ABSTRACT
A high-level conference was held in the Kremlin on June 8 and 9, 1987, to discuss "the radical restructuring of economic management." Substantial excerpts from the proceedings were published in the Soviet press four days later. The conference was opened by Mikhail Gorbachev, who also delivered a closing address. Those who addressed the conference were primarily industrial enterprise managers and directors--people involved in the day-to-day management of the economy--and they came primarily from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics's most successful industrial enterprises. The impression was created that the Gorbachev leadership was taking counsel among those leaders whose support it needed to implement its declared policy of devolution of decision-making to the level of the local enterprise. The delay in publishing details of the meeting strengthened the impression that the issues at stake were contentious. In his closing remarks Gorbachev indicated that there was considerable disagreement even among the specially selected participants.
