Developing Managers in the Former Soviet Union

Since the late 1980s dramatic changes have occurred in the republics of the former Soviet Union and the countries of Eastern Europe. Because of the fall of communism and the breakdown of the command economy, enterprises in this region are facing unprecedented challenges in transforming themselves in order to make the transition to a market economy. Some of the challenges these enterprises are facing include: privatization, eliminating vertically integrated monopolies, removing the vestiges of central planning, deregulating prices, introducing currency convertibility, and establishing a financial infrastructure (Ivancevich, DeFrank, and Gregory, 1991). These changes have had a tremendous impact on the role of the enterprise manager. For Western efforts in developing managers in the former Soviet Union to be successful, their attitudes, behaviors, skills, and deficiencies must be understood (Ivancevich et al., 1991). Although management practices in command economies were studied by Eastern European scholars, Western management scholars and practitioners had little access to information about business practices in the Soviet Union. Recently, more information has become available concerning the effects of a command economy on managerial behavior. Following is a brief overview of what is currently known about management practices in a command economy.