The economic behavior of an entrepreneur

Theoretical bases of economics and management
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Abstract:

The paper deals with economical, social and cultural context of business in present-day society. The economical aspect of business activity includes organizational and production innovations, as well as economical freedom. The personal aspect involves steady individual features which are manifested irrespective of specific production activities (intuition, aggressiveness, charisma). The paper examines the peculiarities of business functioning in Russia, identifies various pitfalls in the economical behavior typical for the national business culture and analyzes the key features of its entrepreneurship. Russian post-transformation economics fell into a trap of systemic crisis as previous institutes of social regulation had been destroyed. Cultural and moral values characterizing the former business relations lost their importance. Meanwhile the society spontaneously developed institutions that were using the interaction models previously regarded as unsuitable. Economic agents transformed into the business elite which has its own sources of power in present-day society, getting the opportunity to use some kind of independence within the political institutes nowadays. However, the methods it uses to support its social status reflect the systemic crisis that has struck the entire society and, in particular, its economic behavior. New economic agents have been able to succeed in an uncertain and aggressive business environment. Their achievements have nothing to do with professional competitiveness, but rather with the effective adaptation to an unfavorable social and economic situation. They have not adapted to the current market, but begun to work closely with the situation using «the time of troubles» for getting non-competitive advantages: compensating the lack of special skills with the activities bringing quick returns, indifferent to norms of law and ethics. The paper defines conditions required for the transition to the civilized ways of business activities, the rationally motivated choice of ethical code of conduct and the establishment of social mechanisms to correct the influence of market subjects’ subconscious motivation on the economical activity.