The session was co-moderated by Michael Akim, AEB Board Member, Chairman of the AEB Working Group on Modernisation & Innovation; Associated Partner, Vitus Bering Management Ltd.; Professor of Graduate School of Business, HSE; and Anton Atrashkin, INNOPROM Business Programme Director.

The session was held online and gathered 5 645 participants. 

The coronavirus crisis has changed the business priorities of the companies. It suddenly demonstrated that a value chain, optimized for cost reduction and increased performance, was not robust or resilient due to external unexpected trials. In these circumstances, the companies with transparent and well-traceable supply chain, least susceptible to restrictions on cross-border transactions and having sufficient stocks, proved to be among the most successful and sustainable.

The discussion of the session was focused on the following key topics: 

- impact of coronavirus crisis on the goals formulated within the labor productivity improvement programs in Russia and worldwide; crisis influence on the approaches toward new technology implementation;

- correlation between increased performance and staff reduction on a limited market;

- benefits of automation and the SDGs at societal level

Tadzio Schilling, AEB CEO, highlighted in his speech that the vast majority of European companies, according to the annual AEB survey, were heavily affected by the crisis. Meanwhile, as added Mr. Schilling, the Russian market remains the market for long-term projects and presence for the European investors. Therefore, many companies are aiming to use the crisis to improve performance processes and to increase competitiveness.

Russia continues to lag significantly behind developed countries in terms of labor productivity. Referring to the experience of European countries, Mr. Schilling noted the role of the state and the support institutions it creates as a key factor in increased performance. In this regard, he expressed confidence that the intensive work that is currently being carried out within the framework of the National Project "Labor Productivity and Employment Support" will invariably lead to positive results.

The AEB CEO also expressed his confidence that a comprehensive approach is needed to improve the performance indicator. The introduction of new technologies is necessary, but this is only one side of the issue. It is also necessary to talk about the competitiveness of the organizations themselves, both in the domestic and foreign markets. In this case, the crisis, resulting in the digitalization of many processes, gives companies an additional chance to reach a new level of productivity.

Alexander Molodtsov, Director of Productivity and Efficiency Department, Ministry of Economic Development of the RF, outlined the main tasks and interim results of the implementation of the National Project "Labor productivity and employment support". Among the tasks of the short and medium term, he noted the creation of production systems at enterprises, the introduction of lean manufacturing tools, training and retraining of employees with the participation of World Skills, the launch of a digital ecosystem of services to contribute to the enterprises’ digitalization.

In the session also took part the following speakers: 

Aage V. Nielsen, Member of the Council of National Representation (Denmark), Managing Director & Senior Partner, Vitus Bering Management Ltd.

Marina Tatarskaya, Chairperson of the AEB PR & Communications Committee; Corporate Communications Director, Ferrero Russia 

Vyacheslav Boltrukevich, EMBA and "MBA-Production Systems" Program Director, Graduate School of Business, Lomonosov Moscow State University

Dmitry Kapishnikov, General Director, KUKA Russia

Petr Skvortsov, General Director, Uralsk Diesel-Motor Plant 

The record is available via link