Himanshu, Rupert & Zahra

Competition: Introduction Competition remained a constant factor during the five year plans, it was a major factor especially in the first five year plan. The high targets placed enormous strains on the economy and materials were short in supply an there was intense competition to get hold of the supplies that available. Powerful people pulled strings to make sure that their pet projects received resources that they required. In some parts of the area, there was over-production and there were also claims of over- Ful-filment which gained reconigition from party members.

Competition Competition was a method used by the Bolsheviks to stir up a frenzy of record-breaking enthusiasts who would all try their hardest to set or break the record in their job. The idea was first thought of by Konstantin Petrov, who set up ideal work conditions for Alexei Stakhanov to set the record.

Alexei Stakhanov Stakhanov set the record by cutting 102 tonnes of coal in one 5 hour shift, 16 times the normal amount. He was rewarded a month’s salary, a nice apartment and a series of leisure benefits, such as cinema tickets. Soon after seeing his rewards, many coal workers demanded an opportunity to break Stakhanov’s record, while in other fields people asked for the opportunity to set records. Furthermore, Petrov’s new method forced other managers to come up with new creative ideas in order to meet the targets, which stimulated competitions not only between workers but also between managers.

V.P. Ogorodnikov V.P. Ogorodnikov was one of the prominent figures during the Stakhanovite Movement. His name appeared 4 times in the top eight records at the Magnitogorsk steel mill from September 1935 till January This made him the second highest-earning factory worker. He was rewarded with a new motorcycle and a big house with a garden, of which 70% was paid for by the factory. This method allowed the market in Russia to expand in the heavy industry, and everyone was doing more than the average as competition was fierce. This method was carried out during the second five-year plan.

Advantages (Workers) Due to the benefits that workers received from being competitive, they worked harder and more efficiently. The NKVD made sure that workers could not go on strike, which meant that certain absences at work were avoidable. Workers wanted to take advantage of wage differentials in order to attain a higher standard of living and so they would harder- a higher standard of living would boost the economy meaning an increase in production.

Disadvantages (Workers) There were many advantages to such competition but there are disadvantages as well. It is human nature to want what someone else had got, and so workers wanted higher wages, which the Stakhanovites had attained. One of the ways they had tried to earn higher wages and to avoid creating a poor record for themselves, workers would transfer from one job to the next, so that authorities could not keep track of them. Normal workers demanded for good tools as it was said the Stakhanovites had the best equipment which was unfair.

Disadvantages (Managers) Managers had to ful-fil their given target under any condition and so bribery and corruption were used to do so. Managers were desperate to keep skilled workers and to do this they create non- existing employees on payrolls and raised the wages of their most valuable workers. Moscow attacked the overpayment of wages but managers were scared if this was not done, then targets would not be met. Additionally due to such competition managers were only judged on total output, not output from specific areas.

Advantages (Managers) The advantages to was that managers there were able to come up with new creative ideas in order to meet the targets, they could think outside of the box and this healthy competition between managers would not only create interesting ideas but would also boost productivity as well.

Ironic- Competition had destroyed the idea of true socialism

Competition: Summary In short, competition was used as propaganda device to some extent to drive the citizens forward and to urge them to produce more, as workers saw that those who broke records gained a lot more benefits.