From Soviet giants to Russian survivors

This paper draws on research recently completed by the author on the Russian power engineering industry and its capability to assimilate relevant Western technology. A case study description is provided of a large and well established company within the power engineering industry, using material gathered during visits to Russia by the author from 1994 to 1997. This information is then followed by a discussion of demand‐related factors in the business environment, and the company’s product and manufacturing strategies, including the assimilation of advanced Western technologies. This discussion is then used to define those characteristics which should support the survival of large Russian enterprises, albeit at reduced levels of capacity, focusing on issues of specific markets, products and processes rather than the debates on privatisation, liberalisation, and corporate governance which have dominated much of the Western literature.