ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the reasons why each party enters the strategic business alliance, what they expect to get out of the relationship, and the issues that may arise when these two sets of background expectations come together. The two sides of an east-west venture in Russia come together from very different backgrounds, carrying in their heads very different experiences that, crucially, can lead to very different expectations. Russian partners generally joined the strategic alliance in search of finance and investment in the form of access to new technology, machinery, materials, software. Russians look for evidence of serious investment from their business partners. Interviewees agreed on a number of key challenges that the Russian business environment presented, but they all stemmed from the fact that working in post-perestroika Russia was 'such a shock'. In the external business environment, Russia was high-risk, lacking reliable institutional guarantors.
