Scars of Change: the Rise and Fall of the Soviet Manager, 1917–1991

ALTHOUGH THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION OF 1917 signaled the rise of the Bolsheviks to power and the beginning of the transformation of tsarist-era Russian managers into Soviet managers, the period that followed was not entirely independent of pre-Soviet business patterns and rules. During the seventy-four years of Soviet communist rule, the business environment was characterized on the one hand by displacement of the old tsarist hierarchies that had managed and developed the economy and on the other hand by reinforcement of traditional patterns. Additionally, the fact that terror and violence attended many of the events of this time contributes some understanding to the scarred legacy of contemporary Russian business.