Who cut the ribbon? A quantitative analysis of formal opening ceremonies of new plants of multinational corporations in Russia

This paper reports on a study of formal opening ceremonies of new plants of multinational corporations in Russia. We argue that such ceremonies have profound symbolic meanings, namely managing anxiety and signaling commitment, as well as practical importance, particularly when top executives of corporate parents meet with top officials from the host countries at such ceremonies. The database embraces the entire population of public opening ceremonies of new plants of western multinational corporations (MNCs) in Russia from 2012 to 2016. The analysis revealed that in 2016, the unwillingness of both corporate CEOs and local governors to participate in plant opening ceremonies began to increase. More than one-third of plant opening ceremonies in 2016 were low-profile ceremonies ignored by top officials from corporate parents and local authorities from the host country. The growing absence of local governors is attributed to the smaller size of newly opened plants and the impact of sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and European Union following the inclusion of Crimea into Russia in 2014. This paper also indicates a promising direction for further studies – a replication study that should embrace public opening ceremonies of new plants of foreign MNCs in China, India, and Brazil.     

Facing Faces: The Head Motif in Migration-Period Archaeology

TIME AND AGAIN WE SEE STRANGE FACES on archaeological objects from early migration-period contexts in northern and western Europe. They are depicted on fibulas, belt buckles, button brooches and some other types of objects. With their bulgy eyes, open mouths and chubby cheeks they appear as though they were ‘shadowing’ and pursuing human-kind. Who are they, whose image might be represented here, what meaning did these images convey and what were they meant to achieve? Through an analysis of new and old archaeological finds, the appearances, spatial distribution and duration of use of these faces are discussed, and an interpretation for their meaning is suggested. Contacts between the various Germanic-speaking groups of northern Europe and their blended culture, signalled by motifs derived from Celtic, Roman and later Christian societies, created a new world of idiosyncratic images and thoughts which are interrogated here.     

Churches and aristocracies in seventh‐century Spain: some thoughts on the debate on Visigothic churches

After a decade of intense debate on the chronology of the so‐called Visigothic churches in Spain the divergent opinions have made little progress owing to the lack of reliable chronologies and the limits of a very stylistic approach. This article aims to present an analysis of the social and economic conditions of the seventh century (particularly the second half) as a background to understanding and defending the existence of church building in late Visigothic Spain. Their physical type (monumental but not enormous), the quality of their construction techniques and decoration, their function (absence of baptisteries and, often, presence of privileged burials) suggest aristocratic patronage of these buildings, an identification widely supported by textual and epigraphical evidence.