Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/63446
the region still is charting its best course into the global economy. entrepreneurship will put this promising market well on its way. OnthePathto Prosperity S o much attention has been paid to the wonders of "e-business" and the electronic age, it may be easy to overlook another important "e" steadily gaining in global importance. For the economies of Central and Eastern Europe, especially, this "e" stands for "entrepreneurship," which many analysts believe will be the saving grace of that region. Burgeoning private enterprise promises to create wealth in the private sectors of Russia, Lithuania, Poland, the former Yugoslavia, and other countries in the region. But even more important, it also may introduce innovation and adapt- ability to an unpredictable economic climate, characteristics that simply were not cultivated under communist rule. Michael Diedring, Director General of the Baltic Management Institution, an executive education provider in Vilnius, Lithuania, has witnessed many of the changes experienced by that country firsthand. It's not just the transformation of an economy at issue, he points out. It's the transformation of an entire mindset. "In many parts of the world, it's OK to have 'failed' as an entrepreneur. Such failure is often even considered a 'badge of honor.' Many extremely successful by Tricia Bisoux BizEd JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 35