Limits to Knowledge Transfer

Abstract

Discussion of the transfer of market-economic principles and practices into the post-command economies of central and eastern Europe is often couched in terms which assert the undoubted inadequacies of the pre-1989 management practices, but which pay insufficient regard to those practices which reflected an adaptive adjustment to the old ways of doing things and which, when carefully examined, testify to the existence of well-developed skills which could be drawn on in developing managers for effective performance in the new market economy. This paper argues that ignorance of these skills leads to misunderstanding of reactions to the change process, and that this misunderstanding may lead to ineffective change interventions. Some suggestions for practice are outlined in the light of different interpretations of the process and consequences of globalisation.