Swedish managers in Russia

Abstract

This thesis concerns the complexity of integrating two nationalities, Swedish and Russian, into the same management team at a Swedish venture in Russia. A comparative analysis was conducted of Swedish and Russian management systems in order to identify characteristics, professional as well as personal, that need to be present in a Swedish national to facilitate the integration, thus building a foundation for integration.

A major focus is put on cultural traits influencing the management systems since these are the foundation of the values and behaviour of today's managers. It is important to understand the correlation between the manager's values and country culture in order to penetrate and gain an understanding of the management systems.

A significant factor discussed is the effect that Russia's transition toward a market economy system has on the their management system. This has a major impact on the management system, thus on the values and behaviour of the Russian manager. To gather accurate information for this study, interviews were conducted with Russian managers in Moscow.

A prerequisite of the integration is to build a foundation by selecting the most appropriate Swedish candidates. In the recommendation, a five-step model is introduced which can be used as a guideline when selecting Swedish nationals to work in a Swedish venture in Russia, and also to some degree in general selection of expatriates.