Rapid changes in business environment require more and more effort to ensure competitiveness of organizations. Such background circumstances grant particular importance to management solutions in the practice of business organizations and the solutions become the decisive factors in the attempts to create competitive advantages. It must be noted that solutions relating to the use of support by the EU structural funds have been discussed insufficiently in research literature. The fact led to the existence of a research problem: what is the peculiarity of decision-making process in the context of the EU structural funds support projects. It determined the aim and tasks of the research presented in the article. Impact of the EU structural funds support projects on the process of decision-making should be evaluated based on the procedural approach to decision- making. The analysis of research literature in the areas of contents of the management decisionmaking process and accompanying issues suggested analyzing the eight-stage management decisionmaking process. Generalization of how approaches to the decision- making process affect the very structure of decision-making process enabled to single out and emphasize three possible structural options of the process: the decision-making process based on the rational first (rational, limited rationality and algorithmic approaches), the intuition-based decisionmaking process (intuitive and "litter-bin" approaches) and the transitional decision-making process (incremental, political and "muddle through" approaches). The mixed scanning approach can cause both the decision-making process based on the rational first and the transitional decision-making process.[.]
Rapid changes in business environment require more and more effort to ensure competitiveness of organizations. Such background circumstances grant particular importance to management solutions in the practice of business organizations and the solutions become the decisive factors in the attempts to create competitive advantages. It must be noted that solutions relating to the use of support by the EU structural funds have been discussed insufficiently in research literature. The fact led to the existence of a research problem: what is the peculiarity of decision-making process in the context of the EU structural funds support projects. It determined the aim and tasks of the research presented in the article. Impact of the EU structural funds support projects on the process of decision-making should be evaluated based on the procedural approach to decision- making. The analysis of research literature in the areas of contents of the management decisionmaking process and accompanying issues suggested analyzing the eight-stage management decisionmaking process. Generalization of how approaches to the decision- making process affect the very structure of decision-making process enabled to single out and emphasize three possible structural options of the process: the decision-making process based on the rational first (rational, limited rationality and algorithmic approaches), the intuition-based decisionmaking process (intuitive and "litter-bin" approaches) and the transitional decision-making process (incremental, political and "muddle through" approaches). The mixed scanning approach can cause both the decision-making process based on the rational first and the transitional decision-making process.[.]
The Master's work examines the usage of social networks to engage citizens in the decision-making process. The work consists of three parts. More efficient engagement of citizens can be achieved through social networks. The support of social networks can be determined by the intensity of political participation and the engagement of citizens on the Internet, while forming and maintaining the accumulated social capital. Social networks provide an opportunity to speed up and facilitate the connection between local self-government institutions and society. The social networks play an important role in public governance, especially in its communication processes, as they change the usual methods of communication and dissemination of information. It becomes easier and quicker to publish political content, to get feedback, to form an opinion. Social networks can be used in the decision-making process at different stages in order to involve citizens, as the target audience is easier accessible. A qualitative study strategy was chosen for the research, but it was used to fill it with both qualitative and quantitative approaches. It is intended to examine the use of social networks for the engagement of citizens in the decision-making process in the case of the Šiauliai City Municipality. The method of analysis of scientific literature helped to provide a theoretical justification for the study. The method of the documents' content analysis revealed the engagement of social networks in the decision-making process in the municipality of Šiauliai City. The partly structured interview method explains who and how municipal representatives use social networks and how they appreciate the engagement of citizens through them. The content analysis of Facebook posts identifies the use and use of social networks' accounts and their content in the case of the Šiauliai City Municipality itself and its representatives. The results of the survey have shown that the municipality is actively using the new technologies to publicise information. The main tools to publicise the activities are the municipality's website, Youtube channel and Facebook account. However, too little attention is given for the municipality's Facebook account data, functions and their exploitation – this is shown by the very limited data in the municipal activity reports. It can be argued that social networks still play a purely informative role. To sum up the results of the survey of the opinion of the municipal representatives, it is noted that social networks are too little used for the targeted engagement of citizens in the decision-making process. Members of the Council actively use personal social networks to receive citizens' views and feedback, but they do not notice a direct engagement in decision-making on the current content of the municipality's Facebook (citizens are attempted to include only by the presentation of the information and believing that citizens will participate actively). The content analysis of the Facebook account records revealed that appointments are used to publicise information and identity. Thus, the results of the study obtained by various methods confirmed that the engagement of citizens in the decision-making process in municipalities is fueled by social networks, i.e., the reason for the engagement is only implied, it is the expected result of the publication of information.
