Inte rna tio na liza tio n o f A m e ric a n Busine ss Pro g ra m s: C a se Stud y Ukra ine zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA La rissa S. Kyj, Myro sla w J. Kyj, a nd Pa ul S. Ma rsha ll U zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA kraine, like other former Soviet repub- lics, is in great need of a variety of eco- nomic, political, and social reforms. In the realm of economics, serious progress toward reform has been impeded because important policy makers either continue to adhere to a centrally planned economy ideology, or fail to understand the workings of a free market economy. Movement toward a free market can progress more rapidly if the governing and aca- demic sectors have a basic understanding of free markets, a& if this movement is also supported by a broad strata of Ukrainians. The country needs an innovative business education program that is accessible to a wide sector of society con- sistent with the financial resources presently available. American business education has been SLIC- cessfully introduced into many countries. In East Asia, keen interest in business education has come from capitalist and communist governments alike. The economic miracles transforming the Pacific Rim countries would not be possible with- out increasing business sophistication. Although the American popular business press has taken note of the successes and problems of commer- cial enterprises throughout the world, the aca- demic community has focused on some of the problems of customizing standard American busi- ness courses within diverse cultures. However, very little interest or work by American business educators has been directed toward Eastern Eu- rope or, with the exception of Russia, the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union, such as Ukraine. With American, European, and Japanese firms beginning to investigate the Ukrainian mar- ket, the need for locally trained business person- nel will grow. How- ever, the types of ana- lytical skills required of business decision mak- ers are severely limited in likraine. This is largely the result of decades of central planning by the state that emphasized the implementation of decrees from the top- the so-called “auto- mated system of man- agement.” This article outlines the history of manage- ment education in Ukraine under Soviet rule, and suggests ways of introducing a standard American-style business curriculum that zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJ would begin to address the need for professionally trained managers. In designing a program for management education in Ukraine, the authors draw on their experiences from dis- cussions with Ukrainian professors, university administrators, entrepreneurs, Ministry of Educa- tion officials, and members of Parliament. TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT EDUCATION IN UKRAINE zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQP A 11education in the former Soviet IJnion served the needs of the Communist Party first. In the realm of business or commerce, Party ideology insisted on “defending the gains of the revolution.” This in turn led to the precepts of a command economy, thereby proscribing a market allocation of goods and ii