Navigating the hostile maze: A framework for Russian entrepreneurship

Unstable government, an undeveloped legal system, overregulation, a virtually unfathomable business taxation system, a pervasive mafia, and an inadequate business infrastructure characterize the maze that Russian entrepreneurs must navigate in their attempts to create successful ventures. To better understand their attitudes and decisions in this hostile environment, we propose a framework for analyzing Russian entrepreneurship during the country's transition to a market-oriented economy. The framework draws upon the entrepreneurship and strategy literatures, and is illustrated primarily by the experiences of five entrepreneurial ventures we studied throughout the decade of the 1990s. Actions, based on the framework, are suggested for Russian entrepreneurs as well as Western executives who might do business with them, as ways of strengthening Russian entrepreneurship.