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

ALEKSANDRA JANOVSKAIA
Furthermore, VW group has not used any ‘back
door’ strategy to achieve compliance with new
managerial goals but followed a route that took
into consideration the previous experience
of old managerial staff. Replacement of
managerial staff by new people with experience
of working in market economies could have
been a strategy of the headquarters. However,
this happened only to a limited extent. Only
top management was replaced by the German
expatriates, while the large share of local middle
and line management was kept. Even in 2006,
30% of old local managers were still employed
by Škoda. The role of expatriates has been
relatively limited in the medium term. Apart
from Škoda’s experimental three year tandem
program that has attracted a large number of
German managers to the subsidiary, the usual
trend in all subsidiaries is that only the top
management team is dominated by expatriates,
while the human resource manager is usually
a local person. VW Bratislava and Škoda have
several top local managers; Audi Györ has
had the smallest number so far with only one
local top manager - responsible for human
resources.
Another reason for the ‘productionist attitude’
is the technical-engineering background
dominant among local managers, rather
than an orientation towards pure financial
accountability and profit maximization. The
training background of managers in engineering
facilitates their technical-engineering orientation.
This is how Škoda senior manager for
industrial engineering describes his reasons to
come to Škoda:
I’ve studied mechanical engineering. [...] During
my studies, in 1994, I was a trainee in the Audi
plant. This is where I saw the first models of the
new Octavia. And this is the point when I became
fascinated by it. I told myself: ‘If we had this car in
production at Škoda, this would be unbelievable’.
Then, some time later, I saw this car on the street
for the first time and this is when my decision was
made – I wanted to go work for Škoda, because
the cars that they produce there are amazing
(Interview December 2006).
The manager further reports that what was
crucial in the new model was the new level
of quality compared to previous models. Thus,
engineering and technical excellence rather
than pure financial parameters are the defining
features of managerial thinking.
Internal career progression is another factor
that facilitates the preservation of productionist
focus. Internal labour advancement has
remained important and many of senior
managers started as simple blue-collar
workers. The director of motor production at
Škoda was one of them. He has been working
in the factory for 20 years. Originally, he was
a welder, and then moved to the planning and
preparing new models as a technical specialist
before becoming the director of the engine
plant (Interview December 2006). Similarly,
the director of the SUV production at VW
Slovakia was previously a blue-collar worker
(Interview March 2007). Interestingly, the
internal career ladder has also worked
for trade union leader: the head of
VW Slovakia’s human resources was
a trade union leader during state
socialist times (Interview March 2007).
To sum up, the introduction of certain
benchmarking and financial accountability
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