The book, edited by Satinder K. Dhiman has been a huge multi-year effort by a global network of leading thinkers in the topic area. I and Ram B. Baliga are proud of the opportunity of being contributors by writing a chapter on “Insights From State-Owned Enterprises Transitioning to the Market Mode: Lessons for Organizational Transformations”.
In our chapter we point out that the VUCA-environment is forcing organizations to consider radical transformations for survival, growth and viability necessitating them to overcome threat rigidity and create new business models. Over the last decades probably no set of organizations have had to attempt as substantial a transformation as State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in India, Eastern Europe and Russia. We examine factors that cause SOE transformation efforts to stall, revert to the statist mode, or successfully tip toward the market-mode from an intermediate state of dynamic equilibrium that we label as parastatal.
Transformational challenges in a cooperative balancing competition in free markets with its ideology of sustainability and equity are studied as a model of a parastatal organization. Forces acting in transition are identified. Topics covered include leadership, institutional theory, dynamic capabilities, and ambidexterity. Examining factors driving viability of hybrid “In-Between Organizations” teaches invaluable lessons for publicly traded companies confronting VUCA and institutional pressures for accountability to society – and in search of long-standing viability advantage.
Now it’s time for cheers!