The Dynamics of Managerial Ideology: Analyzing the Cuban Case

FEUNL Working Paper No. 457

32 Pages Posted: 16 Feb 2006

See all articles by Miguel Pina e Cunha

Miguel Pina e Cunha

Nova School of Business and Economics

Rita Campos e Cunha

New University of Lisbon

Date Written: 2004

Abstract

After the collapse of state socialism in Eastern Europe, management researchers devoted considerable energy to investigate ways to smooth transition to market economies. But one country of the former Soviet bloc, Cuba resisted transition and reaffirmed loyalty to communism. Little is known about management in Cuba on the managerial impacts of the combination of two major environmental forces: the American embargo and the Soviet Union collapse, both of which have challenged the sustainability of the communist regime. This study intends to approach one particular aspect of management in Cuba: the relationship between national ideology and management practice. To analyze these topics, direct qualitative data from focus groups with Cuban managers and management professors was obtained and complemented with documentary analysis. Results suggest that the dynamics of managerial ideology can be understood as the interplay of several processes operating at distinct levels: institutional, professional, organizational and individual. The study provides a nested, multi-level understanding of management and organization as parts of a wider institutional context, which is both a source of constraint and a non-tangible resource to be used by ideological bricoleurs. The interplay between the acceptance of ideology and its use as a practical resource is a potential source of change. As such, the same professional class (managers) may be both a source of continuity and a trigger of change - a finding that is line with institutional theory's claim that it is necessary to understand both institutionalization and de-institutionalization for understanding organizational change and continuity.

Keywords: Cuba, managerial ideology, institutional change, ideological bricolage

Suggested Citation

Cunha, Miguel Pina e and Campos e Cunha, Rita, The Dynamics of Managerial Ideology: Analyzing the Cuban Case (2004). FEUNL Working Paper No. 457, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=882448 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.882448

Miguel Pina e Cunha

Nova School of Business and Economics ( email )

Campus de Carcavelos
Rua da Holanda, 1
Carcavelos, 2775-405
Portugal

Rita Campos e Cunha (Contact Author)

New University of Lisbon ( email )

Campus de Carcavelos
Rua da Holanda, 1
Carcavelos, 2775-405
Portugal

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