Management in Central and Eastern Europe: the legacy of the past

Abstract

1989 was a watershed for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and subsequently for the countries of the former Soviet Union (FSU), as the all-embracing system of state socialism collapsed. State socialism had comprised a political system, an economic system as well as a particular form of social system: all of these elements impacted directly on the lives of individuals. In this the ruling Communist Party (whatever it actually called itself) played the leading role. This collapse of the system was not sudden, but the culmination of a process of decline and change. Although based on an ideal model of a socialist society, the system had over the years been adapted and modified to sustain its viability and promote its survival. In the end the system in CEE and the FSU succumbed to a combination of internal contradictions and external pressures. The socialist system, however, has left its legacy on the countries of the region; it could hardly have been otherwise after 75 years of communism in the Soviet Union and 45 years in the rest of CEE.