ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the social skills required of expatriate managers in Russia. In Russia, interpersonal competence is an important concept, because this is an environment where, traditionally, the social and the business realms have overlapped substantially. The first western market entrants in Russia came across an important social aspect to meetings and negotiations that required some adjustments on both sides. It is the interpersonal aspects of business relationships in Russia that make the expatriate staff who are sent to Russia so important to a venture's success. The chapter describes the Moose joint venture highlighted an important divide between methods for managing an east-west alliance that revolves around the interpersonal competence trust determinant. Western efforts towards changing this mindset were actually mentioned by Russian interviewees at the Moose joint venture as a positive aspect of working there. In fact, the Mammoth corporate culture emphasised procedures, monitoring, and control - something that did not go down well with the Russian partners.
