The Russian Business Retreat - How the Ratings Measured Up One Year Later

32 Pages Posted: 31 Jan 2023 Last revised: 13 Apr 2023

See all articles by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld

Yale School of Management

Tymofiy Mylovanov

Kyiv School of Economics

Nataliia Shapoval

Kyiv School of Economics

Steven Tian

Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute

Andrii Onopriienko

Kyiv School of Economics; KSE Institute; Kyiv School of Economics - Kyiv Economics Institute (KEI)

Georgia Hirsty

Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute

Michal Wyrebkowski

Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute

Date Written: January 31, 2023

Abstract

In the initial days and weeks following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it became widely known and celebrated that over 1,000+ global multinational companies voluntarily declared their intention to exit Russia, with widespread coverage ranging from general media to academic studies to citations from Joe Biden and Volodomyr Zelenskyy. The Yale School of Management and the Kyiv School of Economics, among others, have carefully tracked and documented these corporate exits.

One year into the invasion, it is time to review whether these multinational businesses are really leaving Russia as they initially pledged to do – especially in light of recent, misleading headlines suggesting these 1,000+ companies are failing to follow through and/or turning their backs on their initial pledges. But even more importantly, it is also a pivotal moment to once again call out the western companies that inexplicably remain in Russia.

In this piece, we first briefly explain our own methodologies for tracking and classifying companies – both those who have exited and those who remain, drawing upon the original proprietary sourcing of both the Kyiv School of Economics as well as the Yale School of Management. We then review some common areas of contention, controversy and challenge surrounding the classification of both companies that remain and companies that have left, with case studies of individual companies as illustrative examples. Next, we analyze how cynical opportunists attempt to cast doubt on businesses pulling out of Russia using highly questionable if not outright fabricated data, and how some other studies appear to be consciously misrepresenting data on corporate retreats. Anti-Ukraine, ideological distortions have unfortunately muddied the waters on a topic which should be centered around facts, not idle speculation. Finally, we present an analytical dashboard breaking down corporate exits data analytics, based on the pioneering research and original calculations of the KSE Institute.

Suggested Citation

Sonnenfeld, Jeffrey and Mylovanov, Tymofiy and Shapoval, Nataliia and Tian, Steven and Onopriienko, Andrii and Hirsty, Georgia and Wyrebkowski, Michal, The Russian Business Retreat - How the Ratings Measured Up One Year Later (January 31, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4343547 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4343547

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld

Yale School of Management ( email )

493 College St
New Haven, CT CT 06520
United States

Tymofiy Mylovanov

Kyiv School of Economics ( email )

vul. Yakira, 13, 3d floor, suite 334
Kyiv, 04119
Ukraine

Nataliia Shapoval

Kyiv School of Economics

Steven Tian (Contact Author)

Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute ( email )

493 College St
New Haven, CT CT 06520
United States

Andrii Onopriienko

Kyiv School of Economics ( email )

3 Shpaka Str.
Kyiv, 03113
Ukraine

HOME PAGE: http://kse.ua/

KSE Institute ( email )

3 Shpaka Str.
Kyiv, 03113
Ukraine

HOME PAGE: http://kse.ua/kse-department/kse-institute/

Kyiv School of Economics - Kyiv Economics Institute (KEI) ( email )

3 Shpaka Str.
Kyiv, 03113
Ukraine

HOME PAGE: http://kse.ua/kse-department/kse-institute/

Georgia Hirsty

Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute

Michal Wyrebkowski

Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute ( email )

165 Whitney Ave New Haven CT 06511
New Haven, CT 06511
United States

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