Kets de Vries Institute

ARTICLES

By Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries, Stanislav Shekshnia, Elizabeth Florent-Treacy & Konstantin Korotov

European Management Journal, 2004, #22 (6), pp. 637-648

Russia has gone through a tremendous transformation in the past decade; not the least of these recent changes is in the way business organizations are run. To illustrate the transition that has occurred in Russia since 1992, the authors studied Russian business leadership and entrepreneurship in a range of situations, from the transformation of a Soviet-era biscuit factory, to high-tech start-ups modeled on Western business practices. This article describes organization and leadership practices in Russia, and focuses on an emerging an leadership style the authors termed global Russian. The purpose of this research is both hindsight and foresight: by analyzing the rapid changes of the recent past, the authors seek to provide lessons on leadership that will be valuable for Russian business leaders and for those who seek to engage in working partnerships with them.