Influence of Top Management’s Human Capital on Efficiency of Adaptation of Russian IT Companies to Cancel Culture and Structural Crisis

Abstract

Starting from March 2022 Russian companies are facing a structural crisis while IT industry was the most affected. The paper investigates the impact of qualities of top management’s human capital (HC) in the domestic IT companies on the effectiveness of their adaptation to this crisis. The novelty of the paper is underpinned by (1) the rare investigation of the topic at times of crises; and (2) coverage of the entire top management team. The results showed that HC of top managers moderately and positively impacted the effectiveness of firms to adapt to the crisis. No difference in strength of impact of CEO HC and HC of the rest of the team was discovered. Such qualities of HC as (1) young age; (2) taking office before the crisis; (3) experience in international companies; (4) experience in IT industry; and (5) openness to stakeholders the most supported the adaptation to crisis.