22 SOC1AI SCIENTIST
practised elsewhere, e.g. the USSR and some other eastern European countries. At the same time, the gap between the professed and the declared extent of self-management and the actual attainment was instrumental in unleashing a countrywide movement of the working class which led ultimately to the fall of Gomulka. A realisation dawned on the leadership on the morrow of the mass agitation that definite changes in the existing mechanism of economic management were called for. A coaunission was appointed which came to be known as Szydluk Commission. The Party directive of the Congress held in December 1971 to the Commission was to suggest means for "the improvement and modernisation of planning and management". The Commission recommended some drastic changes in the structure and rationale of functioning of economic organisations. Theoretically, a revision of the deterministic paradigm that was the guiding philosophy earlier was strongly recommended so that elements of innovation could have a greater role. In a sense, the recommendations were for replacing teleol6gy by pragmatism. Thus was the new system born which came to be designated as the Fourth Reform Experiment in Poland in which the BEO plan came out as the most important feature.
The Basic Features of BEO Plan
In the new system the BEO became the most important economic organ. The form of the organisation was an association of nationalised undertakings, but in content it was envisaged to be an organisation qualitatively different from simply an association. This plan was launched in 1973 on an experimental basis for the purpose of fulfilling a number of objectives, (a) On the economic side it was held that BEO would introduce the required amount of economic efficiency by exploiting the economies of scale and (b) on the socio-economic side they would provide opportunities for real, autonomous functioning with tlie lielp of creative participation of the workers' collectives in management. It was believed that such a scal6 of operation would help in the improvement of the level of science and technology for utilisation in production and would ensure the appropriate extent of economic rationality needed for economic and social progress in the given circumstances.
Of course all the enterprises in the Polish economy were not immediately brought within the fold of the BEO scheme. The process of amalgamation of enterprises was phased out. A novel feature of the BEO plan was experimentation with 'pilot entities' (PE). On January I, 1973, the BEO plan was inaurated with 15 'pilot entities'. In the course of the next three years the number of PEs increased significantly.
An important change from the past practice was the reduction of plan directives frona the centre to an absolute minimum. The entities used to be guided by two synthetic indicators: value added