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This article is devoted to the system of evaluating the effectiveness of the activities of state bodies of the Republic of Kazakhstan in terms of personnel management. This assessment makes it possible to identify positive and negative trends in the activities of state bodies, identify systemic problems and develop practical recommendations for improving the efficiency of the activities of state bodies in the direction of personnel management. In Kazakhstan, the main approaches to the effective activities of state bodies are defined at the legislative level. Moreover, a methodology has been developed which states that the evaluation of these results is achieved via an objective assessment of the impact of the activities of central state bodies and local executive bodies on the development of the economy and society, alongside an analysis of the achievement of indicators of the results of the activities of the state body. Based on the study of international experience and a comparative analysis of criteria and indicators for evaluating efficiency in Kazakhstan and foreign countries, this study substantiates conclusions and recommendations for improving the system for evaluating the effectiveness of government agencies in terms of the direction of personnel management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation cultures and evaluation capacity building vary greatly across the European Union. Western European countries, such as Austria, Germany, Denmark and Sweden, have been termed as leading countries in the evaluation as they have built up well-established evaluation cultures and carry out systematic evaluations of programmes and institutions. In contrast, in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, efforts continue to establish evaluation practices and further develop the current evaluation culture. In Hungary, for example, an established research and innovation evaluation practice does not exist, not one specifically considering gender equality in research and innovation evaluations with the exception of research and innovation programmes financed by the EU Structural Funds. Based on the results of a Horizon 2020 project, we apply a context-sensitive evaluation concept in Hungary that enables program owners and evaluators to develop a tailor-made design and impact model for their planned or ongoing gender equality interventions. The development of this evaluation was based on a thorough analysis of the literature and 19 case studies, building on documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews. The article shows that this evaluation approach is applicable also in countries with a certain catch-up demand of the existing overall evaluation culture. The special feature of the presented evaluation approach is, on the one hand, that the evaluation is context-sensitive. On the other hand, this approach makes it possible not only to depict effects on gender equality itself, but also to anticipate effects on research and innovation. Such effects can, for example, be a stronger orientation of research towards societal needs, which makes it particularly interesting for private companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Activity Report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania for 2017 declares that Lithuania's foreign policy is effective and claims that public opinion is the most important criteria for measuring its effectiveness. The article analyses Lithuania's foreign public policy cycle, with the focus on its formation and evaluation peculiarities. It argues that the cycle of Lithuanian foreign public policy is stagnating since its evaluation stage lacks efficiency and misses critical evaluations. The lack of strategic documents does not allow defining core foreign policy goals and in this matter to evaluate their achievement. The ambiguous goals in lower level documents prevent critical evaluation because of political interests. Lithuanian foreign policy is the outcome of close cooperation between President's Office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs which limits criticism between institutions. The Seimas provides greater criticism only when initiative is showed by the opposition. Foreign policy remains the sphere of responsibility of the political elite which has broad consensus and has differences in their views on a tactical level. Media and experts, for the most part, avoid critical evaluations of foreign policy as they want to remain in the dominating discourse and keep close contacts with state institutions. The current evaluation environment and tools are not sufficient to make changes at the agenda-setting stage of foreign policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is devoted to the study of the problem of effective quality evaluation of the implementation of municipal target programs in the regions of the Russian Federation. The evaluation of target programs is a methodologically complex process that requires not only specific knowledge, but also well-formed tools (approaches for effectiveness assessment). The authors revealed that there is no all-purpose approach to assess the effectiveness of municipal target programs in municipalities of the Russian Federation. However, municipalities develop different criteria and scales to evaluate the effectiveness of different programs. It is determined that the assessment is mainly based on two indicators, namely, the social outcome and budget efficiency resulting from the assessment of achievement of the planned targets of indicators. The authors emphasize the importance to interconnect the indicators of target programs' implementation and strategic industrybased plans. The method of integral assessment of program effectiveness is developed to make it possible to evaluate the implementation of programs at each stage to compare the results with the planned ones and to record critical moments that affect the effectiveness of program implementation to use tools to eliminate or minimize the impact of the risk events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formation of the modern system of public administration in independent Kazakhstan since the early 1990s has been accompanied by the development and implementation of new institutions. One such institution is an institution of annual evaluation of state bodies performance as a mechanism to increase manageability and effectiveness of their activities. The article is produced on the basis of results of a section within the research work under the topic: «Institutionalization of the assessment system for government agencies' performance in the Republic of Kazakhstan: current status and development prospects» implemented within the framework of the grant project under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The article is devoted to the formation of the assessing system for government agencies' performance, the specifics of its implementation in Kazakhstan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses the effectiveness of support of the European Union Structural Funds (EU SF) in the programming period 2007-2013 as the financial instrument of public policy for the improvement of quality in higher education (HE) in Lithuania. Results of the expert evaluation revealed that EU SF investment was beneficial in respect of human capital, generation of ideas, fostering of created "products", and the quality culture of Lithuanian higher education institutions (HEIs); therefore, positive impact of use of EU SF support on HE quality can be expected. However, weaknesses related to efficiency, eligibility and sustainability of investment use have been also identified. Addressing these gaps highlights problems related to the main aim of the use of EU SF support in HEIs in Lithuania: the goal of effective quality improvement in higher education is accompanied by the goal to spend money. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reveals the qualitative study results which reflect a restructuring of the third phase of the evaluation of health care access, quality changes. Analyzed inpatient services, health care financing and health care institutions network optimization changes. In this paper, evidence is considered best practice for ensuring the success of the changes. To analyze the obtained results of the reform, use of 10 semi-structured interviews with a third restructuring program organizers, implementers and practitioners. The analysis of the research results showed that the main advantage of the third stage of restructuring is the expansion of ambulatory services. These interview participants who work in regional hospitals identified the most negative consequences of the restructuring: worsening of accessibility to health services, lack of financial support, fear of the future reconstructions. However, the process of closing stationery and obstetrics units is evaluated constructively even in the regional hospitals as increasing safety of the services is emphasized. These results demonstrate the potential for future transformational trends and issues that are still unresolved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Principles and techniques of management and administration are essential not only in the private sector, but in the public enterprises as well. However, nowadays such governmentowned companies often face the critics for lacking effectiveness and having low performance results. The paper presents the analysis of management and administration quality in Lithuania's Government-owned enterprises. The analysis is based upon the Lithuanian Government-owned Business Companies performance analysis, the reports and resolutions of the Government of the Lithuanian Republic, statistical data, the study reports of the Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance in the Baltic countries (Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance) and Lithuanian Public Institution "Organization Evaluation Agency". On the basis of this analysis, recommendations for improving management and administration of the Lithuanian Government-owned enterprises are provided and possibilities for applying management and administration audit are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the Lithuanian system of evaluation of the in-service performance of municipal servants, discusses key elements of activity management, also its positive and negative aspects. The authors analyse main characteristics of the Lithuanian municipal servants' work evaluation, its shortcomings and main linkages with key principles of activity management model. The results of the analysis show that in current Lithuanian situation the application of in-service activity evaluation model, which is most typical for the New Public Management, would be ineffective, since Lithuania uses a different activity management model. Possible ways to solve some problems, which arise in the process of evaluation, are provided in the last part of the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emphasizing that both the traditional Public Administration and the New Public Management (NPM) are influenced by the processes of public policy, which affect the content of the public management theories, the article states that every management theory applied in policy processes is covered by some rhetorical "noise" and outcomes of such "noise"- myths of the New Public Management -- are analysed. The author shows that these myths can be easily criticized and warns about the danger that application of these myths can damage the application of the NPM as the source of reforms in practical policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]