THE DEVELOPMENT OF MANAGEMENT CONTROL AS A NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT TOOL – DIAGNOSIS OF POLISH MUNICIPALITIES IN THE LIGHT OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

Management control in Polish public sector was introduced in 2009. For this purpose management control standards were introduced as a part of changes aiming at a transition from the culture of law enforcement to the culture of achieving results. From this point of view, it is a rather new instrument of the public management in Poland. The introduction of management control standards can be perceived as an experiment as they provide merely a basis for the development of detailed procedures. They are a part of the “soft type” law and thus don’t have the character of an act of commonly applicable law. Several years after providing applicable legal solutions, the biggest problem faced by the Polish local government units is still the fact that neither the introduced management control standards nor the literature provide solid theoretical concepts or clear, specific instruments to facilitate the development of customised solutions within the approved law standards. Due to existing gap, the aim of this study is to assess the development and functioning of the management control as well as its impact on current activities undertaken by the local government units in Poland. The conclusions were drawn on the basis of a survey. The study preceded by a pilot launch of the research tool, was conducted with the entire population of Polish municipalities (2 489 units) in the years 2013-2014, and further in-depth studies in 2015. The research revealed that there is a considerable dissonance between the formal implementation of management control and ongoing impact on the current functioning of Polish municipalities.

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