The Barefoot Shoemaker: Capitalizing on the New

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Economist Kvint's expertise on the former U.S.S.R. is apparent: a native Siberian who headed an industrial complex there, he was a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Now a professor of international business at Fordham University Graduate School of Business, he is a consultant on joint ventures in his one-time homeland (he left in 1989). Yet his guide to doing business in Russia is so scattershot that those looking for advice would do better to seek out more detailed books, such as Cutting the Red Tape by Mark Tourevski and Eileen Morgan (Nonfiction Forecasts, Jan. 4). A patient reader, however, willing to plod through countless preening pages on Kvint's formative years (he even tells us that he was the Youth Middleweight Boxing Champion) and his boasting about his professional acumen, will find nuggets: there is no ``Western logic'' to the Russians' conduct of business; money talks, but not with the same dialect as in the West; business structures, as under the Soviets, are ``geared not to profit, but to power and privilege.'' Kvint predicts that the surest profits will be realized in the Russian Far East, the ``new Klondike,'' and directs investors to research the ``free economic zones'' where a totally free market is permitted. He fails, however, to take into account the possibility that Russia will abandon economic reform--a prospect which, as this review goes to press and a political crisis rages in Moscow, is conceivable. (June)

Library Journal

The premise of the author--once an insider of the Soviet Union's economic system, now a professor at Fordham University--is that the ``Russian business mentality'' ought to be treated as a deep-rooted political/social phenomenon resulting from 70 years of isolation. Hence, it can be understood only from this historical perspective. The book presents anecdotes meant to alert potential investors to the peculiarities of Russian business (ranging from the inconvertibility of the ruble to the influence of the secretary of the Russian manager); it gives tips for where lucrative opportunities may exist. Because this book is written in a newspaper style, however, it lacks useful fundamentals needed for the meaningful assessment of a business environment. Still, it will appeal to business operators interested in the Russian market as well as to general readers.-- Ali Abdulla, East Carolina Univ., Greenville, N.C .

David Rouse

The continuing political unrest and economic uncertainty in the republics of the former Soviet Union have put a damper on the rush by Western capitalists to take advantage of these as yet untapped markets. Kvint is a professor at Fordham University's graduate school of business administration, specializing in the Russian economy and foreign trade. Long a proponent of Russian-Western joint ventures, he provides background on and insights into the Russian way of doing business for anyone willing to take the risks involved in gaining an early foothold in the new Russian economy. His informative, often amusing accounts illustrate that Russian business practices are chaotic, the result of a cynical mistrust of government and bureaucracy. As a matter of fact, before McDonald's could open in Moscow it had to start its own farm and grow its own potatoes to guarantee a regular supply of french fries. Kvint and Darialova's many examples serve as a stark warning, but they also attempt to assure potential investors that the possible rewards of success will be enormous.

From Barnes & Noble

Siberian by birth & a capitalist by temperament, Kvint paints an informed & colorful portrait of Russian business culture today, examining its newfound economic promise as well as its daunting obstacles. B&W photos.