Organization theory and the post-socialist transformation: Contributions to organizational knowledge

In unison with the authors of this special issue, we argue that organizational research in European post-socialist contexts over the last 17 years has made a significant and enduring contribution to organization theory. This proposition provides the rationale for the special issue, which focuses on the formative relationship between the body of organizational knowledge forged largely within stable western market-economies and the findings of organizational research conducted within institutionally unstable and ambiguous post-socialist environments. We develop our argument through three phases. First, we seek to clarify the reasons why the context and process of post-socialism have posed special challenges to the conventional wisdom of `western' organization theory. Second, we review post-socialist organizational research and consider how it has augmented our understanding of organizational structures and processes. Third, we place the five articles that comprise this special issue within this wider context, and outline their main contributions. The findings and lessons from post-socialist research have led organizational scholars to re-evaluate many established theoretical propositions, and, by questioning the underlying rationality of organization theory, to explore the possibility of developing a more globally relevant discipline.