Catching the Runaway Train Innovation Management in Russian Railways

Abstract

This paper studies the innovation strategy of Russian Railways, the biggest transport company in the world. Russian Railways has chosen a strategy of international science, technology and innovation (STI) cooperation outside their own network. This strategy is a novel approach for Russian State-owned enterprises (SOE). Based on the analysis of innovation development program and interviews with managers, the paper studies the company's experience with the chosen strategy. Thereby, the paper enhances the understanding of innovation processes in major public service companies which are crucial for the socio-economic processes inside and outside national boundaries.

State-Owned Enterprises in the Russian Federation

“…Starting in 2010, it introduced several changes to management practices, including a new corporate management system; new measurable KPIs including on service reliability, security, and quality of service; a financial information management system; and an innovation management system. Results have been improved financial indicators and customer perceptions of service (Thurner & Gershman 2014)…”

The technology foresight system of the Russian Federation: a systemic view

“…Several papers describe cases of sectoral foresight center network formation (Kasimov and Alekseeva, 2013; Sklyarenko, 2014), whereas others analyze Russian and foreign experience of STI foresight or discuss general aspects of foresight exercises (Skrylnikova et al , 2013; Nikitskaya, 2014; Kondratyuk and Mironova, 2015). For papers on the role of Russian Research and Technology organizations, see Thurner and Zaichenko (2014a, 2014b, 2015, 2016) or Thurner and Gershman (2014).…”