Training the Elephant to Dance: State-Owned Enterprises, Transition, and the Reinterpretation of Legacy
以俄罗斯联邦储蓄银行为案例，研究国有企业历史遗产如何同时带来优势和约束，并探讨管理层如何通过新举措摆脱负面束缚、利用市场优势。
This paper explores how the legacy of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) can simultaneously offer advantages and impose constraints, shaping a firm’s strategic development over time. Using the transition from Communism in Central and Eastern Europe as a backdrop, we examine the case of Sberbank, a Russian SOE. In particular, we show how legacy artifacts rooted in the firm’s historical circumstances and experiences shaped Sberbank’s approach to the present and the future, operating as both a positive inheritance and a negative burden. As a positive inheritance, Sberbank’s SOE legacy provided significant market dominance inherited from its historical role under state ownership, giving it a competitive edge in the post-Communist era. However, persistent interference and strong entanglements with the state constrained Sberbank’s strategic autonomy substantially. Drawing on interviews, archival materials, and a comprehensive database of corporate communications, we show how Sberbank’s management engaged with this challenging legacy. Their main strategy was to incorporate new initiatives that allowed them to decouple and address the negative aspects of state involvement while capitalizing on the market advantages inherited from their past. This study highlights how the concept of legacy is central to understanding how non-family businesses, and especially SOEs, navigate the tension between inherited strengths and constraints in their strategic evolution.