The Master's work examines the usage of social networks to engage citizens in the decision-making process. The work consists of three parts. More efficient engagement of citizens can be achieved through social networks. The support of social networks can be determined by the intensity of political participation and the engagement of citizens on the Internet, while forming and maintaining the accumulated social capital. Social networks provide an opportunity to speed up and facilitate the connection between local self-government institutions and society. The social networks play an important role in public governance, especially in its communication processes, as they change the usual methods of communication and dissemination of information. It becomes easier and quicker to publish political content, to get feedback, to form an opinion. Social networks can be used in the decision-making process at different stages in order to involve citizens, as the target audience is easier accessible. A qualitative study strategy was chosen for the research, but it was used to fill it with both qualitative and quantitative approaches. It is intended to examine the use of social networks for the engagement of citizens in the decision-making process in the case of the Šiauliai City Municipality. The method of analysis of scientific literature helped to provide a theoretical justification for the study. The method of the documents' content analysis revealed the engagement of social networks in the decision-making process in the municipality of Šiauliai City. The partly structured interview method explains who and how municipal representatives use social networks and how they appreciate the engagement of citizens through them. The content analysis of Facebook posts identifies the use and use of social networks' accounts and their content in the case of the Šiauliai City Municipality itself and its representatives. The results of the survey have shown that the municipality is actively using the new technologies to publicise information. The main tools to publicise the activities are the municipality's website, Youtube channel and Facebook account. However, too little attention is given for the municipality's Facebook account data, functions and their exploitation – this is shown by the very limited data in the municipal activity reports. It can be argued that social networks still play a purely informative role. To sum up the results of the survey of the opinion of the municipal representatives, it is noted that social networks are too little used for the targeted engagement of citizens in the decision-making process. Members of the Council actively use personal social networks to receive citizens' views and feedback, but they do not notice a direct engagement in decision-making on the current content of the municipality's Facebook (citizens are attempted to include only by the presentation of the information and believing that citizens will participate actively). The content analysis of the Facebook account records revealed that appointments are used to publicise information and identity. Thus, the results of the study obtained by various methods confirmed that the engagement of citizens in the decision-making process in municipalities is fueled by social networks, i.e., the reason for the engagement is only implied, it is the expected result of the publication of information.
The Master's work examines the usage of social networks to engage citizens in the decision-making process. The work consists of three parts. More efficient engagement of citizens can be achieved through social networks. The support of social networks can be determined by the intensity of political participation and the engagement of citizens on the Internet, while forming and maintaining the accumulated social capital. Social networks provide an opportunity to speed up and facilitate the connection between local self-government institutions and society. The social networks play an important role in public governance, especially in its communication processes, as they change the usual methods of communication and dissemination of information. It becomes easier and quicker to publish political content, to get feedback, to form an opinion. Social networks can be used in the decision-making process at different stages in order to involve citizens, as the target audience is easier accessible. A qualitative study strategy was chosen for the research, but it was used to fill it with both qualitative and quantitative approaches. It is intended to examine the use of social networks for the engagement of citizens in the decision-making process in the case of the Šiauliai City Municipality. The method of analysis of scientific literature helped to provide a theoretical justification for the study. The method of the documents' content analysis revealed the engagement of social networks in the decision-making process in the municipality of Šiauliai City. The partly structured interview method explains who and how municipal representatives use social networks and how they appreciate the engagement of citizens through them. The content analysis of Facebook posts identifies the use and use of social networks' accounts and their content in the case of the Šiauliai City Municipality itself and its representatives. The results of the survey have shown that the municipality is actively using the new technologies to publicise information. The main tools to publicise the activities are the municipality's website, Youtube channel and Facebook account. However, too little attention is given for the municipality's Facebook account data, functions and their exploitation – this is shown by the very limited data in the municipal activity reports. It can be argued that social networks still play a purely informative role. To sum up the results of the survey of the opinion of the municipal representatives, it is noted that social networks are too little used for the targeted engagement of citizens in the decision-making process. Members of the Council actively use personal social networks to receive citizens' views and feedback, but they do not notice a direct engagement in decision-making on the current content of the municipality's Facebook (citizens are attempted to include only by the presentation of the information and believing that citizens will participate actively). The content analysis of the Facebook account records revealed that appointments are used to publicise information and identity. Thus, the results of the study obtained by various methods confirmed that the engagement of citizens in the decision-making process in municipalities is fueled by social networks, i.e., the reason for the engagement is only implied, it is the expected result of the publication of information.
