On the principle of cultural conformity in personnel management

Abstract

The article analyzes the methodological contradiction between the introduction of Western management theories into personnel management and the need for a national-original theory and practice of management. It emphasize the negative consequences of imposing management models developed in other socio-cultural conditions on the personnel motivation system. The paper notes that scientific paradigms are formed under the effect of both science development internal logic, and non-scientific factors such as political, economic, and ideological  competition between states. The focus on Western management models  is due to Russia-USSR defeat/capitulation of in the «cold war» and the voluntary surrender of the Russian scientific and educational space «at the mercy of the winner». The cultural conformity principle has been first proclaimed in pedagogy but its application is appropriate in any other complex field of activity, including personnel management. For Russia, this principle means the justification of the personnel management theory and practice with the socio-cultural values and  norms developed by its millennial culture. Content analysis of the  textbook and training manual content devoted to personnel  management confirmed the assumption that foreign authors topped the rating of reference authors and concepts with a clear advantage. The  most frequently mentioned are Taylor, Fayol, Mayo, Maslow, and Ford. Among domestic researchers, Gastev, Kerzhentsev, and Vitke are the closest to them. The Soviet managerial thought during the heyday of  the USSR (1950-80s) was not represented practically, although the country launched a man into space for the first time in the world,  reached the forefront in many areas of science and technology, and built a socially targeted system unprecedented in the world’s history these decades. It is impossible to imagine, that all these achievements  are not related to the effective system of management and motivation. The article concludes that in the field of training specialists to work with  personnel, it’s necessary a turn to develop such training  programs, textbooks and textbooks that would reflect the civilizational specifics of Russia, and meet the cultural conformity  principle.