By Nadya Zhexembayeva 

I had a fascinating conversation with Brook Horowitz of the Russia Partnership of the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum today on the role of business in post-communist societies of the former USSR. So it got me thinking: outside of some sort of moral convictions, what are the reasons for post-USSR business to have any concern with the needs of society. Really?

Well, in the ‘developed’ world those reasons are growing. A company might cut its expenses due to reduction of waste and process re-designs; it might find a new set of consumers and increase its sales; it might prevent law suits and legal actions stemming from lack of regulatory compliance; it might avoid risks associated with consumer advocacy, media exposure, or efforts of the non-profit sector; it might even attract new investors via the works of ever growing socially responsible investment funds.

But none of these reasons are good for Russia. Or my native Kazakhstan. Or any of the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Our laws are rudimentary or non-existent; and even when they are developed, a bribe to a presiding judge is a guaranteed and cheaper way to go when dealing with prosecution. Our customers are non-engaged and have little to no power to influence the producers. The non-profit sector is weak, and press can be easily silenced when necessary. It’s almost impossible to deliver significant savings from re-deigning business processes and eliminating waste due to wear and tear in infrastructure and other challenges.

Even more striking is the crash of fundamentals of the business-in-society efforts with the realities of the post-Soviet countries. The efforts advocating a more involved and powerful role of business in society, whether via the venues of corporate social responsibility, sustainable business development, business ethics, or corporate citizenship, are all embedded in a long-term perspective of sustainability, return, and collective good. However, the post-USSR business is operating in an extreme short-term perspective, as government has shown its ability to dismantle any company; so it is all about making as much as possible as fast as possible before your head is axed.

A gloomy picture we have here. Hm.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 14th, 2006 at 4:16 pm and is filed under Business-in-Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.