Growth management: Experiences of successful companies in Central Europe

Abstract

Why we conducted this research In 1996 and 2001 we conducted two research projects on management in successful Russian companies. We then described in our papers how these enterprises are managed, the management philosophy held by successful Russian directors. Generally speaking, it is this successful philosophy that we call "growth management" - management geared towards long-term development in any situation. One conclusion drawn in the last research project was that those applying the philosophy of "growth management" had not yet formulated a long-term growth strategy. Subsequent interviews with top persons of various companies, as well as our own consulting practice, confirm this. Russian companies are now groping for their way: they have completed the first stage of qualitative growth, but have not yet entered the next stage,because they have not yet decided in which direction to move. That is why in 2003 we chose to study the experiences of foreign companies, conducting research on successful companies in Central Europe. Why did we choose Central Europe, and not Western Europe or the USA? The main idea was that until the early '90s, companies in Central Europe had been developing under conditions similar to those in Russia -- inside a rigidly planned economy. Accordingly, the position from which the transition to a market economy took place was similar to that of Russia. We therefore expected that the logic used in the development of successful Central European companies may help top persons in Russian companies decide in which directions to focus their efforts.