IT-INDUSTRY LEADERS: AN EXPERIENCE OF NARRATIVE INTERVIEW ANALYSIS

Abstract

The paper considers interviews of 100 leaders in the rating of key persons of the Russian Internet market, published by the Tagline agency during 2020. Only publicly available data with links to the original texts of the interviews was used for the narrative analysis. The use of the narrative method made it possible to capture general trends through the unique details of a person’s life. The purpose of the task was to determine whether there are behavioral features and motives for the decisions made in the choice situation. The main attention was paid to the leader’s life trajectory, habitual patterns of behavior and reaction to events, used business strategies, ways of achieving success and justification of actions choice. There was a gender bias: only 3 representatives of the rating were women. In addition, the opinion that the leaders of the young IT industry are mainly young people has not been confirmed. Average age 44 years, minimum 26 years, maximum 71 years. The three generations represented in the ranking differ in basic principles in their approach to business. By place of birth, the sample is biased towards Moscow and St. Petersburg. Moreover, St. Petersburg is represented only in the younger and middle age groups. Intergenerational transition enhances the effect of centralization. In almost all interviews, various aspects and expectations from the development of technology were highlighted, causing anxiety about the strong impact on a person’s personal space. It was noted that even businesses with the largest capitalization in the Russian rating are not included in the top world ratings. And those that were included are gradually falling in the ratings compared to the rapidly growing giants from China and the United States. A tendency of relocation, primarily in the United States, to search for investors and overcome distrust in Russian businessmen was noted. It is concluded that the experience of business development is mediated by the norms of personal interaction with people to a greater extent than with the market.