Organisational culture and change management in courts, based on the examples of the Gdańsk area courts

Background. Courts are by definition bureaucratic, hierarchical organisations, epitomised by low levels of networking potential, which basically lack mechanisms of information exchange, or those of sharing information both at the level of the organisation of the justice system (the macro scale) and within a given court (the micro scale). Research aims. The aims of this article was implementing modern management methods of common courts, based on the examples of the Gdańsk area courts, and attempts to provide an answer to the question of whether courts, viewed as bureaucratic bodies, are ready to launch organisational change aiming at the creation of organisations based on knowledge. Method. Based on the case study approach, this paper outlines the results of an innovative pilot study. Throughout the pilot study, sixty selected district, regional and appellate courts, with the help of external experts, were subjected to the implementation of “good practices” –managerial improvements. Also, the paper illustrates the findings of re examples of three district courts and one regional court, participating in the pilot study. Key Findings. Amidst the basic research methods employed in the paper are: literature-based studies, empirical analysis with the use of available secondary studies, as well as individually-conducted empirical studies conducted for the purposes of this paper, which has initiated the discussion on the notion of organisational culture in courts, and has raised the questions of whether a) the courts are ready to accept the changes aimed at altering their management; b) the organisational culture in the courts covered by the study determined the selection of practices to be implemented; c) organisational culture in courts lies at the foundation of building a knowledge-based organisation; and d) there exists a potential for sharing knowledge among the courts covered by the study in question. The results of the study in question prove that organisational culture of courts determined the possibility of implementing managerial practices aimed at shaping a knowledge-based organisation.