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Management Gaming's Lost Opportunity: Meditations About The Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 MANAGEMENT GAMING’S LOST OPPORTUNITY: MEDITATIONS ABOUT THE RUSSIAN EXPERIENCE AND PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE Viktor Rybalsky, Formerly, Kiev Civil Engineering Institute Joseph Wolfe, Formerly, University of Tulsa ABSTRACT Communism's Grip on the USSR A number of elements have shaped the Russian When Communism was first established after personality and culture. Many of those elements the October 1917 coup d'etat, a diversity of gave support to the onset and continuance of opinion within the Party was respected and en- Communism in the USSR for more than seven couraged. This lasted only a short time, how- decades. Although the USSR was a pioneer in ever, as Lenin began suppressing liberal Com- the use of management games the realization of munists in 1920 and different factions, or the benefits of business games was frustrated by points-of-view, were forbidden in the name of a number of factors associated with the envi- War Communism. These suppressions contin- ronment fostered by Communism. ued with greater force under Stalin with a num- ber of "show trials" taking place in the 1930s. INTRODUCTION Suspected "rivals" to Stalin's power and influ- ence were murdered, such as Sergei Kirov, A number of elements laying deep in Russia's Alexei Rykov, Nikolai Bukharin, Leon Trotsky, history dictated how Communism was opera- Lev Kamenev and Grigori Zinoviev. Many oth- tionalized in the USSR, how this form influ- ers were convicted of crimes against the state enced what was taught as well as the way and were banished to prison labor camps. knowledge was disseminated. Despite the great need for the development of native management Thus a totalitarian regime was established and talent, and the great role management games all liberalism, and its intellectuals, were abol- could have in developing that talent, efforts to ished. The USSR's citizens were converted into instill active learning techniques in higher edu- spiritual slaves who had no right to their own cation in the Ukraine and throughout the Soviet opinions, let alone the freedom to express any Union met with frustration at every turn. opinions that ran counter to the State's position. Practically all people were converted into "man- The Formation of the Russian Mind and Cul- curts" or men whose antecedents were obliter- ture ated from memory thus becoming the reliable and subservient "dogs" of their rulers. It is believed four forces from Russia's history allowed the Communist revolution to occur, re- Intolerance, and a fear of "those who were not main in power for so long while simultaneously of us" also was used by Communism to continue creating an educational system supportive of its enslavement of the people. This feature is Communism's goals and philosophies. Those apparent in the insulting, derisive nicknames forces are a tradition of physical and spiritual Russians gave foreigners. A Frenchman was slavery, the use of brutal and violent means to scornfully named "francuzishko", a German accomplish desired ends, an intolerance and sus- "nemchura" and the Japanese "japoshka". In the picion of those of unlike mind or disposition case of Americans, they were so stupid and idi- and a need for the miraculous with its attendant otic that no single word could describe their in- traits of megalomania and mysticism. eptitude. Massive amounts of state-controlled 178 propaganda served the population's megaloma- The effects of this on the use of management nia-driven needs. Russian's were told they were games, as well as creative, liberal teaching, the cleverest and strongest people in the world were deleterious. Graduation was assured based and therefore they could rightfully teach others on the government's quota system for college how they should to live. This megalomania also trained managers. Students soon learned they was evinced in hero worship, the cult of person- would graduate unless some type of political ality and the quest for a miraculous personages breach or mistake was made. Another outcome such as Lenin and Stalin. was the existence of poorly motivated or stifled faculty. Effects on Higher Education and the Spread of Business Games As a rule faculties became accustomed to giving lectures using the same notes year after year For true learning and education to occur an en- with moderate updates to reflect ideas promul- vironment of free thinking and experimentation gated by the Communist Party's regular Con- must exist. This was not possible in the USSR. gresses. These teachers were not in a hurry to The higher authorities persecuted with great learn new ideas and to use the new teaching zeal any who had contacts with fellow scientists methods. They also were not exposed to new in non-CMEA countries. All Western radio ideas and new teaching methods. broadcasts were jammed with a tremendous use of resources to protect the population from Conclusion "hostile voices". Looking at the troubles Russia is experiencing Candidates for foreign travel were carefully now, it is not because Russia lacks talented peo- screened by commissions attached to the differ- ple but because the Communist regime con- ent committees of Communist Party. They also verted all people into passive and resigned received strict instructions regarding their be- slaves who had to obey implicitly and fulfill havior and, as a rule, were escorted by a dis- each of the Party’s directions and instructions. guised KGB agent. All tourists were to walk in Thus they have been deprived of any initiative groups of not less than three and they were and, as a result, there are no stimuli or incen- coached on how to answer "provocative" ques- tives to invent new devices. All this must be tions such as the names of their universities and learned anew by the country's youngest genera- their telephone numbers. tions. With the overthrow of the Communist Party, perhaps this native talent will blossom Freedom to publish also did not exist. Many from the soil of its current turmoil. professional "creative unions", such as those for writers, painters, composers, journalists and cinematographers, were instituted by the state. All had to join and no one could create inde- pendently of these. The control of all writing efforts was obtained through the censor's office Glavlit. Without a censor's stamp even wedding and anniversary cards could not be printed. Typewriters and Xerox machines were under the control of the KGB to prevent the typing undesirable texts. 179 .
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