ABSTRACT
Systemic change started without a reliable and shared theory of transformation and hardly any previous experience which could act as a reference. The diversity of situations in different countries should have suggested that alternatives be considered and how they might fit into the diverse circumstances. In such undefined situations, vested interests could play a significant role. Economic difficulties and political disagreements pushed the new governments to hurry with implementing transformation along general rules and principles while disregarding the need to adapt to local features and circumstances. Transformation agendas relied initially on incomplete blueprints and paid scant concern to the complex changes and the complementarities and trade-offs among the different components.
