Culture and Change in Developing Western Countries

In this chapter the author describes organizational change in a number of developing Western countries. More specifically, he profiles recent developments in a selection of countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the East Mediterranean region: Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Albania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Croatia. The target countries of this chapter have experienced two major changes over the last 30 years. First, they have made a transition from communist to free-market economics, and second, they have gained or are attempting to gain accession to the European Union (EU). The author presents how theories of organizational change can help us to understand organizations in developing countries. In general, organizational theories of culture and change tend to be positive about the possibility that theories and frameworks can find appropriate solutions for organizational problems and elucidate organizational processes.