Jie neleidžia nutilti gerai muzikai - Business and Exhibitions

BUSINESS&EXHIBITIONS Lithuanian Economic Review BUSINESS&PERSONALITY
What Kind of Mentality Does
State and Business Need?
By Rimantas Šlajus
22
Before starting my work in Legetecha I had
nothing to do with the trains, except for the
trips to Moscow in the Soviet times, said the general
manager of the company, Antanas Kovas, remembering
the comfortless, tiring trips of the time. UAB VAE
Legetecha is a modern Lithuanian-Austrian company,
producing and supplying railway-related equipment,
such as turnouts, switch blades, frogs, and insulated
rail joints, for home and foreign markets, and providing
for their full service. Thus 15 years ago, when the
high VAR AG leaders came to Lithuania to establish
a company, this was definitely not the criteria for
choosing an engineer, the graduate of Kaunas Institute
of Polytechnics Antanas Kovas as a company manager.
Most probably it was the organizational skills and
scientific practice, though – Antanas Kovas had had
the experience of being a manager in a company of
technical character, had had quite a few scientific
articles written and discoveries made. It could only be
guessed that the representatives of the Alps region, who
feel strong inclination towards communication, order
and extraordinary decisions, had been looking for a
person who knew more than just technology. Together
with Antanas Kovas we were exploring the production
workshops, where the manager was trying to explain
us the subtlest elements of the production process, not
forgetting to have a word with his colleagues.
Focused people, knowing exactly what they are
worth, kept a respectful distance from, yet did not seem
to be oppressed by their superior. It seemed that the
manager was in favour of such western-like working
culture. Even though he assured us that being liked
by the employees was not his first goal, and that they
could curse him by all means just around the corner if
they wanted to. Most probably there would be no such
hotheads though, because it was the manager himself
who had chosen them of a number of other candidates.
And yet, dissension is quite inevitable in such a difficult
production; especially when a person has just got on
track. This is the natural processes of self-regulation.
However, Antanas Kovas has a broader view and now,
at the presence of the recession, he would like the people
in the whole country to reassess their value system and
harmonize their relationship with the environment
and the government. Especially now, when the voice
of each person, unsatisfied about the taxes, health
reform, social care, or the salaries in Lithuania, grows
stronger and joins into a mighty chorus, including the
businessmen and the pensioners, such odd Antanas
Kovas’ world outlook is at its least perplexing; having
in mind that single voice sounds louder when there are
more voices to sing.
”Recession is a consistent expression of a
developing economics, and I am worried that it is not
deep enough. The main function of the recession is
to clean state economy from the clots. Recession is a
strong windstorm, breaking old dried out tree branches.
On my way to work this morning, I heard some
drivers complaining on the radio about not getting 3-4
thousands of take-home pay, like they did before”.
”It’s a pity that the people haven’t learnt a lesson.
Don’t those drivers understand that such amount of
money doesn’t even belong to them? However, they
have the same perverse economic concept in the
West. How much money have German government
allocated to the companies, the managers of which have
emaciated them and forced to go bankrupt?”
”When will the recession end?”, Antanas Kovas
asks the hopeful question, which the influential
economists are being asked lately. “We will never get
back to the position we were two or three years ago;
when banks were grabbing every freshly-made postgraduate,
poking in mortgages for the apartment or
even a house, for cars, furniture, travelling...”
“Our company was surely influenced by the
recession too. The circulation of 54 millions has more
than halved, the sales became almost three times
lower. And yet, with the help of the shifty stockholder
and founder of the company, our production is being
requested by Saudi Arabia, and India, and Germany.
However, the number of employees had to go down;
by ten the first time, by ten more the second time,
while at the third time I gathered all my employees and
offered them an alternative – either we continue firing
the people, or we keep working and earning as much as
there is work?”
“The people surely agreed to the suggestion. Then
why are we making idiotic labour laws, forcing us to
pay for eight hours of each five days of the working
week? What if there is no work to be done? A cafe
owner in France cannot work 12 hours a day with his
daughter. Why are people forced to lie? Last summer a
man was looking after our heat economy. It was more
than enough for him to come there once a month. It
seems that settling things down with the person should
be enough. But what if State Tax Inspectorate comes?
Why am I forced to fill-in the non-existent information
into the roll? Why am I forced to feel guilt? Pretending
that the Inspectorate represents the labour interests.
There is certainly no fun for the employer, when he or
she has to fire people or cut their salaries. Moreover, if
the employer thinks of the future of the company, he or
she is interested in saving the people right where they are.
However, no one pays for nothing; even though it was
so before the recession. One of my former employees
once said to me upon leaving the job: “Manager, one
even has to work to get money at your place”.
“This is where our mentality
comes from. In case of any trouble
it seems that either the head of the
company or at least the government
has to empty their pockets and attend
to each and every one. A young lady
has come back to Lithuania from
abroad to work with us. One of the
first questions she asked was where
she could get ensured. People are
forced to get ensured here and yet,
they avoid that at all costs. What
an absurd! – the person has to be
responsible for him or herself. Indeed,
this is exactly where the problem
of the determination of the optimal
relation between the society and the individual lies.”
“Why are Western people not aware of what a
bribe is? Because a doctor receives the money straight
into his or her hands and pays health insurance on his or
her own. Thus the patient doesn’t have to consider why
he or she is forced to pay again for something that as
paid for already.”
“No one even bothers about the actual salaries the
people get here. The fact that the employers pay over
30 additional percent off the employees salary to the
Social Insurance, is being completely forgotten. What if
the same employee was to make these social insurance
payments on his or her own? The payer would require
the doctor to provide an adequate medical service then.
There’s nothing much like this in Europe, where the
socialism prevails. Western Europe has overtaken the
worst legislation and its provisions from the socialist