Change Management In Transition Economies

This book investigates the concepts and instruments for managing change in companies striving towards a market orientation in transition economies. The focus is on the identification of factors, which have led to the considerable success of certain corporations, in spite of the very dynamic environment in transition countries since 1989. The analysis considers problems and solutions for all the relevant stakeholder relationships. Although the case study is largely based on Poland, the book also contains research on the economic, political and social context of doing business in Central and Eastern Europe.

The publication of this volume marks an important event for The William Davidson Institute. It is the result of a major WDI research venture that focused on the transition process at the firm level. The research speaks to both the concerns of researchers that focus on issues of organization, management, and strategy, and also to the individual managers and leaders who are trying to transform their organizations. This focus on the firm-level dynamics reflects a major thesis that the Institute has been advancing with respect to the transition process--until the transition occurs at the firm level, the process is not complete. This book is also an important reminder of the large network of researchers and practitioners that has been formed by the Institute. The hundreds of Institute Fellows, Associates, and Affiliates around the world have contributed in an important way to the understanding of the transition process. Their working papers, articles, and books have been widely read and have informed private, as well as public policy decisions. Conducting worldwide research on the transition process is a difficult procedure, but this book is evidence that the issues and the network are clearer now than ever before.

This book discusses change management paradigms with special reference to examples and cases from the transition societies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The first chapter analyses developments and trends in the wider societal context of Central and Eastern Europe. Theoretical perspectives are applied to understand the processes of transition and EU accession in Central and Eastern Europe. Following the second and third chapters, the most frequently used tools and procedures of change management are analysed from the perspective of a CEE organization. The special advantage of the text to the potential readership is the integration of 'macro' (societal) and 'micro' (organizational) points of view towards understanding change. The text also provides real-life examples and perspectives of understanding and managing change from Central and Eastern Europe, which helps the reader to grasp the wider political, economic and societal context(s) of the CEE region.

Economic Transition and International Business brings together academic experts in International Business and sheds new light on the international phenomenon of transitions in the worldwide economy. It includes both academic investigations as well as in-depth empirical studies. The purpose of the book is to investigate how international transitions reshape the environment, as they reallocate and renew activities, and create new strategies for actors and stakeholders. It provides essential insights into a number of contextual changes that organisations are facing internationally, and is structured around three complementary themes. In the first part, recent economic and financial crises are analysed and presented as revealing transitions for the business world. In the second part, the impact of these transitions is assessed at the level of various key economic players in today’s societies (states, business networks, companies, associations, etc.). In the third part, certain decision-making and managerial transitions are retained to illustrate the new deal linked to international transitions. This book is recommended reading for scholars and students in management and economics, as well as international business managers. They will find insightful information, either theoretical or practical, including various countries impacted by socio-economic transitions.

Over the past twenty years, several countries in Europe, Central and South America and Asia have undergone a transition from a planned economy to a market economy. Some observers have described this process as perhaps the biggest economic experiment of the last few centuries. However, knowledge about how this process affects business in these countries remains limited. The task of this book is to increase our understanding about how business changes at the micro level during the transition to a market economy. The focus of this book is placed on the Russian market, as Russia is one of the biggest countries currently making the transition. The book takes as its point of departure the observation that firms and managers perceive the management of networks of relationships with customers and suppliers to be their greatest challenge. It presents a case study, which covers the period from 1986 to 1998, and analyses and explains how business networks in Russia have changed over the past fifteen years. Moreover, it identifies the driving factors in the process of moving away from plan-governance and toward the development of business relationships characterised by mutuality, stability and identity. Martin Johanson is associate professor at the Department of Business Studies, Uppsala University, and Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall. He received his Ph.D. from Uppsala University in 2001. He has ten years of experience working as a diplomat and business consultant in Russia. His research interests are transformation of networks in turbulent economies and firms' entry into emerging markets.

The work is a practical examination of fundamental strategic issues confronted by firms competing in newly opened markets. It covers emerging markets in East Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and the new states of the former Soviet Union.

The transition from socialist or communist economy to market economy in many countries has been dramatic, unpredictable, and mostly on the surface, observable in new consumption patterns or higher standards of living. But deeper change in the managerial mindset in these new market economies has been much slower and less evident. It is crucial to business success for foreign managers to understand their transition economy counterparts. This book examines the interactions that foreign and transition economy managers have in building business relationships, the influences behind those interactions, how the interactions themselves change over time, and how to manage the process of building relationships more smoothly.

Privatisation and Structural Change in Transition Economies brings together specialists from different areas (governance, regulation, macro-econometrics, micro-econometrics, enterprise culture, foreign direct investment, technology transfer) to focus on the many different aspects of the privatization process in transition economies. The book does not dwell on the administrative or procedural aspects of privatisation. Instead it attempts to understand the bigger picture in terms of underlying policy environment and supporting legal and economic measures which helped to a large extent to determine the eventual success or failure of privatization programmes.