The obsession with short-term strategy :is it an obstacle to multinational operations ?

The success of foreign companies in Russia depends a great deal on their capacity to acquire a comprehensive knowledge of formal and informal institutions, the market, all those involved in the enterprise, and their ability to give the impression that their business will continue in the country for a long period of time. Unfortunately, many Western companies give in to the temptation of 'making a killing' and of profiting from the windfall effect which the instability in Russian society still largely produces despite serious attempts over the past few years to curb this. The causes of this short-term strategy lie in a Western obsession with career mobility, and the difficulty encountered in trying to make cultural integration appear attractive in financial and accounting terms. Professional flexibility, which is praised so much in the West, appears to be a handicap in Russia. Experiences of Western companies abroad are in contrast to large companies in developing countries which are more relaxed and react accordingly. Are these countries showing the way forward ?