ISSN 2078-9823 (Print), ISSN 2587-7879 (Online)

DOI: 10.15507/2078-9823.065.024.202401.025-033

Anatoly V. Sludnyh

Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant (Ekaterinburg, Russia),

е-mail: sludnichav1982@inbox.ru

 

The Role of Socialist Competition in the Formation of Labor Motivation (on the Example of the Activities of the Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant in the 1930s – 1960s)

 

Abstract

Introduction. The relevance of the study is related to the growth in modern society, in addition to market mechanisms, of the role of non-economic, socio-cultural factors in the development of the economy. In 2013, the title of Hero of Labor of the Russian Federation was established, which indicates the revival of the value of labor in the public mind and official discourse.

Materials and Methods. The methodological basis of the study is the theory of modernization, which takes into account not only economic, but also social factors in the development of production, the role of public consciousness, mentality, and the influence of mental factors on industrial development.

Results. Socialist competition became one of the mechanisms for the social mobilization of Soviet society, shaping the collective mood of social success and the orientation towards creative work. The history of the Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant shows the role of social competition in the formation of labor motivation, a sense of social solidarity and social responsibility. The forms of competition were: the Stakhanov movement, the movement of shock workers, the movement of innovators and rationalizers of production, the movement for the title of shock worker of communist labor, the movement of thousands. Socialist competition contributed to an increase in productivity and the quality of labor. Reliance on non-economic incentives to work was combined with material incentives for workers.

Discussion and Conclusion. Economic successes of the USSR in the 1930s – 1960s were determined not only by the development of the production base, infrastructure, scientific and technical discoveries, but also by high consciousness and labor motivation. The Soviet government formed a cult of labor in society, relying on enthusiasm and the spirit of competition. Along with the plan and administrative levers of control, social competition was an integral feature of the Soviet economy, which did not contradict the industrial development trend, which organically fit into the modernization process.

Keywords: Plant “Geophysics”, Plant № 217, Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant, industrial modernization, socialist competition, movement of innovators and rationalizers, Stakhanov movement, movement of shock workers, Komsomol.

For citation: Sludnyh A. V. The Role of Socialist Competition in the Formation of Labor Motivation (on the Example of the Activities of the Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant in the 1930s – 1960s). Gumanitarian: aktual’nye problemy gumanitarnoi nauki i obrazovaniia = Russian Journal of the Humanities. 2024; 24(1): 25–33. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.15507/2078-9823.065.024.202401.025-033.

 

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