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The purpose of this paper is to examine the dramatically changed role of Russia in the global economy since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, as the Soviet institutions collapsed and were either reformed or replaced in a new Russian institutional landscape. The paper presents a fact-based and balanced view of Russia’s evolving role in the global economy, as distinguished from the sometimes one-sided view presented by some Western commentators. The authors establish that the two countervailing views are fundamentally based on different cultural perspectives about institutions, primarily the roles of business and government.

This paper is developed as a perspectives article drawing upon the decades of academic and business experience of all three authors with Russian business, management and the economy. The paper focuses on the structure of Russian institutional change and places it within the historical context of the challenges of various periods of time from the late 1980s to the present. The authors posit that cultural foundations complicate that institutional evolution.

Russia will remain a major player in world markets for energy, raw materials and armaments for the near future at least. Principal institutional questions facing Russia have to do with how to reduce the country’s overall dependence on raw material exports, with its vulnerability to world market fluctuations, and how to modernize Russian economic and political institutions. The degree of success in addressing these questions will depend largely upon the ability of the new and reformed economic institutions to show the flexibility to respond to changes in the global order, on whether political considerations will continue to supersede economic issues, and how markedly cultural traditions will continue to impede positive changes.

The entire system of international trade is under question, disrupted by the growing nationalism that is threatening the globalization that became institutionalized over decades in the wake of the Second World War. Russia’s future role is partially dependent upon how new patterns of international trade develop in response to the current disruption of established trade regimes, and by how political conflicts are expressed economically. The authors observe that Russia’s historical and cultural traditions, especially acquiescence to a highly centralized government with a strong autocratic leader, limit the country’s options. The authors explore how Russia’s reactions to Western sanctions have led to a new strategic approach, moving away from full engagement in the global economy to selective economic, and sometimes political, alliances with primarily non-Western countries, most notably China. The authors contrast Russia’s situation with that of China, which has been able to make substantial economic progress while still embracing a strong, centralized political institutional structure.

Many Western analysts have viewed Russian institutional evolution very critically through the lens of Western politics and sanctions, while Russia has continued along its own path of economic and institutional development. Each view, the authors argue, is based upon differing cultural perspectives of the roles of business and government. As a result, a distinct difference exists between the Western and Russian perspectives on Russia’s role in the world. This paper presents both points of view and explores the future of Russia’s position in the world economy based upon its evolving strategy for national economic policy. The authors contrast the situations of Russia and China, highlighting how Western-centric cultural views have affected perceptions of each country, sometimes similarly and at times with decided differences.

This article describes the quality leadership style of a Russian woman entrepreneur who started a successful software operation under a licensing agreement with an American company. A cornerstone of her business philosophy was that quality should be its hallmark Her style reflected many similarities with American entrepreneurship, while other features were unique to the Russian environment, and to herself. Much of her approach can be explained by her bicultural Russian and American background; her leadership style, values, and behavior exhibited a blend of both cultures. These characteristics are analyzed using an integrative framework that recognizes the importance of a quality orientation in all aspects of leadership. The analysis of Olga Kirova's leadership style also takes into account bicultural influences upon her values, ethics, and managerial behavior, and notes a number of similarities and differences from the more traditional Russian leadership style. Conclusions and recommendations are presented about the utility of the framework in a Russian setting, and its value in evaluating leadership styles of potential Russian business partners.

Management education is a booming business in Russia these days, with more than 1,000 business schools and training centres having been established in the past couple of years in Moscow alone. Focuses on the way management education is evolving in Russia. First presents an overview of the management education system that existed during the communist period as background. Follows with a discussion of how political, social and economic changes have influenced management education since 1988. Next presents the latest developments in management education. Topics include the types of business schools which have been created, as well as the characteristics of their faculty, programmes and curricula and teaching methodologies. Concludes with a discussion of the future of management education, and presents a pessimistic and an optimistic scenario of the potential impact of management education on the economy, politics and society in the new Russia.

Highly publicized scandals and increased stakeholder activism for sustainable development have resulted in calls for more responsible global leadership. At the same time, emerging economies characterized by weak institutions, political instability, and a shaky rule of law have gained in importance for global business. Under the lens of responsible global leadership, we highlight the challenges that global leaders face in addressing the needs of diverse, cross-boundary stakeholders, with a particular focus on Western multinational enterprises (MNEs) doing business in emerging markets. We identify three prototypical approaches that MNEs and their leaders take in responding to calls for responsible global leadership, focusing on the tensions and possible trade-offs between globally integrated and locally adapted approaches. We discuss the implications in view of managerial decision making and behavior and offer recommendations for how organizations may promote responsible global leadership.

Informal networking is generally regarded as an important activity that is available to every manager, which usually results in positive outcomes. However, differences in networking behavior have been less frequently discussed and compared in a global context. We argue that different ideals of informal networking can result in situations where international managers can hardly foresee the potential consequences of their networking behavior, especially when local ideals of networking are not taken into account. Differences in networking behavior caused by differences in underlying values, norms, and ideals can lead to ethical dilemmas. At this junction, we point out the integral role favors and favor exchange play in global networking and suggest a competency framework that is helpful for international managers to navigate informal networking abroad and identify potential ethical dilemmas before they take effect.

Following the demise of the Soviet Union in 1992, Russia undertook major institutional and market‐oriented reforms to enhance the competitive advantage of domestic enterprises. Although Russia has experienced rapid growth over the last two decades, the extent to which institutions in Russia impact on firm innovation and performance remains poorly understood due to a lack of research on the subject. This paper seeks to contribute to the literature on the competitiveness of Russian firms by focussing specifically on the extent to which the state of the regulatory quality, rule of law, and corruption affect the innovation capacity and performance of firms in Russia.

