|
By knowing the specifics of the Russian corporate culture
it is easier to make an acquisition of a local firm a rewarding
effort for the Nordic investor.
Today's Russian corporate culture is driven by order and command
embedded in a rigid hierarchical system. The legacy of Soviet history
in particular remains quite strong and will continue to influence
the business community in the short to medium term. In stark contrast,
Nordic corporate culture is driven by ongoing dialogue between top
management and its subordinates. This presents several immediate
challenges to the Nordic investor seeking to integrate a recently
acquired Russian business:
- Russians generally expect specific instructions and orders
from the new owner; in one meeting between a Finnish client and
the manager of its newly acquired Russian firm, a bemused Finnish
CEO was asked to provide direct orders, "like in the army."
- Russian firms are highly bureaucratic organizations; unlike
in Nordic culture, a verbal agreement will rarely if ever provide
an adequate substitute for a signed document
- Russian companies have been slow to respond to foreign management
in the past; a chain of command between the foreign HQ needs to
be established as quickly as possible to minimize friction in
the integration
- A Nordic investor must assign clear responsibilities and voice
unambiguous expectations to the newly acquired Russian firm, thus
avoiding time and financial losses being the result of constantly
moving goalposts, changed agendas and unfulfilled tasks
- A buy-in from the Russian side must be sought by motivating
the employees to adopt the ethos of the Nordic mother firm. This
can be accomplished by showing a good example of teamwork (in
the recently acquired company) which addresses the key stages
of efficient work performance: priority setting, task planning,
responsibility assigning, execution and progress tracking. Following
that a "lessons learnt" session can be quite useful to hear feedbacks
of the Russian side and make sure new work methods and new cultural
facets have started finding their ways in the acquired organization.
This subject will be addressed in more detail at a workshop called
How to Make PMI in Russia a Rewarding Effort.
For more information, please follow our Upcoming
Events section.
Back
|
