ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the role of ideas in the management of economic enterprises. It explores the ideas and interests of the few who have managed the work force of industrial and business enterprises since the Industrial Revolution. Industrialization has been defended in terms of the claim that the few will lead as well as benefit the many. In Soviet Russia industrialization has been advanced by ideologies of management, which originated as a critique of industry. The development of the industrial way of life has transformed this initial setting of entrepreneurial activity in Russia as well as in the countries of Western civilization. Industrialization in Russia was initiated by an autocratic ruler, whose centralized power precluded the existence of autonomous social groups. When industrialization occurs in a country with a centralized, autocratic regime, then an entrepreneurial class will seek recognition for its economic activities from the government, especially in the form of privileges that will facilitate these activities.
