The paper presents the findings of the second part of a study designed to assess the quality improvement efforts in the Polish banking system, including a summary of both parts. The previous issue of "Bank i Kredyt" discussed the results of the "Quality in Bank" questionnaire, directed at key executives in banks (board presidents). The results show that quality management does not depend on either ownership relations or customer profile of a bank. There is, however, a statistically material relationship between the number of outlets held by the bank and the level of quality management - the more outlets, the better the quality management. The authors also examined whether the size of workforce has any bearing on a bank's quality performance. It was found that statistically material differences existed between banks employing over 5 000 staff and those with a workforce of under 1 000 (there was a marked difference in the average score of the "largest staff" banks and the "smallest staff" ones).

The present article discusses the findings of the questionnaire entitled "Service Quality in Bank Branch", this time addressed to the management of selected branches of the banks under examination. The authors believe that a survey including both the main office and branches of a bank should provide a full picture of the quality issue at banks. One has to bear in mind that headquarters' recommendations may not always be followed by the branches, not necessarily out of disobedience, but because the local market may require a specific treatment.

The survey indicates that on the whole, bank branches with prevailing Polish interest are more advanced in introducing quality management than those controlled by foreign capital, or - on the other hand - those representing cooperative banks. (Those last in turn are less advanced than the foreign-controlled branches). At the same time, banks addressing the individual customer tend to further ahead on the path to implementing the principles of quality management than those catering mainly to institutional clients. The survey does not show any relationship between quality and the number of outlets or employees.

The data obtained from the questionnaire indicate that the average extent to which Polish banks meet quality management standards is 39%. This shows that a lot remains to be done. With regard to how well the main offices' quality management targets are met at the branches, the average rate is 35%. This bears out the intuition that not all the policy statements by the headquarters are necessarily adhered to at the grassroot level.