WHY OUR RUSSIAN ALLIANCES FAIL

Since the fall of Communism, Western firms have been investing in Russ ia's promising market, primarily through strategic alliances and joint ventures. Many of these Western firms have encountered significant ch allenges in managing relations with Russian organizations still carryi ng values and practices aligned with a centrally-controlled economic s ystem. 'Culture clashes' between Russian and Western partners frequent ly jeopardize alliance relations. This article presents a framework id entifying key characteristics of Russian business culture that are lik ely to conflict with Western business culture. Alan Wilkins' 'culture audit' is used to synthesize previous cross-cultural research and anal yze 18 in-depth interviews of Western executives and managers experien ced with negotiating and managing Russian-Western alliances. Recommend ations are proposed for managing differences in the business cultures for alliance success. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.