The application of Wroclaw taxonomy in the comparative analysis of public universities

In this article we propose the application of Wroclaw taxonomy, which is also known as the dendric method. This is a tool used in comparative analysis for non-profit units. The research was conducted in a spatio-temporal way and involved 59 public universities (universities subordinate to the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, MEN). These were all academic units and the research was done for 2001–2006. According to the author, the application of Wroclaw taxonomy to preliminary assessment of the cost structure state of public universities is a tool which should be used by external and internal decision- makers in the process of creating a strategy of an effective usage of public means. The choice of model organisations for the period 2001–2006 should be used as a basis to conduct further, but this time more precise, cause-consequence analysis of the cost structure.