¶ … Polish Companies Reacted to Ethical Issues and Changes in Business Standards Since the Fall of Communism in 1989? Poland's Economy Pre-Communism's Fall

Poland's Natural Resources

Minerals and Fuels

Agricultural Resources

Labor Force

The Polish Economy Under Communism

System Structure

Development Strategy

The Centrally-Planned Economy

Establishing the Planning Formula

Retrenchment and Adjustment in the 1960s

Reliance on Technology in the 1970s

Reform Failure in the 1980s

Poland's Economy After the Fall of Communism

Poland After the Fall of Communism

Fall of Communism

Marketization and Stabilization

Required Short-Term Changes

Section 2.3.2. The Shock Strategy

Section 2.3.3. Initial Results

Section 2.3.4. Long-Term Requirements

Section 2.4. Macroeconomic Indicators for 1990-91

Section 2.4.1. Price Increases

Section 2.4.2. Impact on Productivity and Wages

Section 2.4.3. Statistical Distortions

Section 2.4.4. Agricultural Imbalances

Section 2.4.5. Causes of Decline

Section 2.5.The Polish Post-Communism Privatization Process

Section 2.6. Structure of Poland's Economy: Post-Communism

Section 2.6.1. Fuels and Energy

Section 2.6.2. Coal

Section 2.6.3. Oil and Gas

Section 2.6.4. Power Generation

Section 2.6.5. Industry

Section 2.6.6. Light Industry

Section 2.6.7. Automotive Industry

Section 2.6.8. Construction Machinery

Section 2.6.9. Banking and Finance

Section 2.7. The State Banking System

Section 2.8. Banking Reform, 1990-92

Section 2.8.1. Insurance and Securities Reform

Section 2.8.2. New Financial Institutions

Section 2.8.3. Foreign Loans and Money Supply

Section 2.8.4. Foreign Trade

Section 2.8.5. The Foreign Trade Mechanism

Section 2.9. Post-communist Policy Adjustments

Section 2.10. The Role of Currency Exchange

Section 2.11. Foreign Investment

Chapter 3: Business Ethics in Poland

Section 3.1. Introduction

Section 3.2. What is Meant (and Understood) by the Term 'Business Ethics' in Poland?

Section 3.3. Developing Standards of Business Ethics in Poland

Section 3.3.1. The Polish Transition

Section 3.3.2. Difficulties in Adjusting

Section 3.3.3. Identifying the Problem: Polish Chamber Survey Results

Section 3.3.4. Setting Ethical Standards

Section 3.3.5. Letting Market Forces Work

Section 3.3.6. The Highlights from the Polish Chamber's Sample Code of Ethics

Section 3.3.7. Western Aid In Fighting Corruption

Chapter 4: Conclusions

Bibliography

Introduction

The dissertation will look at the history of communism in Poland, and it's fall. The dissertation will then look at the economy of Poland: the main natural resources, the economy under communism, the centrally planned economy, and the economy after the fall of communism. The dissertation will then move on to looking at the processes of marketization and stabilization in Poland, and the macroeconomic indicators for the crucial 1990-1991 period. The privatization process in Poland will be followed, and the subsequent structure of the economy will be analyzed. The main markets supporting the economy i.e., fuels and energy, industry, agriculture, fishing and forestry, banking and finance, and foreign trade.

It is absolutely fundamental for the purposes of this dissertation to analyze these factors in great detail, since they are fundamental to an understanding of the necessity for business ethics in Poland, and the challenges and difficulties faced when trying to implement ethical business principles in Poland.

Once the economic history of Poland has been discussed and analyzed, the dissertation will then move to looking at how Polish companies have reacted to ethical issues and changes in business standards since the fall of communism in 1989. This will take the form of looking, principally, at what constitutes ethical business in Poland, how ethical business is regulated and monitored in Poland, and how changes have been made so far in business ethics in Poland since the fall of communism, and how these changes relate to changes over the same period at an international level. A discussion on the merits of entering into the EU, in terms of business ethics, will also be entered into.

In summary, the research objectives of the dissertation are as follows:

To present an overview of the Polish economy and business life both pre- and post-communism's fall.

To present a review of business ethics and its impact on international business.

To present an examination of the present state of business ethics in Poland.

