Business Schools’ Positioning in Eastern Europe and the CIS: a Conceptual Framework

Journal of Siberian Federal University. Series: Humanities & Social Sciences. 2023. Vol. 16. No. 3. P. 405–417.

Olga E. Tishchenko

The business education market in several Eastern European and CIS countries appeared much later than in Western Europe and the United States because its formation was a consequence of the transition from a centrally planned economy to a new economic formation at the end of the 20th century. In this article, the author analyzes the features of the formation and development of business education markets in Eastern Europe and the CIS, which transpired through creating their own business schools and expanding Western educational institutions. The author demonstrates that the analysis of the business schools’ positioning in these countries, using direct borrowing of Western approaches, is limited. Therefore, a conceptual framework is proposed and substantiated, considering the peculiarities of business schools of former countries with non-market economies based on the exploration/exploitation dichotomies (by J. March) and universalism/particularism (by T. Parsons). From a research point of view, the results of the analysis will be useful as a basis for further empirical research, and, from a practical point of view as a basis for benchmarking business schools in former non-market economies.

Keywords: бизнес-школы, business education, бизнес-образование, strategic positioning, стратегическое позиционирование, business schools, strategic choice