Suhomlinova, O O (1996) Organizational transformation in the post-Soviet economy: The case of the Russian construction industry, 1985-1993. PhD thesis, Duke University, USA.
Abstract
The dissertation analyzes the processes of organizational transformation in the post-Soviet economy and their implications for the development of a new economic system. The analysis is based on a case study of the Russian construction industry and employs concepts and methods of economic sociology and organization theory, applying propositions from social embeddedness, governance regime, neo-institutional, ecological, resource dependence, and organizational learning perspectives. The dissertation examines two cases of transformation. The first case, reorganization of ministries into associations, depicts a breakdown of the centralized coordination of economy on the industry level. The methods include archival research, personal interviews, and a case study of construction ministry. The analysis reveals that, contrary to the expectations of neo-classical economists, the dissolution of the agencies of Soviet economic administration and enterprise liberalization do not result in the automatic replacement of hierarchical coordination by the market. Rather, the system shifts to a combination of coordination by enterprise associations headed by reorganized ministries and market coordination by individual enterprises. The study explains the emergence of associations by the institutionalized nature of the ministerial system, the complexities of property redistribution, the underdevelopment of market infrastructures, and the strategic actions by the ministerial officials to re-create their organizations to fit the new environment. It also examines the role of associations in the reforming Russian economy. The second case, disintegration of state firms through separation of structural units, portrays the breakdown of hierarchy on the enterprise level. The analysis is based on information from Russian periodicals, personal interviews, a telephone survey of 60 firms in the Moscow oblast, and longitudinal data on two regional populations of construction organizations (Yaroslavl and Moscow provinces). The study elaborates and estimates a logistic regression model of the probability of separation as determined by resource availability via nonmarket and market channels, legitimation of separated units, and organizational propensity for change. The findings suggest that interorganizational linkages, prior separation rates in the population, population density, and previous intraorganizational changes significantly affect the likelihood of transformation. The study explores the outcomes of separation and demonstrates that the disintegration of enterprise hierarchy results in the creation of two types of governance: market, when separated units sever ties with the former parents, and network, when they preserve the ties.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Spenner, K I |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | archival research; case study; coordination; emergence; governance; learning; market; organization theory; organizational learning; population; probability; regression model; replacement; sociology |
| Index terms: | survey, legitimation, Moscow, interview, organizational learning, complexity, emergence, replacement, agency, population, transformation, sociology, linkage, case study, logistic regression, archival research, interorganizational, governance, density, construction organization, regression model, disintegration, coordination, estimate, construction industry, dissertation, embeddedness, liberalization, periodical |
| Subjects: | management, professional development, social theory, sociology, statistical analysis, systems engineering, industry analysis, research design and methodology, business, data collection methods, material degradation and durability, financial and cost management, Geography, demography, organization, research dissemination and communication, materials science, economic analysis, analytical methods |
| Topics: | Geographical Context, Engineering Principles, Organizational Design, Urban Studies, Governance, Business Strategy, Cost Management, Research Practice, Information Management, Construction Materials |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here