The purpose of the present study was to investigate the implications of NPM (New Public Management) strategies for a University in emerging economy. The philosophy of adaptation to the market economy is supposed to result in the modernization of Russian HE (Higher Education) and Russia’s complete integration into the European HE community. A confluence of political, social, economic, and academic factors, however, influences the implementation of managerial reforms. In the present study, a single progressive provincial University was chosen as a case study, examined through the prism of NPM, and then extrapolated into a wider context of management and governance-related strategy formation and implementation. The case study suggests that other HEIs were able to integrate and implement the NPM principles successfully; that the main strategies used in NPM implementation are neither top-down nor bottom-up in nature, but a mixture of both models; that challenges facing reform involve issues of awareness, government support, and funding; and that the major implication of the University implementation of NPM is that it will increase the competitiveness of Russian HEIs with the European community. One suggests possible strategy of HE development in Russia. We identify area of further research regarding the implementation of NPM principles in Russia, and in comparison with other countries.