To examine how and if international codes of ethics have influenced / continue to influence Polish business behaviors.

The dissertation will conclude with a short overview of the main analyses presented within the body of the dissertation, and will present a summary of the main findings, and an overview of the current state of business ethics in Poland.

Chapter 1: Poland's Economy Pre-Communism's Fall

Section 1.1. Poland's Natural Resources

Poland's rapid postwar industrialization was supported by a combination of readily available natural resources, especially economically important minerals (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).After the era of communist economics and politics ended in 1989, however, industrial policy makers contemplated major changes in the balance of resource consumption (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).

Section 1.1.1. Minerals and Fuels

Coal is Poland's most important mineral resource (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).In...

ra in the west and in two districts located in the central part of the country between the Vistula and the Oder rivers (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).This low-quality fuel has been used on a large scale for the production of electricity, despite its very damaging effect on the environment (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).Plans called for gradual reduction of lignite extraction and use in the 1990s (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).
Natural gas is extracted mostly in Upper Silesia, Lower Silesia, and in the southeastern part of the country (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).Production expanded in the 1960s and 1970s, then declined in the next decade (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).In 1989, domestic production covered 43% of the country's total requirement (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).

A major offshore oilfield was discovered in the Baltic Sea in 1985 (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).Including that field and the older fields in the Carpathian Mountains in southeastern Poland, total oil reserves were estimated at 100 million tons in 1990 (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).Poland remained heavily dependent on the Soviet Union for petroleum throughout the 1980s (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).

Large reserves of sulfur at Tarnobrzeg and Stasz w in the south-central region make that material Poland's most important non-metallic export mineral. Favorable geological conditions have supported large-scale operations in three mines yielding about 5 million tons annually (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).About 3 million tons of sulfuric acid, along with several other chemicals, are produced each year (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).

Poland has limited deposits of some nonferrous metal ores (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).The most significant is copper, which is extracted in large quantities at ten mines in Lower Silesia in southwestern Poland (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).Copper production expanded greatly after discovery of major new deposits in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1990 annual copper ore output was about 26 million tons, and 51% of electrolytic copper was exported (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).In 1982, Poland had the world's fifth-largest deposits of lead and zinc (which occur in association) (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).The annual output of lead and zinc ores was about 5 million tons, supporting annual production of 164 thousand tons of zinc and 78,000 tons of lead (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).In 1990, about 76% of Poland's zinc and nearly all its lead were used by domestic industry (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).

Although Poland had some fairly large iron ore deposits, this ore requires enrichment before processing (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).Until the 1970s, the main source of iron ore was the district of Czestochowa; but output there declined sharply in the early 1980s, and other deposits were of poor quality or provided such small quantities that exploitation was unprofitable (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).The country depended on iron imports from the Soviet Union and Sweden to support the rapid expansion of the steel industry that was a high priority in the communist era (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).

Rich deposits of salt provide an important raw material for the chemical industry (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).Salt mining, which began in the Middle Ages, was concentrated in the Wieliczka-Bochnia area near Krak w until the middle of the twentieth century; then the major salt-mining operations moved to a large deposit running northwest from d in central Poland. Salt is extracted in two ways: by removing it in solid form and by dissolving it underground, then pumping brine to the surface (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).Annual output declined from 6.2 million tons in 1987 and 1988 to 4.7 million tons in 1989 (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).Other mineral resources include bauxite, barite, gypsum, limestone, and silver (a byproduct of processing other metals) (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).

Section 1.1.2. Agricultural Resources

Poland's climate features moderate temperatures and adequate rainfall that enable cultivation of most temperate-zone crops, including all the major grains, several industrial crops, and several varieties of fruit (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).Crops are distributed according to the substantial regional variations in soil and length of growing season (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).The sandy soils of the central plains are most suitable for rye, the richer soil in the south favors wheat and barley, and the poorer soil of the north is used for oats (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).All parts of Poland favor potato cultivation; sugar beets, the most important industrial crop, grow mainly in the west and southeast (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).

Section 1.1.3. Labor Force

At the end of 1991, about 30.7% of Poland's estimated population of 38.3 million lived in urban centers with populations of 100,000 or more (www.countrystudies.us/poland.htm).The priority given urbanization and industrialization in postwar Poland caused the urban working class to grow dramatically and the rural working class to shrink…