Key success factors for social services organizations in Poland

The basic goal behind any action undertaken in an organization management is the will to achieve success. Key (or critical) success factors are the organization's resources, competence and qualifi cation that create its competitive advantage on a particular market at a given time, and are able to determine its possible future success. The aim of this article is the analysis of the discrepancies between the factual and perceived key success factors of the social service organizations. The results point to the management of social services organisations not possessing enough knowledge about the factors responsible for the success of the entities they manage. This signifi es the need to equip the management of the social services organisations with a theoretical background and practical knowledge which will allow them to manage with the expected results.