet Šper – Kos. Mitrovica’, 4 April 1962; RAM 88/17: Report from Kosmet Šper to the People’s Municipal Council Mitrovica on ‘Situation and problems of some economic organisations – Kosmet Šper’, June 1961; Nikola Pečić (Local Council of the League of Communists), ‘Information of the impact of the new economic measures on the work of the wood industry enterprise Kosmet Šper’, 5 June 1961.
11 RAM 88/17: People’s Municipal Council Mitrovica to the Economic Bank of Serbia, 4 April 1962.
12 RAM 88/21: People’s Municipal Council Mitrovica, ‘Information on business and results of the receivership over Kosmet Šper’, September 1963.
13 RAM 88/17: Nikola Pečić (Local Council of the League of Communists), ‘Information of the influence of the new economic measures on the work of the wood industry enterprise Kosmet Šper’, 5 June 1961.
14 RAM 88/23: Municipal Assembly Mitrovica, ‘Decision on approval for the constitution of the wood industry enterprise Kosmet Šper in Kos. Mitrovica’, 7 December 1963.
15 RAM 88/24: Municipal Assembly Mitrovica, ‘Conclusion of the assembly of the municipality of Kos. Mitrovica on the lifting of receivership and other measures to solve the problems of the wood industry enterprise Kosmet Šper in Kos. Mitrovica’, 6 December 1963.
16 RAM 88/33: Kosmet Šper (Accounting Department), ‘Analysis of the financial results of the wood industry enterprise Kosmet Šper from Kosovska Mitrovica for the period January-September 1964’, 20 September 1964.
17 RAM 88/40: Planning Manager Đorđe Vučićević to the WC, 23 August 1965.
18 RAM 88/41: Planning Manager Đorđe Vučićević to the management, 26 June 1965; RAM 88/41: Kosmet Šper and Municipal Assembly Mitrovica, ‘Further work and development of Kosmet Šper: Analysis of supplies’, 18 June 1965.
19 RAM 88/55: Kosmet Šper (Planning Department), ‘Economic plan for 1966’, May 1966.
20 RAM 88/56: Kosmet Šper (Planning Department) and Municipal Assembly Mitrovica (Council for Economy), ‘Short review of the situation and prospects of Kosmet Šper in Kos. Mitrovica’, 25 January 1967.
21 RAM 88/70: WC, 22 February 1967.
22 RAM 88/56: Kosmet Šper (Planning Department) and Municipal Assembly Mitrovica (Council for Economy), ‘Short review of the situation and prospects of Kosmet Šper in Kos. Mitrovica’, 25 January 1967.
23 RAM 6 (Fond Municipal Assembly) /1968–1: Municipal Assembly Mitrovica, ‘Proposal for the opening of liquidation procedures for the wood industry enterprise Kosmet Šper in Mitrovica’, 21 March 1968.
24 RAM 88/72: Municipal Assembly Mitrovica, ‘The production and finance status of Kosmet Šper according to the balance sheet for the period January-June 1967’, July 1967.
25 RAM 88/72: Municipal Assembly Mitrovica, ‘The production and finance status of Kosmet Šper according to the balance sheet for the period January-June 1967’, July 1967.
26 RAM 88/70: WC, 2 August 1967.
27 RAM 88/70: WC, 29 December 1967.
28 RAM 6/1968–1: Municipal Assembly Mitrovica, ‘Proposal for the opening of liquidation procedures for the wood industry enterprise Kosmet Šper in Mitrovica’, 21 March 1968.
29 RAM 6/1962–2: People’s Municipal Council Mitrovica, 3 November 1962; RAM 88/21: People’s Municipal Council Mitrovica, ‘Information on the situation and a proposal for measures to solve the problems of the wood industry enterprise Kosmet Šper – Kos. Mitrovica’, 4 April 1962; RAM 88/21: Decision by the District Court of Prishtina, December 1962.
30 RAM 88/24: Municipal Assembly Mitrovica, ‘Conclusion of the assembly of the municipality of Kos. Mitrovica on the lifting of receivership and other measures to solve the problems of the wood industry enterprise Kosmet Šper in Kos. Mitrovica’, 6 December 1963.
