Paper short abstract:

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Paper long abstract:

Almost every pertinent academic field has studied the post-Soviet transitions: economic, political, social, and anthropological studies have all been conducted to assess them. The only field where this topic remains practically ignored seems to be management. This research seeks to address this gap through an analysis of the organizational structures and strategies of post-Soviet state-owned companies in an effort to better understand the relationship between political power and state-owned energy firms.

This research is based on a comparison of the bargaining boards of SOCAR (Azerbaijani state-owned energy company) and KMG EP (Kazakh state-owned energy company), which facilitates a two-level analysis: the study of the internal structure and decision-making process of the boards reveals the degree of political control over the company, while the study of the respective strategy of each board contributes to an understanding of political control over international bargaining.

The study methodology is based on both quantitative and qualitative datasets. The structure of the bargaining board is assessed through social network analysis and UCINET software, and this analysis is then integrated with qualitative data regarding the identities of the members of the bargaining board and the relationships that exist between them.