Socio-psychological climate as a factor of competitiveness

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Introduction The organization is not isolated from society and, consequently, the socio-psychological climate depends firstly on the socio-political and economic situation in the state and, secondly, on the position of the industry in the national economy, as well as on the conditions and standard of living in the region where it is located. Formation of a favorable psychological climate of the work is one of the most important conditions for the growth of productivity and quality of products. However, psychological climate is an indicator of development of team’s social climate. This is associated with the prospect of increasing the social factors in the structure of production and improvement of both the organization and working conditions. The general social and ideological atmosphere in the country depends on the level of psychological climate of each individual. The effectiveness of joint action depends largely on the optimal realization of personal and group capabilities. Favorable atmosphere in a group does not only affect its productive results but also creates a new opportunities and shows people’ potential. That’s why it is so important to study psychological climate due to the fact that it is a possibility to be reflected in a company’s activity. Literature Review The internal state of the organization is determined by a system of interrelated and dependent characteristics. Such characteristics are the compatibility of employees, the optimal leadership style, cooperation within and outside the organization, values, norms of behavior and attitude, the level of identification of individuals and groups with the organization as well as working conditions in the company and employees’ job satisfaction. It is very important to form a favorable socio-psychological climate characterized by cooperation of workers, mutual assistance and absence of destructive conflicts in order to increase the competitiveness of the organization (Zhdanov, 2012). Competitiveness is primarily a socio-psychological phenomenon. The strength of organization is in human resources. Human resources and all social and psychological phenomena that take place in the course of their joint activities lead to increasing the competitiveness of the organization. The approach, in which human resources are considered to be crucial in the process of increasing the competitiveness of the organization, pays significant attention of socio-psychological factors (Makarenko, 2011). According to the article 163 of the Labor Code of Russia (Labor Code of the Russian Federation, 2018) the employer must create optimal conditions for the employee to fulfill all the norms of production. These conditions include such working conditions that meet the requirements of safety of production and labor protection. Improving working conditions for employees is an objective that employers should seek after. We can distinguish 4 groups of factors, affecting the formation and change of working conditions. The first group includes social and economic factors, the effect of which determines the situation of workers in society. This group includes factors that characterize the attitude of the society to the sphere of labor activity in an organization and working conditions, complex of interests and value orientations of employees, characteristics of the staff, the style of leadership, etc. The second group of factors is the technical and organizational factors directly affecting the formation of material elements of working conditions: such as the means of labor, the objects of labor, technological processes, organizational forms of production, labor and management, in particular, the modes of work and rest, the forms of division and cooperation of labor, methods of work, rationing of labor, etc. The third group includes natural factors that characterize the impact of geographic, climatic, geological and biological features of the terrain, where the labor process is taking place, on workers. The fourth group of factors is economic and household, associated with the organization of food workers, their sanitary and domestic services (Chechina, 2009). In circumstances of a large number of individual private enterprises and a wide range of working places in the most popular sphere of marketing, goods production, service provision and so forth, every employer tries to create and improve such an organization atmosphere which will distinguish their company from others and be attractive for employees to become a part of it. That is why working conditions are indissolubly connected with the psychological climate. Employers understand that both physical and psychological state of health of an employee will depend on working conditions. The better the working conditions are, the better the state of the employee is and, consequently, the higher his efficiency and productivity are. Remembering this rule allows a company to get more finished products at the output. The organization must maintain working conditions at an acceptable level and also improve them in order to obtain greater benefits from employees and create a comfortable environment for productive and qualitative results. Influence of organizational climate on competitiveness: practical example Now we are going to study Russian beer industry and describe working condition as well as financial indicators of three beer companies to make a competitive analyze and prove the hypothesis about interrelation of socio-psychological climate and companies’ performance. 1. The Ochakovo Company is the largest entity of a beer and soft drinks industry of Russia without participation of the foreign equity. Ochakovo is included into the six of the leading brewing holdings of Russia, holds leading positions in the market of natural kvass and low alcohol cocktails. 22 entities are a part of the company: beer and soft drinks productions, winery, malting complexes and agricultural enterprises (Official site of Ochakovo Company). 2. Baltika is the largest Russian brewing company which is the leader of the Russian beer market with a share of 41%. Baltika brand is one of two Russian brands on the list of the 100 largest world trademarks, compiled in April 2007 by the British newspaper Financial Times (Vinogradova, 2007). Based on the results of a similar rating compiled in April 2009, Baltika didn’t get into the top 100 brands. The Baltika trademark has become one of the three leaders in the rating of the international brand-consulting agency Interbrand, as one of the most expensive brands (Official site of Baltika Company). 3. CJSC “Moscow brewing company” is a Russian company engaged in the production and sale of beer, low-alcohol and non-alcoholic beverages. It has entered the Russian market of drinks with products of own and licensed production in September 2008 (Official site of Moscow brewing company). The company includes a brewery, distribution and logistics centers located in Mytishchi, the Moscow Region. The results of analysis are presented in table 1. Table 1 Competitiveness model of Ochakovo, Baltika and Moscow brewing company for 2017 Working conditions Ochakovo Baltika Moscow brewing company Salary rate 3.1 3.3 2.5 Management 2.4 2.1 2.2 State of working place 3 2.9 2.9 Relation in collective 2.8 2.7 2.2 Career opportunities 2.2 2 2.4 Employees’ job satisfaction 2.7 2.6 2.4 Source: http://otrude.net As you can see the ratings of Russian beer industry is not great and should be improved to deserve a better recognition by people. In spite this fact, it is obvious that Ochakovo and Baltika got the highest indicators in all indicators that characterizes it as the best beer Companies to work for while Moscow brewing company get the lowest one and fell behind greatly from other two companies. Now we are going to analyze financial results in table 2. Financial indicators of Ochakovo, Baltika and Moscow brewing company for 2017 Table 2 Indicators Ochakovo Baltika Moscow brewing company Profit 7 514 083 86 608 441 35 122 648 Net Profit 400 434 12 030 946 -1 366 434 Revenue 692 032 14 256 198 3 472 746 Source: Financial reports taken from the companies’ official websites. Results After studying the results, we have noticed that the company with the lowest sociopsychological climate, according to assessment of employees, has the poorest numbers of financial indicators. Baltika has got the biggest number that can be explained by the fact that it is the only Russian beer company on the international market. Speaking about Ochakovo, we can notice that it takes rather high position among other domestic beer companies in Russia and provides good working conditions for its employees that may lead to expansion of its share on the Russian beer market as well as its entering to the international arena. Conclusion As a conclusion it is important to say that formation of a favorable psychological climate of the work is one of the most important conditions for the growth of productivity and quality of products. However, psychological climate is an indicator of development of team’s social climate. This is associated with the prospect of increasing the social factors in the structure of production and improvement of both the organization and working conditions. The general social and ideological atmosphere in the country depends on the level of psychological climate of each individual. The effectiveness of joint action depends largely on the optimal realization of personal and group capabilities. Favorable atmosphere in a group does not only affect its productive results but also creates a new opportunities and shows people’ potential. That’s why it is so important to study psychological climate due to the fact that it is a possibility to be reflected in a company’s activity.

About the authors

A A Kurus

Kuban State University

Email: A.A.Kurus@mail.ru
Master’s Student of Economics and Management, Kuban State University 149 Stavropolskaya St., Krasnodar, 350040, Russian Federation

I V Bogdashev

Kuban State University

Email: ilbogdashev@gmail.com
PhD in Economics, Associate Professor, Theoretical Economics Department, Kuban State University 149 Stavropolskaya St., Krasnodar, 350040, Russian Federation

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