When Western companies expanded into Eastern Europe following the collapse of communism, they needed to be able to use the same complex processes that had brought success in the West. However, as we have seen, to manage high complexity
both a collaborative management style and employees with high expectations of their autonomy are required. Unfortunately, for many of the businesses expanding into Eastern Europe, the local personnel had very low expectations of their autonomy and were used to being managed in a directive or even coercive style. When the Western businesses attempted to introduce the more collaborative management styles necessary to manage their complex processes, the result was inevitable – confusion and then low productivity.
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