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Overlapping effects: Path dependence and path generation in management and organization in Russia

Comparative Human Resource Management at the School of Management, University of Bath, UK, g.schwartz{at}bath.ac.uk

Leo McCann

International and Comparative Management at Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, UK,leo.mccann{at}mbs.ac.uk

An important contribution to our understanding of management transformation in post-socialist societies has been made by new institutionalism. The strength of this approach derives from its critique of normative models based on neo-classical economics, which has tended towards institutional and management voluntarism. It has been able to grasp complexity in societies undergoing structural change, stressing that path dependence in property, political and social structures helps to define business organization. The limitation of new institutionalism lies in its tendency to overstate institutional stasis, failing to treat (national) institutions as contradictory and transient (localized) expressions of global processes. Based on extensive qualitative data, our article extends the understanding of path-dependence. Rather than dispensing with key insights of new institutionalism, we bridge the notion of path dependence with the contradictory processes of institutional reshaping and adaptation. Using an adapted version of the `system, society and dominance' (SSD) model, we demonstrate that the nature of Russia's insertion into the global market has had a substantial impact on firm ownership and strategies, while simultaneously limiting reforms to management structures and work organization.

Key Words: business systems theory • Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) • institutional theory • international/comparative management • organizational change • path dependence

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