Background. Innovations in public management tend to be defined as creative ideas put into practice by management seeking to resolve persistent problems that are faced while pursuing the public interest. Inter-organizational collaboration fuels the effective accomplishment of ventures launched within organizations and is regarded as one of the methods for creating and implementing innovations.
Research aims. Therefore, the overarching objective of this paper is to investigate the correlations between inter-organizational collaboration and the creation of organizational innovations.
Method. The paper was drawn from literature studies and empirical research. It gives an insight into the requirements for inter-organizational collaboration in public management with an emphasis on creating innovations. Literature studies were partly illustrated using empirical findings from research conducted in 2010 in commune offices located in the south of Poland (in the Małopolskie province).
Key findings. Surveys were carried out which led to the affirmation that the needs and benefits, in terms of creation of innovations as part of inter-organizational collaboration in public management, attained visibility and recognition, although common practice within local government units fails to reaffirm this. Different replies to the implementation gaps of inter-organizational collaboration have been rendered, but there was no conclusive answer about how to achieve implementation.

Background. The article presents the findings of the study on change process dynamics. It is assumed in the model that particular elements of organization help to form systems. These systems, like all others, are subject to certain regularities: they generate output signals based on the level and dynamics of input signals. Yet the system has static and dynamic characteristics i.e. the type of function transforming input into output is the most important feature of the system. Knowledge of the system’s characteristics and the course of input signals gives a possibility to try and determine the value of output signals. Knowledge of a specific system’s characteristics can enable not only the prediction of its behaviour but also the application of a regulatory system, so that the output parameters maintain certain properties established in advance, regardless of the state of inputs.
Research aims. The aim of the conducted research was to identify the dynamic parameters of objects which are subject to changes.
Method. Registering of the effects and reactions to the changes was performed for selected (single-person) work stations and groups of workers. It involved observation of the progress of normal organisation processes in a real socio-information-technical environment.
Key findings. As a result, an organization subsystem model was developed for the subsystem which is undergoing changes. Knowledge of the dynamic parameters may allow for better change processes' control and thus for higher efficiency. The Author proposes an application of a specific approach to realization of the process of changes implementation on the operational level of management, called DBMCI (Dynamic–Based Model of Changes Implementation).

Background. The reality of contemporary marketing is complex and evolves very fast, which stimulates managers for usage of new and modern ways to communicate with customers and build relations with them. The article covers issues related to the usage of new marketing tools (with special attention paid to social media and mobile marketing) in managing health care institutions in the Lodzkie voivodship.
Research aims. The goal is to analyze whether, and to what extent, are the tools of new marketing applied in the marketing communication of health care institutions. The basis for the assumptions was a research which covered all health care institutions in the Lodzkie region.
Method. The research was conducted in all health care institutions in the Lodzkie Voivodship in December 2012. To collect the data authors used CATI with all the institutions (1338), but research results presented in this study cover 237 institutions which used e-marketing in communication with the market in-depth interviews with.
Key findings. Health care institutions are not well prepared to use new marketing instruments for communication with customers.

Background. Research on the process of strategic management, particularly the implementation phase, does not give a definite recommendation regarding the aspect of formalization in each of its stages. Therefore, it seems important to examine this issue, especially in the context of its impact on the quality of the implemented strategies. The article presents the results of research on the practices of companies in the process of strategic management.
Research aims. I examined whether formalization is a desirable and recommended factor in the implementation of strategic concepts or whether it does not contribute to the degree of their realization.
Method. The quantitative research has been based on an open and standardised collection of data and involved 150 subjects grouped into 3 samples. The enterprises under examination were divided into two groups – the first one was composed of the subjects that confirmed using formal tools facilitating strategy implementation and the second consisted of the subjects that denied using those solutions. As the study used an ordinal scale, as a measure for the correlation of the investigated variables, the Kendall tau-b test was used.
Key findings. The research results showed that having a formal strategy document often resulted in the use of formal systems of strategy implementation. Moreover, it also proves the importance of the applied tools since they allow periodic verification of the progress made in strategy implementation and its conformity with the set vision. I also pointed out that the formalization of the implementation of the strategy stems from the formalization of the whole process of strategic management, as evidenced by the regularity of the work at all stages. The results showed, however, that the decision about introducing formalisation may facilitate strategy implementation but is not a factor determining the success of implementing the devised development concepts.

