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The 4th Workshop on Business History in Central and Eastern Europe
The 4th Workshop on Business History in Central and Eastern Europe
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Firms, Wars, and Ethics in the Business History of
Firms, Wars, and Ethics in the Business History of
Central and Eastern Europe and Russia
Central and Eastern Europe and Russia
Place: Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari, Venice
Date: October 21-22, 2022
The workshop will particularly draw on historical research on the two World Wars and their aftermaths to provide tentative answers to several questions evoked by the Russia-Ukraine war of 2022. The aim is to explore the relationship between business and geopolitics from a long-term historical perspective focusing on the economic and social consequences of the war, including (de)globalization processes.
On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, causing thousands of deaths among civilians, colossal damage in the infrastructure, and forcing over 10 million people to leave their homes. In response, democratic states have demonstrated unprecedented unity and imposed extensive economic sanctions on Russia. The combination of military conflict, economic warfare, and humanitarian crisis has had an enormous impact on the economic environment, including the disruption of global supply chains, commodity price shock, increased market volatility, and making the world’s economic development, already hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, even more unpredictable.
As a result, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has affected both the multinational companies as well as the domestic firms operating in Central-Eastern Europe. Within just a few weeks, companies running in CEE faced challenges rarely dealt with at business schools. Companies face ethical dilemmas and feel strong pressure from their shareholders and stakeholders, forcing them to make decisions that go well beyond usual business thinking and strategizing. Thousands of companies have decided to divest, withdraw, or scale down their operations in Russia. In contrast, others justify their decision to stay with their responsibility towards their employees in Russia and their unwillingness to deprive Russia’s population of essential goods such as food and medical supplies.
The events unfolding in the last months in Ukraine and CEE have presented business historians with serious questions concerning:
The role of business in military conflicts and post-war development.
Business ethics vs. unethical corporate behavior.
Corporate lessons from uncomfortable pasts.
Organizers: Valentina Fava and Giovanni Favero (Venice School of Management, Università Ca' Foscari, Venice) in cooperation with Ulf Brunnbauer (Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS), Regensburg), Alfred Reckendrees (Copenhagen Business School), Tomasz Olejniczak (Kozminski University, Warsaw), Volodymyr Kulikov (The Ukrainian Catholic University/UT at Austin).
Programme
Programme
Day 1 (Friday) October 21st
Get together and welcome address
Get together and welcome address
09.15-10.00 a.m.
Institutional greatings, Teresa da Silva Lopes, Valentina Fava, Tomasz Olejniczak
Session I: Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics
Session I: Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics
10.00-11.45 a.m.
Chair: Alfred Reckendrees
Commentator: Tomasz Olejniczak
Vodotyka, Tetyana - Non-grata at their own business. the family of German origin entrepreneurs Schultz and their business during the Great War
Pogany, Agnes - Enterprises and Organized Economy. The Hungarian Flour Mills in the War Economy of the First World War
Favero, Giovanni - Facing wars, regime’s changes, and technical obsolescence: The business survival strategies of the Westen Group in the 20th century
Lunch break
Lunch break
11.45- 1.00 p.m.
11.45- 1.00 p.m.
Session II: Business Strategies and Armed Conflicts
Session II: Business Strategies and Armed Conflicts
1.00-2.45 p.m.
Chair: Daniel Raff
Commentator: Volodymyr Kulikov (online)
Vonyó, Tamás - Spoils of war: The military contractors of the Habsburg Empire in World War I
Shlyakhter, Andrey - Poland, 1921: Birth of a Smuggler State on the Ruins of Empire
Yányshev-Nésterova, Irina - The pariah state: ways out of Soviet Russia’s economic isolation in the 1920s-1930s. The Sovtorgflot case study
Coffee break
Coffee break
2.45-3.15 p.m.
2.45-3.15 p.m.
Session III: Ethics and Plans for Reconstruction
Session III: Ethics and Plans for Reconstruction
3.15-5.00 p.m.
Chair: Andrew Popp
Commentator: Camilla Ferri
Bódy, Zsombor - Corporate Crime and Justice During and After WW2. A Case Study of a Hungarian Automotive Company
Ochinowski Tomasz & Jastrząb, Mariusz (online) - A New Millennialism? The Catholic Weekly, the New Culture of Work and the Hopes for a Better World in the Early Post-World War II Poland
Frey, Barbara & Lecić, Miloš - Dangerous Entanglements? Exploring Path Dependency and Managerial Ties to Political Elites in the Croatian Agro-sector
Coffee break
Coffee break
5.00-5.30 p.m.
5.00-5.30 p.m.
Session IV: The Perspective of Business Archivists
Session IV: The Perspective of Business Archivists
5.30–6.30 p.m.
Chair: Katrin Schreiter
Hohmeyer, Andrea - Taking Historical Responsibility Seriously – Evonik Industries and its Culture of Remembrance
Dinner
Dinner
7.30 p.m.
7.30 p.m.
Day 1 (Saturday) October 22nd
Session V: Foreign Firms and Armed Conflicts
Session V: Foreign Firms and Armed Conflicts
8.45-10.30 a.m.
Chair: Adoración Álvaro Moya
Commentator: Valentina Fava
Gumiela, Martin - Business as usual? The Polonia Firms and the Martial Law in Poland 1981–1983
Jaworski, Paweł - Business as usual? Swedish trade with occupied Poland 1939-1944
Geweke, Jonas - Managing the Political Risks of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: The Case of Volkswagen, 1960-77
Coffee break
Coffee break
10.30-10.45 p.m.
10.30-10.45 p.m.
Session VI: Business Behavior during and after conflicts
Session VI: Business Behavior during and after conflicts
10.45-12.00
Chair: Thomas Steger
Commentator: Alfred Reckendrees
Łazor, Jerzy - World War I occupation and post-war outcomes. The case of French investment in the coal and oil sectors in Poland
Mária Hidvégi - Export-oriented companies of small countries in two world wars: The example of Tungsram
Concluding session
Concluding session
12.00-1.15 p.m.
Andrew Popp, Alfred Reckendrees, Tamás Vonyó, Daniel Raff
Drafting a Publication Agenda: Business History Journals and CEE region
Venue and Access
Venue and Access
The workshop will take place on the premises of Ca' Foscari University in Venice - San Giobbe Campus, Fondamenta S. Giobbe, 873, 30121 Venezia VE.
Accomodation
Accomodation
Participants of the workshop will be staying at the Casa Carbulotto (Fondamenta Rizzi, 316, 30135 Venezia VE) 15 minutes walking distance from the main venue.
Online participation
Online participation
The workshop proceedings will be transmited online on Zoom. Participants wishing to join the workshop online are asked to register under the following link.
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