Employee Participation in Adapting the Enterprise to Market Economy Conditions

(The abstracted paper is also published in English: Ibid. 2004, Nr 1s(33), pp. 97-112). Transformation processes underway in Poland have brought with them the liquidation of many existing forms of worker participation. Unfortunately, the period did not bear fruit in participatory forms characteristic of a market economy. The reasons behind this state of affairs should be looked for in the negative view of participation on the part of both employers and trade unions. The absence of formal solutions in this respect has resulted in informal solutions going in that direction. What should be mentioned at this point are long term programs for involving employees in solving enterprise problems undertaken in companies, which are also called change management programs. Also worth mentioning is the presence of workers on company supervisory boards and their overall positive impact on company operations. These and other forms of worker involvement in company problems speed its adaptation to market economy conditions.