31 RAM 88/70: Management Board (hereafter MB), 1 June 1967. The management board was an advisory organ to the workers’ council, consisting of delegates of the workers’ council and the management. In practice, it was dominated by the management and determined the agenda of the workers’ council.
32 RAM 88/53: Application file of Miodrag Kamenović, January 1967.
33 RAM 88/70: MB, 1 June 1967; RAM 88/70: WC, 22 March 1967.
34 RAM 88/70: WC, 4 August 1967.
35 RAM 88/52: MB, 29 March 1966.
36 RAM 88/52: MB, 20 January 1966.
37 In 1963, the total workforce comprised 320 Albanians, 180 Serbs, and 35 Montenegrins. There were 77 women and 453 men. In the accounting and planning & production departments, Serbs dominated (respectively, 14 Serbs to 4 Albanians and 2 Montenegrins and 4 to 1 and 2). RAM 88/33: Mitrovica Council of the League of Communists, ‘Information on the termination of employment for workers of the work organisation’, 26 March 1964.
38 RAM 88/70: MB, 12 February 1967.
39 Member of the local League of Communists and municipal assembly representative Mustafa Osmanagić, for example, assessed that “subjective” factors comprised two thirds of the enterprise’s difficulties. RAM 6/1963–2: People’s Municipal Council, 23 July 1963.
40 RAM 88/55: Kosmet Šper (Planning Department), ‘Economic plan for 1966’, May 1966, p. 11.
41 RAM 88/11: WC, 1 July 1958.
42 RAM 88/70: WC, 9 January 1967.
43 RAM 88/30: MB, 30 July 1964.
44 RAM 88/52: WC, 7 September 1966.
45 RAM 88/70: WC, 24 July 1967.
46 RAM 88/11: Kosmet Šper, ‘Rulebook on the internal organisation and management of the wood industry enterprise Kosmet Šper in Kos. Mitrovica’, 25 July 1958.
47 RAM 88/30: MB, 14 April 1964.
48 RAM 88/30: MB, 28 May 1964.
49 RAM 88/29: Kosmet Šper, ‘Decision on the payment amount for wages in relation to the starting basis for the month May 1964’.
50 RAM 88/30: MB, 29 June 1964.
51 RAM 88/41: Planning Manager Đorđe Vučićević to the management, 26 June 1965; RAM 88/41: Kosmet Šper and Municipal Assembly Mitrovica, ‘Further work and development of Kosmet Šper: Analysis of supplies’, 18 June 1965.
52 RAM 88/30: WC, 20 April 1964.
53 RAM 88/30: WC, 20 April 1964.
54 RAM 88/30: MB, 28 July 1964.
55 RAM 88/30: WC, 29 July 1964.
56 RAM 88/30: WC, 29 July 1964.
57 RAM 88/52: WC, 23 April 1966; MB, 25 April 1966.
58 RAM 88/52: WC, 22 July 1966.
59 RAM 88/52: WC, 19 October 1966.
60 “Kažnjeni rukovodioci Kosmet-Špera: Prinudna uprava” [Managers of Kosmet Šper sanctioned: receivership], Zvečan, 13 August 1966, p. 3.
61 RAM 88/17: Nikola Pečić (Local Council of the League of Communists), ‘Information of the influence of the new economic measures on the work of the wood industry enterprise Kosmet Šper’, 5 June 1961.
62 RAM 88/32: Kosmet Šper (Planning Department), ‘Economic plan for 1964’, 13 October 1964, p. 32.
63 RAM 88/39: MB, 8 October 1965. Carriers of production was a sort of informal honorific title, along the lines of “heroes of socialist labour” but with a stronger focus on specialism and management capacities as opposed to production outputs. Beside the higher wages, the title came with material benefits (access to housing) and decision-making authority through leading positions in workers’ councils. In the case of secondary enterprises like Kosmet Šper, however, the material benefits were insignificant (although informal shopfloor practices also mattered).
64 RAM 88/39: MB, 11 November 1965.
65 RAM 88/52: MB, 6 June 1966.
66 RAM 88/70: MB, 23 August 1967.
67 RAM 88/33: Mitrovica Council of the League of Communists, ‘Information on the termination of employment for workers of the work organisation’, 26 March 1964.
68 RAM 88/33: Mitrovica Council of the League of Communists, ‘Information on the termination of employment for workers of the work organisation’, 26 March 1964.
