Post-soviet Heterarchies: Transformation of Big Scientific Organizations During the Period of Economic Reforms

The present paper is focused on the analysis of the phenomenon of post-socialist heterarchies— organizational modes emerging in big post-socialist firms as adjustment to the uncertainty of external environment. By analyzing the changes taking place in big scientific organizations during the first decade of post-socialist reforms the conclusion is made about essential differences of post-soviet heterarchies as to compare them with western analogues. The main distinguishing feature of Russian heterarchies is their informal character, prevailing of informal practices in interrelations within organizations as well as with side partners. It is assumed that the differences between western and Russian heterarchies are determined by the differences in external environment. In the developed economies the emergence of heterarchies are caused by extremely volatility of markets and high rapidity of technological change while post-soviet heterarchies are the reaction of organizations to institutional uncertainty immanent to the period of transformation. This is informal character of heterarchies which provides their effectiveness as organizational modes (at least during the first period of reforms), creating possibility for maneuver so necessary for survival in post-soviet transformational crisis. Although informality is a "patrimonial" feature of all post-socialist heterarchies, we assume however that in Russia it manifests itself more explicitly which is caused by the higher level of institutional uncertainty, more intensive (to compare with other eastern European countries) processes of deformalisation of the rules of economic interactions, by dominating of informal relations over formal regulations

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