Autonomy of the Socialist Enterprise, Managerial and Operational, the right granted by society (the state) to an enterprise to dispose of the resources allotted to it so that it can effectively fulfil the basic assignments: turning out the set range of products of high quality and within the time limits established. It is made necessary because centralised management has to be combined with the initiative of the lower echelons of social production (see Democratic Centralism in Economic Management). The means of production and the finances granted by society to the enterprises form the material basis of the relative managerial and operational autonomy of public enterprises. Besides, part of the cost of the product created by collective labour is retained for expanding production and for providing incentives to the work force. On the basis of centralised ratings, public enterprises organise work and its remuneration: they hire the labour power, provide personnel training and control employment; fix the wage structure; set the workload and skill categories, indices and bonuses distribution procedures (see Wages under Socialism); establish new and revise obsolete output standards; distribute the material incentive funds, the social and cultural programmes funds and the housing funds (see Economic Incentives Funds); resolve questions of material and technical supply and marketing; control finances involved in production activities; and establish relations with other enterprises and organisations, financing bodies and banks. The area of responsibility of an enterprise includes accounting for the consumption of labour power, material and fiscal resources, and for the results of economic activity; it also includes drawing up the book-keeping balance sheets. Enterprises act like legal persons, and maintain a bank account; relations between themselves and with different organisations are regulated by business legislation. The managerial and operational autonomy of enterprises is exercised in the interests of society as a whole, and is intended to facilitate the implementation of the overall state plan. The setting up of large-scale production associations increases economic options, and makes the self-supporting running of the enterprise more attainable at lower levels of economic management. The independence of collective farms and other cooperatives stems from the special character of collective farm-and-cooperative property. They independently decide their principal business matters. Meanwhile, cooperatives (collective farms) are closely linked to the overall system of national interests. This can be seen from the huge assistance received from the socialist state by the collective farm and cooperative sector to 18 promote scientific and technical progress. It also follows from the fact that agricultural production is controlled by the state through centralised planning. The expanding socialisation of production results in even greater cohesion between enterprise initiative and centralised economic management. The far-reaching managerial rights of the enterprise personnel are established by the Constitution of the USSR. The work collective, as a primary cell of the economic system, is engaged in production and social planning, in personnel training and employment, takes part in the analysis of the enterprise management, in improving working and living conditions, and in the distribution of resources for expanding production as well as those assigned for social and cultural programmes and for material incentives. Work collectives promote socialist emulation, help spread the best working techniques and tighten labour discipline, foster communist morality in their members (see Collective, Work, Production). Measures taken in conformity with the Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR on streamlining economic procedures are aimed at improving coordination between national economic interests and the interests of the work collectives. The importance of the natural indicators is growing in production planning and in the evaluation of the performance of each enterprise. The rated method of planning the net product is being introduced (see Rated Planning), which is instrumental in evaluating the share of a production team in the overall economic effort. The degree of fulfilment of output delivery plans, labour productivity growth, the share of quality products and profit growth are now becoming the principal asset-forming factors. Because of the stable indices and long-term economic standards, work collectives have a considerable leeway in utilising reserves within a five-year period in order to effectively filfil plans.