69 RAM 88/70: WC, 24 July 1967.
70 RAM 88/70: WC, 24 July 1967.
71 RAM 88/70: WC, 4 August 1967.
72 RAM 88/70: WC, 24 July 1967.
73 RAM 88/79: WC, 27 March 1968.
74 “Obustava rada u Kosmet Šperu” [Work stoppage in Kosmet Šper], Politika Ekspres: Nedeljna Revija, 21 April 1968, p. 2.
75 RAM 88/17: People’s Municipal Council Mitrovica, ‘Information on the situation, actions, phenomena, and problems related to the adoption of the internal distribution and development of wages’, September 1961, pp. 21–22; RAM 6/1961–2: People’s Municipal Council Mitrovica, ‘Situation with regard to the formulation of rulebooks for the internal distribution in economic organisations’, 9 October 1961; RAM 6/1963–2: Municipal Assembly Mitrovica, 23 July 1963.
76 RAM 6/1963–2: Municipal Assembly Mitrovica, 6 December 1963; RAM 88/24: Municipal Assembly Mitrovica, ‘Conclusion of the assembly of the municipality of Kos. Mitrovica on the lifting of receivership and other measures to solve the problems of the wood industry enterprise Kosmet Šper in Kos. Mitrovica’, 6 December 1963.
77 RAM 88/32: Kosmet Šper (Planning Department), ‘Economic plan for 1964’, 13 October 1964, pp. 44–46.
78 RAM 88/34: Kosmet Šper (Accounting Department), ‘Balance sheet for 1964’, 13 February 1965.
79 RAM 88/30: MB, 10 December 1964.
80 RAM 88/30: MB, 25 and 26 December 1964.
81 RAM 88/39: MB, 30 July, 4 August, 10 August 1965.
82 RAM 88/55: Kosmet Šper (Planning Department), ‘Economic plan for 1966’, May 1966.
83 RAM 88/30: Director Milorad Volić at WC of 10 April 1964.
84 RAM 88/39: WC, 12 November 1965.
85 RAM 88/52: WC, 22 July 1966.
86 RAM 88/56: Kosmet Šper (Accounting Department), ‘Balance sheet for 1966’, February 1967, p. 31.
87 RAM 88/56: Kosmet Šper (Accounting Department), ‘Balance sheet for 1966’, February 1967, pp. 31–32.
88 RAM 88/70: WC, 30 January 1967.
89 RAM 88/11: District of Kosovska Mitrovica, ‘Report from the commission for the revision of investment programmes on the evaluation of investment studies for the acquisition of machinery for Kosmet Šper’, 12 November 1958.
90 RAM 88/21: People’s Municipal Council Mitrovica, ‘Information on the situation and a proposal for measures to solve the problems of the wood industry enterprise Kosmet Šper – Kos. Mitrovica’, 4 April 1962.
91 RAM 88/17: Nikola Pečić (Local Council of the League of Communists), ‘Information of the influence of the new economic measures on the work of the wood industry enterprise Kosmet Šper’, 5 June 1961.
92 RAM 88/56: WC, 30 September 1966.
93 “Hapat e pare te sherimit” [The First Steps To Recovery], Zvečan, 12 August 1967, p. 2.
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Pieter Troch
Pieter Troch is a social historian of the Yugoslav twentieth century. He obtained a PhD in East-European Languages and Cultures from Ghent University in 2012 with a study on Yugoslav nation-building in the domain of education and associational life in interwar Yugoslavia. A thoroughly revised version of the dissertation was published by IB Tauris in 2015. Parts of the dissertation were published as articles in Nations and Nationalism, Nationalities Papers, East European Politics and Societies, and the Slavonic and East European Review. He worked in civil society in Serbia and Kosovo before joining the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies in Regensburg as a Postdoctoral Researcher under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships programme of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. He conducts a micro-historical study of social change in urban environments in the Albanian-populated parts of socialist Yugoslavia. He is particularly interested in the role of local authorities in the socialist transformation of society, local economic policy and factory management, and urban development. Findings from this research have been published in Labor History, Journal of Urban History, and Godišnjak za društvenu istoriju (Annual of social history). Troch published a photobook on socialist Mitrovica in cooperation with the photographer Thomas Janssens (Jovis Verlag, 2018).