Social and economic management goals in enterprises

Objectives The aim of the article is to present the results of research on the place and role of management goals used since 2016 in the management processes of municipal companies in Poland. The authors devoted significant attention to economic and social goals, in particular to the analysis of the importance of these goals in companies. Material and methods The basic research method was the analysis of documents - the content of resolutions of entities authorized to exercise shareholding rights. In total, the content of resolutions adopted each year in 124 companies in 2017-2023 was examined. Results The results indicate the dominance of economic goals and the decreasing share of social goals among management goals. Conclusions The conclusions are not positive, considering that these companies operate in the public utility sector. The reasons for this phenomenon are partly due to the unfortunate provisions of the act and long-standing habits; in fact, they are more complex and multi-faceted. What is particularly disturbing is that profit, previously used mainly as an economic measure, has become, in the light of legal regulations and economic practice, the purpose of business, which may translate directly into the prices of municipal companies' services for residents and local entrepreneurs. In turn, the decreasing share of social goals may include, among others: reduce employee involvement and their efficient and effective cooperation based on trust.