ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the ways in which cross-cultural learning for managers in Russia has been enabled and constrained by a constantly evolving institutional environment and internal cultural circumstances. Clearly, attempts to transfer Western management knowledge and pedagogical techniques without adapting them to the Russian context caused many of the issues that arose during the country’s first two decades of developing management education. Many such issues were based on a limited understanding of Russian culture and the country’s institutions on the part of mostly well-intentioned foreign educators, consultants, and advisors, primarily from the US and Europe. In contrast to the domestic orientation of Russian Railways’ management education programs, companies involved in international business often require cross-cultural learning experiences. Practitioners and scholars should recognize that leading Russian universities and corporate programs have increasingly focused on the international orientation of managers in large Russian companies.
