ABSTRACT
The reform in Poland, unlike the attempts made before, has its own program encompassing the scope and character of planned changes, and even a time-table of particular activities and undertakings. This program has been presented in a comprehensive document entitled “Directions of the Economic Reform” (July 1981), which was approved by the Ninth Congress of the Polish United Workers Party and by the Polish Parliament. The government “Plenipotentiary” Minister in charge of the reform appointed in July 1981 was made responsible for management of the reform process in accordance with its program and timetable. The program was begun to be put into operation in the autumn of the same year when two fundamental acts came into force: the Act on state enterprises (Act 1981a) and the Act on employees’ self-management (Act 1981b). In the period when discussion on various and numerous variants of the reform was under way, almost everybody was aware of serious difficulties facing the economy.
