Russian Management Training Programs: do corporate responsibility topics have a place?

Management Accounting Quarterly, Summer, 2004 by David S. Harrison, Patsy G. Lewellyn

The content of our program of courses centered on what we felt were the most critical skills for aspiring managers and entrepreneurial venture capitalists. We focused on market approaches to business strategy, capital investment decisions, and financial performance and decision issues. Also included were general management skills, quality management, and, finally, a specially designed course to introduce the trainees to certification steps in ISO 9000 standards. The courses culminated in a trainee final exam, which consisted of presenting a comprehensive business proposal to a panel of local business and community leaders. Most of the proposals were for existing or contemplated businesses.

INCLUDE ETHICS TRAINING? OUR UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY!

When considering ethics in Russia, one must first understand that the Soviets' high levels of social consciousness and ethical standards were rigorously promoted to citizens, especially within Sarov, supporting the important defense work the city carried out. Although the Soviet line of collective good may have worn down with the passing of time and the continued tragedies of Russian leaders, both pre- and post-revolution (1917), the message was less diluted in cities like Sarov, with its system of Soviet-era privileges and a direct role in national defense. The residents of Sarov sincerely believed their city's contribution to world peace was real and meaningful through the concept of MAD, "mutually assured destruction." These beliefs, and the receptiveness to socially-oriented issues, were arguably much stronger than typically found in Americans, including in places where similar defense programs existed in the U.S., such as Los Alamos.

Such ethical standards created a sense of local pride in the people of Sarov. Soviet education and training programs continually reinforced these beliefs. Sarov continues to be involved in nuclear defense work, but with the help of the United States it is undergoing a massive effort to convert some government and defense-related commerce and jobs to free enterprise, private, non-weapons work. The change, along with the major change in economic and political systems, has left something of a vacuum where the sense of ethics and pride in the mission had existed previously. Their identity was diminished and was replaced with the promise of capitalism and freedom, yet no clear path toward progress and success was apparent, or even relevant, to many.

In clear contrast to Soviet times, issues of social consciousness were either largely ignored or simply took lower precedence to the new issues of job creation and economic progress. Certainly, it was the case in our own training programs. This prioritization reflects not so much a conscious decision or omission, but it is more likely a straightforward and pragmatic, if not simplistic, reaction to apparent critical needs. Jobs first! This maxim is all too logical, all too practical, and, unfortunately, all too familiar. Thinking beyond the short term may seem a luxury that can be afforded later when more substantial development is under way, but long-term development and social issues should at least be openly deliberated--up for grabs, if you will--before they make way for business priorities. It's an all too recognizable tune, only set to a dynamically different score this time. In the cases of Sarov and the nuclear cities, it misses a prime opportunity to capitalize on embedded levels of social consciousness at much higher levels than those arguably typical of the West.