Objectives:
The aim of this article is to systematize knowledge about cronyism as a manifestation of organizational dysfunction in human capital management and to diagnose the attitudes of management staff toward this phenomenon and its potential consequences.

Material and methods:
The study involved a group of 100 top-level managers representing medium-sized enterprises. The study utilized a diagnostic survey (a questionnaire).

Results:
The vast majority of respondents encountered the concept of cronyism for the first time during the study, while they are well familiar with and understand its synonyms (nepotism, favoritism). The attitudes of managers managing medium-sized enterprises toward cronyism indicate a high level of awareness of potential threats associated with this phenomenon (threats to the team, the entire organization, but also to the manager himself). At the same time, as many as 52% of respondents show a tendency to rationalize and relativize cronyism by pointing to its potentially positive consequences and connecting it with relationship management and networking. They explain their acceptance of promoting people from their circle of acquaintances in employment and promotions by the higher level of trust in them and the expectation of higher levels of engagement from these employees compared to "strangers".

Conclusions:
The findings support the exploration of a link between cronyism and the specific Polish "entrepreneurial culture," which is dominated by distrust of outsiders and a relatively high degree of acceptance of favoritism toward friends and acquaintances in exchange for benefits derived by managers, primarily of a psychological nature (support, loyalty, commitment).