Ewa Bogacz-Wojtanowska

Economic and Social Tensions in Image-Building of Social Enterprises in Poland

Background. The image of the organisation is a collection of subjective notions and beliefs about the organisation, held by its recipients. A negative or positive perception of the organisation by its external or internal environment is influenced by its entire operations. Therefore, intentional image-building and launching public relations activities requires using certain tools and methods. Research aims. The purpose of this study is identifying the ways of image-building used by social enterprises in Poland. The authors focus in particular on what attitude the leaders of enterprises have towards building the organisation’s image, what methods they use and whether they research organisational effectiveness in the area of image-building. Methodology. The presented findings are the result of a qualitative analysis. The data was collected using the following research methods: in-depth individual interviews, observations, and analyses of documents. The research which partial findings are presented in this study was carried out in 2012 and 2013 within the project entitled Integrated support system of social economy. Key findings. The results of the qualitative research prove that despite the enterprises’ awareness concerning the need to create their image, they often do not undertake any planned efforts to fulfil this objective.