The study uses structural equation modelling and data from a large‐scale firm level survey (n=787) of firms in Russia undertaken by the World Bank in 2009. It investigates the direct and indirect perceptions of respondents of the effects the current institutional environment has on the innovation capacity and performance of their respective organisations.

The results show that regulatory quality, rule of law and corruption have strong direct and negative impacts on both the innovation capacity and performance of firms, and that innovation capacity strongly mediates the effects of institutions on firm performance. The results suggest that the current state of the regulatory quality, rule of law and corruption in Russia inhibit firm innovation and their resulting performance.

The findings should be interpreted with caution to the extent that the study is limited to only three elements of the formal institutional environment and does not take into consideration the role of informal institutions. These two limitations present avenues for future research.

The study is one of the first to provide empirical evidence based on a large‐scale survey of the extent to which formal institutions inhibit innovation and firm performance in Russia, and provides valuable guidance to business policy‐makers in Russia on possible avenues for enhancing the overall competitiveness of Russian firms.

Women in Management Review Volume 8 No. 7 of this journal contains four articles of interest. In the first, entitled “Women Managers in the Former USSR: A Case of ”Too Much Equality?“” Sheila M. Puffer discusses the conditions experienced by women in the former USSR who are aspiring to or are currently occupying managerial positions. Soviet women feel the pressure of two societal forces: they are expected to work as well as to be the primary person responsible for home and family. Many complain: “We have too much equality”. Previews the statistics on women in the labour force in the former USSR, and examines seven factors affecting Soviet women's access to managerial positions: (1) the perception of management as a masculine domain, (2) cultural constraints on women's roles, (3) women's roles in family life, (4) the stage of the country's economic development, (5) social policy, (6) access to higher education and (7) organisational context. Concludes with an assessment of the prospects for Soviet women in managerial positions.

The purpose of this article is to analyze the initial public offerings (IPOs) of Russian companies in the context of the country's investment attractiveness and the readiness of its companies to list on stock exchanges, domestically and/or internationally. The analysis takes a balanced approach. It recognizes the positive aspects from the development of Russia's stock markets and the launched and planned IPOs of Russian companies, but underscores reasons for caution in assessing this developing situation, emphasizing the need to maintain a critical perspective. The article is intended to help determine, in the sphere of IPOs at least, whether Russia is currently, or is on the road to becoming, as solid as a BRIC.

Drawing upon publicly available material from English‐ and Russian‐language sources, the authors discuss the development of the two Russian stock exchanges and analyze the progress that Russian companies have made in successfully completing IPOs on Russian and foreign stock exchanges. The paper also analyzes the barriers faced by Russian companies in launching IPOs and/or attracting investment, including global factors, country‐level conditions, and individual firm characteristics.

The results of the analysis indicate that the Russian stock exchanges have developed reasonably well over the two decades since perestroika. Correspondingly, a substantial number of Russian companies have mounted successful IPOs not only on the Russian stock exchanges but also on international exchanges, particularly the London Stock Exchange. Yet the number of successful IPOs relative to the number of planned IPOs has been much smaller than the global average. The latter finding is attributed to Russia's particular investment problems, which extend beyond global economic forces, specifically the country‐level and firm‐specific factors, both of which heighten the risk for investors.

The authors' review of the literature has uncovered no journal articles covering the circumstances surrounding the IPOs of Russian firms. Additionally, the available sources seldom provide a balanced view, much less a critical view of the IPO landscape in the context of Russia's overall circumstances, particularly risk. Thus, this article, with its critical but balanced perspective, allows for a relatively objective analysis for theorists as well as investors as they approach the topic of Russian company IPOs, domestically or internationally.

This introductory paper aims to outline the reasons for optimism as well as for skepticism in regard to Russia's position in the group of BRIC nations and in the global economy.

The paper presents a brief overview of developments in Russia. This discussion serves as a contextual introduction to this special issue by embracing some of the common themes elaborated in the other papers that are featured in the issue.

The paper takes a balanced perspective by discussing both positive and negative trends in Russia's development.

The paper sets the context in which the other papers that comprise this special issue can be situated.

The purpose of this paper is to address the internationalization of Russian multinationals by critically challenging existing assumptions about “springboard” foreign market selection by emerging market firms.

The authors studied foreign market selection decisions for 497 international merger and acquisition (M&A) and joint venture (JV) deals completed by Russian multinational enterprises (MNEs) between 1997 and 2009. The statistical model tests the impact of the geographic, political and economic distances of the host country from Russia on Russian MNEs' foreign market selection decisions.

Contrary to existing assumptions, the host country's geographic closeness to Russia, and its being an ex‐USSR republic or a tax haven, positively affected the country's probability of attracting an M&A or JV deal by a Russian MNE, while the similar level of economic development did not significantly influence the MNEs' foreign market selection decisions. The patterns of significance among the explanatory variables vary for Russian MNEs operating in the natural resources industries.

Further studies may extend the observation period, enlarge the database with Greenfield and export deals by Russian MNEs, and add cross‐country cultural distances to the explanatory variables.

Russian managers should consider the “distances” that might influence firms' foreign investment decisions. This paper also allows host country governments willing to formulate policies aimed at the attraction of Russian outward foreign direct investments to obtain a better understanding of Russian MNEs' international strategies.

One of the few quantitative studies on the topic, this research suggests that Russian MNEs choose their own means of foreign market selection, combining gradual and leapfrog approaches to internationalization.