Counting on informal networks: the meaning, influence and role of the ‘nutag’-network in Mongolian managers’ thinking

This paper investigates the role of informal networking in the context of Mongolian management and how the locally meaningful concept of ‘nutag’, a shared locality, impacts on daily business practices. This research provides a brief contextual background of the period after the end of socialism when Mongolia introduced democratic reforms and a market-led system. The conceptual part of this paper examines selected indigenous management theories to establish the importance of understanding locally meaningful concepts to construct management models of non-Western countries. The main part of the literature review provides detailed accounts on a shared-locality (nutag) and activities that involve people (nutgijn chün/chümüüs) and acquaintances from the same locality (nutgijn tanil) and homeland councils (nutgijn zövlöl). The empirical part of this paper consists of a three-year long ethnographic study with 35 managers from both public and private sectors to unravel how they perceive the notion of nutag, respond to nutag-related activities and utilise a nutag-network in their day-to-day management practices presented in order. The research suggests the concept of heritage locality as one of the fundamental points for constructing management knowledge in contemporary Mongolia. By proposing the notion of heritage locality, this study contributes to the literature of indigenous management theories and extends the existing knowledge on the concept of nutag.