Bankruptcy often down to bad and short-sighted managers

The most often reason for bankruptcy are unfamiliarity with costs and bad decisions made by management. Unsuccessful managers, often called "zeroes in suits", are usually supported by easygoing company owners who in effect impede management of their own assets. According to experts, knowledge and efficiency of Polish managers is usually far higher than their colleagues from other countries. However, by mid-2003, some 400 companies announced bankruptcy, while another following 300 firms commenced settlement pro ceedings with creditors. The number has however dropped, as in the same period of 2002, 564 enterprises declared bankruptcy, while 261 were in settlement proceedings. The most renown examples of management short-s ightedness are: steel mill Huta Baildon, which overpaid for the modern ization of its facilities, or Daewoo FSO, which was forced to pay through the nose for spare parts from its owner and was forbidden to export to Western Europe. (Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, B1) M.M.