Leadership, administrative heritage and absorptive capacity

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify critical success factors for the management of change in transition economies. Design/methodology/approach Four longitudinal case studies of Russian oil companies covering a ten‐year period from 1995, based on 71 in‐depth interviews. Examines organisational change from a resource‐based and organisational learning perspective. Findings Explains how top managers firstly, break with administrative heritage to increase absorptive capacity and secondly, leverage administrative heritage for rapid implementation of change. Intra‐ and cross‐case analyses demonstrate that absorptive capacity increases and organisational change occurs where the top management team has radically different skills and mindsets from the dominant logic of the post‐Soviet organisation, an entrepreneurial orientation and the capability to drive through change due to a top‐down management style. Research limitations/implications The research is restricted to four case studies. However, the critical success factors identified could apply to any large, conservative and bureaucratic organisation undergoing change. This represents an interesting avenue for research on organisational turnaround in the West. Practical implications An understanding of the critical success factors for dealing with administrative heritage will assist managers in transition economies and in turnaround situations in the West. Originality/value The speed of change in the Russian oil industry provided a unique setting for research into organisational change in transition economies. On the basis of cross‐case analyses, a new theoretical framework was developed to explain the change process.