The purpose of this thesis is to increase an understanding about management strategies in transitional economies from the perspective of creativity/entrepreneurship, control, trust and social/cultural changes. The study is carried out through a case study of management strategies in a transition economy, Kazakhstan. Transitional economies are not a new interest for management research. However not many studies have been made in Kazakhstan about management strategies, compared to the countries that are situated closer to Europe, such as East European countries.. There are not so many studies done about the Central Asian transition economies like Kazakhstan. Therefore a country like Kazakhstan can contribute to the literature. Another important distinction in research of transitional economies is whether it concerns local experiences or cross- cultural experiences. The study shows the perspective of Kazakhstani managers on creativity/entrepreneurship, control, trust and social/cultural change and their perceptions of western management strategies. The study shows that there are two phases in a transition economy. The first phase is in the beginning of a transition economy, that time is characterized as chaotic and unpredictable. The second phase is the time when the economy becomes more stable and people get values back based on socialism and used them in business. In the present time, the values are formed through a mixture socialism and capitalism. The process of transition influences the four variables: creativity/entrepreneurship, control, trust and social/cultural changes. It also influenced the way of management in transitional economy. At the end of the thesis there will be given some theoretical and managerial implications of the thesis, the limitations of the thesis and the suggestions for future research.

This work aims at considering superstitions both in the context social, cultural changes and as an essential part of human being, since it makes part of culture. We search to discuss the transformations of superstition in the modern society based on the oral accounts of people who moved from countryside to the city of Catalão, State of Goiás. We has tried to identify how these people consider superstitions now and understand their rural past, marked by oral tradition and popular beliefs, and so to know how popular culture rereads superstitions in the present. In these individual s speech, we have noted some conceptions of past countryside/hindrance and present city/progress which led us to rethink of theses spaces as different and complimentary. / Este trabalho propõe considerar as superstições pelo viés das transformações sociais e culturais e como parte essencial do ser humano, por fazerem parte da cultura que o expressa. Nele, problematizamos a transformação das superstições na sociedade moderna, com base na fala de sujeitos que saíram da zona rural para residir na cidade de Catalão (GO). Buscamos identificar a leitura que fazem das superstições, o passado vivido na zona rural, calcado na oralidade e nas crenças populares, e, assim, saber que releituras das superstições a cultura popular passou a ter. Na fala dos sujeitos, percebemos concepções de passado zona rural, atraso e de presente cidade, modernidade que nos levaram a repensar esses espaços como diferenciados e complementares. / Mestre em História