Background. Management over the last decades has seen knowledge sharing become a key tool for the success of a variety of institutions. Many companies and other organizations have developed knowledge management programs as the key to their future development strategies. There are a number of organizations that have identified knowledge sharing as one of their core management tools. Yet despite its growing popularity, knowledge sharing remains a complex and challenging task.
Research aims. This article attempts to identify the main group of knowledge sharing barriers in Polish universities and to verify if there are any specific cultural elements that create those barriers.
Method. The primary data for this article was collected by conducting 47 in-depth inter-views (IDI) with academic staff from 9 universities in Poland.
Key findings. The research reveals that the most important are the individual knowledge sharing barriers, mostly associated with the lack of trust among academic staff.

Background. The leadership concept seems to be one of the most promising for attempting to understand and develop the nature of management in the public sector and especially in the sphere of educational organizations such as schools. It is also gradually becoming one of the important issues in recent reforms of educational systems. The problem is that there are different paradigms of thinking about leadership and that they lead to quite different practical applications. In that context it is essential to develop knowledge about ways of thinking and understanding of leadership concepts among those involved in educational management as this can be a crucial factor contributing to the effectiveness of reforms introduced into that domain of the public sector.
Research aims. The main aim of the presented research was to identify ways Polish school head teachers think about leadership and compare it with the results of a different study carried out on an international group of students involved in special courses on educational leadership especially designed to develop a new understanding of leadership.
Method. Research was based on Avery’s (2004) typology of four types of leadership: (a) classical, (b) transactional, (c) visionary and (d) organic. Author used a questionnaire designed using descriptions of four types of leadership that consisted of 15 questions concerning different aspects of leadership in schools as organizations. The research group consisted of 120 randomly selected groups of school head teachers from different types of Polish schools located all over the country.
Key findings. Analysis of the collected data shows that the classical paradigm of thinking about leadership is the most frequently practiced among Polish school head teachers and the organic paradigm the least frequent. A comparison of the Polish group results with the international study shows the opposite results. It was also interesting that quite a big group of participants of the Polish study answered in such a complex way that their thinking was classified as “mixed paradigm”.

Background. This article focuses on the issues of competitiveness in non-public universities.
Research aims. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the specific nature of non-public universities’ operations. Moreover the purpose is to attempt to theoretically locate the strategies employed by schools of higher education within the context of the challenges posed by the existing market reality.
Method. The theoretical analysis has been conducted in line with the emergence of new trends in strategic management.
Key findings. Cooperation with the best universities abroad and in the country is highly recommended in order to enable achieving competitive advantage, which can be gained mainly due to sharing experiences and joint teaching modules, research and conferences. Increased competition and difficult situation on the market diminish the chances for growth and development for the non-public universities. Only to the best ones can resist – those with high intellectual capacities, excellent image, most useful offer and collaborating with other universities and enterprises.

Background. The logic of the democratization process determines an increased importance of parties, other than state owned ones, to join the process of shaping the basis for social-economic development. The scarcity of public funds causes a need to find solutions for organizing the public service delivery system, including social services, that it is both cost-effective and consistent with the principles of social justice. The need for organizations providing social services to achieve high efficiency has led both practitioners and theorists to take an interest in inter-organizational collaboration as a formula in which they can be implemented.
Research aims. There is a need for a theoretical reflection on the construct of networks operating in the formula of partnership between public sector and social organizations.
Method. The paper is based on the literature review.
Key findings. Networks operating in the formula of partnership between public sector and social organizations are (a) a relatively new organizational phenomenon, and (b) by nature flexible, with ability to change rapidly and to achieve added value. They arise from the pursuit of high efficiency and the proper coordination of various undertakings within complex organizational and social structures operating in a certain geographical and administrative space. Such structures provide a better environment for solving social problems.