Transformation Management in Postcommunist Countries

The book addresses the management of privatization in post-communist countries and is aimed at defining and analyzing contextual and organizational characteristics of privatization in these transitional economies to build effective business concerns that behave competitively. While privatization has recently become popular and widely used in former socialist countries, its organizational requirements have often been overlooked. The book demonstrates salient features as well as dynamic relationships among various organizational properties of privatized firms. The volume includes both conceptual foundations and practical suggestions for transformation from a command economy to a market economy from a managerial and organizational perspectives. Additionally, it includes examples of privatization in Eastern and Central Europe. It will appeal to students, policy makers, and managers of privatization in post-communist countries.

This book presents an outstanding body of research on theoretical and practical aspects of the various applications of privatization in post-communist countries. A thorough analysis of strategy, structure, behavior, and process of transformation from a command to a market economy is discussed. The volume presents illustrative cases from Eastern Europe and provides a wide range of critical issues including planning, restructuring industrial organization, technology management, and human resource management based on personal experience of the authors or extensive studies on privatization in former socialist countries. It is an excellent source for further understanding the reasons for successes or failures of a variety of privatization applications.

REFIK CULPAN teaches at the School of Business Administration, Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg. He has 20 years teaching and practical experience in management and international business in Europe and the United States. His numerous research has appeared in selected journals. He authored a chapter in Advances in International Comparative Management Vol. 6 (1991) and The Economic of Change in East and Central Europe: Its Impact on International Business (1993). He recently edited Multinational Strategic Alliances (1993).

BRIJ NINO KUMAR is Professor of International Management and Business Economics at the University of Erlange-Nurnberg, Germany. He has over 70 publications in reputable German, American, French, and Japanese journals and seven books on various topics of international management and business economics. Additionally, he serves on editorial boards of several journals and has advised the federal German government and Bavarian government on various projects.