The Role of Networking in the Creation of Local Management Knowledge

Abstract

This paper analyses the role of networking in the creation of local management knowledge in the Republic of Moldova. At the outset, the paper sketches the economic and political context of this Eastern European country that has recently gained its independence from the Soviet Union. In so doing, the paper highlights the importance accorded to reforming management education in the successful transition to a market economy. Four models of reforming management education are then outlined and it is suggested that the networking model is the most viable for the Moldavian context. Having accounted for their involvement with the Moldavian International Institute of Management (IMI), the authors proceed to discuss the aims and objectives of the very first indigenous MBA programme developed by the Institute. While the “management of obstacles” at both macro and micro level has been an arduous task, IMI has emerged successfully out of this task due to the networking approach adopted in the construction of local management knowledge. Its entrepreneurial orientation helped IMI to proactively engage in local and international partnerships with businesses, government bodies, universities, and charitable foundations, a process which facilitated the creation of a network whose long-term survival and central role to reforming management education in Moldova is unquestionable.

Key Words:

• Moldava
• networking
• management education
• management knowledge