Managing Russian Factory Workers: The Impact of U.S.–Based Behavioral and Participative Techniques

Abstract

The new internationalization of the field of management has produced growing concern as to whether theories and techniques largely developed in the United States apply to other cultures. A within-subjects experimental design was used to analyze the impacts that three popular and successful techniques used in U.S. studies had on the performance of workers in the largest textile factory in the Russian republic of the former Soviet Union. Two techniques, providing extrinsic rewards and behavioral management, had significant, positive effects, but a participative technique led to a decrease in performance.