Organisational development in the context of radical institutional change: the case study of Poland's Ursus

• Published in: Business history Vol. 64; no. 4; pp. 755 - 780
• Main Author: Wąsowska, Aleksandra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Liverpool Routledge 19.05.2022; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: 19th century; Case studies; Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs); Communism; Farm machinery industry; Institutional change; Nationalism; organisational transformation; Organization development; Organizational change; Poland; Public enterprise; state-owned enterprise; Transformation; transition; Ursus tractor factory; Poland
• ISSN: 0007-6791; 1743-7938
• DOI: 10.1080/00076791.2020.1743689

The case study presented here relates to Ursus - one of the world's oldest makers of agriculture tractors. Founded in the late 19th century, and nationalised in the inter-War period, Ursus became one of the success stories of communist-era Poland. This denoted that, when the transition to a market economy took place, the enterprise came to typify state-owned 'dinosaurs'. However, once Poland had acceded to the European Union, Ursus was acquired by a family firm and began to increase its international presence rapidly once again. This paper therefore revisits the processes whereby the state firms of post-communist economies underwent organisational transformation; and sheds light on the non-linear nature of its subject's development process, unfolding in the context of radical institutional change.