Managers in the command economy: Case studies from Poland, 1956-1970

Abstract

In the Soviet-type centrally planned economies the enterprise was an element of a centralised hierarchical structure, where managers faced pressures for the fulfilment of the plan. The plan could be interpreted as a kind of contract inside the hierarchical organisation; therefore, this study applies the contractual approach to examine the strategies of socialist managers in Poland, showing that their behaviours were similar to those of mid-level managers in U-form corporations. It is also stressed that managers preferred safe strategies, moving on to more risky ones only when it was necessary in order to fulfil the plan.