The book of readings, Business Strategies for Economies in Transition, is a collection of papers describing various business issues as they occurred during the economic transitions in Central and Eastern European countries. The book's sections are organized along the typical academic business disciplines - Marketing Management, Advertising, Finance and Banking and Human Resource Management. This organization allows professors from various disciplines to focus on articles within the area of their specific interest. The Maculan case is a multifaceted exercise. The scope is very broad, covering topics such as management, multi cultural environment, changing regulations, and corporate growth, to name a few. The accompanying Teaching Note gives some classroom guidance on how to approach this case. However, educators may find other issues in this case worth discussing with students. While the readings are from CEE countries, we feel that much of the material can and should be used when looking at other economies, be they in transition or in the process of economic development. There are many countries that are in one of these two stages. Many of the problems addressed in this book are relevant to developing economies. Any major change in the economic system, be that transition or development, impacts people. As such, the response of the population will directly influence the chance of a successful transformation.
About the Author: Prof. Dr. Reiner Springer Retired Professor of International Business and Marketing, Wirtschaftsuniversitat Wien, Austria. He holds degrees in international trade and marketing and a doctorate in international business administration. His research and publications are focused on international marketing especially marketing in Central and Eastern Europe. Visiting Professor at business schools in France, Sweden, Argentina, United Kingdom, and Finland. Petr G. Chadraba Petr G. Chadraba received his Ph.D. from University of Nebraska - Lincoln. He is an associate professor of marketing at DePaul University, Chicago, USA. His academic specialties are Consumer Behavior and International Marketing Management. In the 1990s prof. Chadraba spent several years working with universities in the Czech Rep. and Poland developing business curriculum comparable to western universities. He also developed and delivered management programs for managers in the two countries. These activities were financed by grants from the US government. He was also instrumental in developing a MBA program taught by DePaul University in Prague, Czech Republic. Since 1994 he and prof. Springer have jointly administered an annual Conference on Business and Marketing Strategies for CEE, held in Vienna, Austria.