Changing patterns of leadership during the transformation period in Hungary

The paper places the development of leadership patterns in Hungary into a historical context. The author analyses the influence of reforms before the political changes on the behavioural patterns of Hungarian managers. During the transformation period, the influence of political and macroeconomic conditions and of privatisation are analysed. The contextual factors mentioned above formulate the arena where managerial problem solving and learning takes place and contributes to the development of leadership characteristics. The paper ends with some conclusions.