Published: 15 October 2015
In different countries, different types of organizations constitute the basis of the economic system. Sometimes this variety is explained by the proponents of the life cycle theories, according which different types of organizations are simply different progressive stages of business development. In this case, the apex of this development is the Anglo-Saxon corporation owned by a plurality of minority shareholders and managed by professional managers. Based on a critical analysis of these theories and real business practice the author comes to the conclusion that it is impossible to apply the criterion "high-low" to the types of organizations dominating in different countries. The global variety of organizations is explained by the unique history and the peculiar institutional context of the national development. The cases are Russia, China, Italy, USA and others.