Heft36 1 - SFB 580 - Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

ALEKSANDRA JANOVSKAIA
organising enterprise logics being at work;
sometimes in conflict with each other but
sometimes supporting each other. The main
demands to the foreign investor were related
to the non-economic enterprise logics of
brand preservation, employment guarantees
and modernisation of the company, yet market
organising logic has also been visible. It has
been the means to reach the non-economic
ends. Applying this economic logic and
‘second guessing the markets’ allowed Škoda
stakeholders to take a much stronger stance
vis-à-vis the foreign buyers during the joint
venture negotiations.
The valuation of the enterprise as a social and
industrial organism went against other sets
of non-economic norms. For Czechs, such
other non-economic logic was the strong anti-
German sentiment related to World War II.
Thus, the transfer of Škoda’s ownership to the
VW group caused some controversies in the
Czech public during the time of privatisation
talks (Sperling 2004). But also on the German
side, different organising logics co-existed.
Even if the warnings about a potential
cannibalisation of the main Volkswagen brand
that focuses on good quality but more expensive
family sedans by the re-emerging Škoda brand
were expressed, non-economic organising
logics have prevailed. The respect for industrial
capabilities of Skoda engineering tradition has
been stronger than the fear of cannibalisation
of the main VW brand. Even today, when
the evidence of certain cannibalisation of the
German production is large, this issue is hardly
discussed and, as Sperling argues, ‘denied by
the group itself or made to appear harmless’
(Sperling 2004: 187).
This section attempted to demonstrate how
during the privatisation process, despite several
economic and non-economic logics playing
a role, the non-economic organising logic
that conceptuliased enterprise as a source of
industrial capabilities has been crucial. Škoda’s
privatisation has been an example of local
stakeholders - managers, trade unions and
government officials - becoming a coalition
for protection of local industrial capabilities.
II. THE NEW COST EFFICIENCY GOALS RECON-
SIDERED
During state socialism, company goals were
expressed in units of production output. With
the joint venture, these non-economic goals
were supposed to be replaced by other, more
market efficiency-oriented targets. But how
has this change towards new company goals
taken place and what exactly are the new
company performance goals?
Formal administratively set production output
goals were replaced by cost efficiency and
productivity goals. Financial targets and cost
monitoring became a higher priority for local
management that received responsibilities
of ‘profit centres’ within the VW group.
The cost goals are set in cooperation with
the headquarters and play a decisive role in
companies’ affairs. A finance director
at VW Slovakia explained that
the company is ‘managed through
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these cost goals’: the company
has performance and profit goals
(Interview March 2007). Also, the internal
cost benchmarking has become a norm.
There exists comparative data on production