2002/01/01 by Gerhard Fink, Fink, Gerhard, Nigel Holden +1 · 16 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Social Sciences · #Economic system #Economics #Family Business Performance and Succession #International Student and Expatriate Challenges #Law #Management and Organizational Practices #Organizational culture #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Public relations #Shock (circulatory) #Shock therapy #Sociology
paper · pdf · doi:10.57938/39e06b10-2df3-4349-b761-fd2c1a6ccaf8
published in ePubWU Institutional Repository (Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien)
openalex publication_date 2002/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Many countries are going through severe transitions as they move from one system of economic management to another, experiencing a traumatic state which we term collective culture shock. Taking a cue from psychology, we suggest that collective culture shock can be seen as comprising four components: integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalisation. The movement towards free market economic systems calls for complex institutional adjustments, but these seem very difficult for societies to introduce in a systematic way. In order to exemplify collective culture shock, we examine four countries (including one country group): Russia, East Central Europe, South Africa, and Japan. Our treatment of these countries will show how collective culture shock is the product of complex economic, social and political forces specific to each situation. We hope to demonstrate that the phenomenon of collective culture shock is an important conceptual tool for managers responsible for international business strategy to help them to understand the complexities of change - or rather resistance to change - in transitional economies. (author's abstract)