Assessing the Effectiveness of Managers' Use of Legislation in Self-governing Organisations
Purpose: The article aims to diagnose the use of social welfare by local government organisations (SGOs) observed from the perspective of the application of law by managers. Design/Methodology/Approach: The first part of the study examined the literature on the tasks performed by SGOs in the context of public sector reforms in Western Europe. The second part analysed the results of a survey conducted among SGO managers. Using the collaborative research approach from the action research group, the analysis of data obtained from all SGOs in Poland was discussed. The study was conducted on a selected research sample of 2,573 SGOs. A separate set of formative indicators was determined for each aggregate, creating indexes, which gave the construct scale a multi-index form. The significance level was 0.05. Findings: The presented conclusions provide information on the extent to which SGO managers apply legal acts and on how these activities are adapted to the real needs of clients in the social welfare system. Practical Implications: The need to define new development directions was confirmed, requiring adaptation of legal norms to management systems operating under new conditions. The statement that something is a new challenge for social policy can be understood as the hypothesis that we are dealing with a new social problem and the suggestion that it can be solved with the help of a reformed legal system. It is necessary to rationalise public spending by implementing instruments characteristic of managing private-sector organisations, such as privatisation, efficiency measures, cost accounting, and benchmarking solutions. Originality/Value: It was confirmed that junior managers believe that applicable legal acts effectively help those in need. Strong correlations were found between statements 32 (The organisation does not confine itself to carrying out only the basic tasks arising from current legislation and legal acts) and 78 (Existing legislation makes it easier to reach out to those in need in SGOs). This warrants further interdisciplinary research across law, management science, and quality to improve legislative processes in social policy. This should also consider active social policies aimed at permanently removing individuals at risk of poverty and social exclusion from the social assistance system.