Cutting the Red Tape: How Western Companies Can Profit in the New Russia

Dense and specific, the most comprehensive study of its kind in memory, this is crucial reading for those looking to do business in the former Soviet Union. Tourevski, chief representative of a Soviet-American joint venture, and Morgan, a Vermont-based business consultant, use ``Soviet'' generically throughout the book because the term ``captures the culture and mentality which are still present.'' If the new capitalist frontier promises riches--some 285 million eager consumers, according to the authors, who note that the only thing in abundance is shortages--the route is hazardous; hence Westerners who attempt to operate in the framework of their own business systems are at peril. To explore ways to neutralize the drawbacks, Tourevski and Morgan have done extensive research: conducted sociocultural studies, analyzed videotaped negotiations between Soviet and Western business people, interviewed some 1000 pioneers. The authors document the enormous resistance to change at all levels of society, and the thriving shadow market whereby goods stolen from the State are sold by workers and managers alike. The legacy of the command economy is persistent, the authors stress, and Western capitalists embarking eastward would do well to pack this book. (Feb.)