EN
The article deals with problems of the functioning of joint stock companies in market-oriented economies and more specifically with problems of their management organs, which are not too well known in Poland. The main attention has been focussed by the author on relationships between their management boards on the one hand and supervisory boards and general meetings on the other hand. The problems concerning these relationships give rise to many misunderstandings in Poland, while their pignificance tends to grow in the situation when establishment of supervisory boards is postulated in socialist enterprises. The author places the main emphasis on a specific character of this legal form, typical for a large enterprise, which ensures far-reaching autonomy for the enterprise in relation to its owners. The main subject of the article is discussed against the background of the functioning of joint stock companies in the Federal Republic of Germany. This is supplemented by presentation of problems concerning joint stock companies in such countries as Great Britain, the United States, and Frnnce.