The Master's work examines the usage of social networks to engage citizens in the decision-making process. The work consists of three parts. More efficient engagement of citizens can be achieved through social networks. The support of social networks can be determined by the intensity of political participation and the engagement of citizens on the Internet, while forming and maintaining the accumulated social capital. Social networks provide an opportunity to speed up and facilitate the connection between local self-government institutions and society. The social networks play an important role in public governance, especially in its communication processes, as they change the usual methods of communication and dissemination of information. It becomes easier and quicker to publish political content, to get feedback, to form an opinion. Social networks can be used in the decision-making process at different stages in order to involve citizens, as the target audience is easier accessible. A qualitative study strategy was chosen for the research, but it was used to fill it with both qualitative and quantitative approaches. It is intended to examine the use of social networks for the engagement of citizens in the decision-making process in the case of the Šiauliai City Municipality. The method of analysis of scientific literature helped to provide a theoretical justification for the study. The method of the documents' content analysis revealed the engagement of social networks in the decision-making process in the municipality of Šiauliai City. The partly structured interview method explains who and how municipal representatives use social networks and how they appreciate the engagement of citizens through them. The content analysis of Facebook posts identifies the use and use of social networks' accounts and their content in the case of the Šiauliai City Municipality itself and its representatives. The results of the survey have shown that the municipality is actively using the new technologies to publicise information. The main tools to publicise the activities are the municipality's website, Youtube channel and Facebook account. However, too little attention is given for the municipality's Facebook account data, functions and their exploitation – this is shown by the very limited data in the municipal activity reports. It can be argued that social networks still play a purely informative role. To sum up the results of the survey of the opinion of the municipal representatives, it is noted that social networks are too little used for the targeted engagement of citizens in the decision-making process. Members of the Council actively use personal social networks to receive citizens' views and feedback, but they do not notice a direct engagement in decision-making on the current content of the municipality's Facebook (citizens are attempted to include only by the presentation of the information and believing that citizens will participate actively). The content analysis of the Facebook account records revealed that appointments are used to publicise information and identity. Thus, the results of the study obtained by various methods confirmed that the engagement of citizens in the decision-making process in municipalities is fueled by social networks, i.e., the reason for the engagement is only implied, it is the expected result of the publication of information.
Master's thesis reveals the participatory budget concept and development stages, analyze the financial aspect of the participatory budget features. Estimated situation of Citizen participation in the budget process, participatory budget and development opportunities for Lithuanian municipalities. The first section examines democracy and political participation theory. Analyze the participatory budget concept, advantages and disadvantages. Study the method of participatory budget, how has it emerged and its development. The second chapter analyzes the participatory budget process related costs, revenues and expenses, the economic benefits of the method. The third section presents the research assumptions and expert survey data analysis.
Master's thesis reveals the participatory budget concept and development stages, analyze the financial aspect of the participatory budget features. Estimated situation of Citizen participation in the budget process, participatory budget and development opportunities for Lithuanian municipalities. The first section examines democracy and political participation theory. Analyze the participatory budget concept, advantages and disadvantages. Study the method of participatory budget, how has it emerged and its development. The second chapter analyzes the participatory budget process related costs, revenues and expenses, the economic benefits of the method. The third section presents the research assumptions and expert survey data analysis.
Surveys implemented in the municipalities of the biggest Lithuanian cities in 2013-2014 have indicated the main reasons for the insufficient inclusion of the deaf into the decision-making in municipalities in the Republic of Lithuania. The singless for the improvement of the situation in municipalities has been modelled on the base of the mentioned results by activating all budgetary and public organisations operating under the Board of Municipality as well as Administration.
Surveys implemented in the municipalities of the biggest Lithuanian cities in 2013-2014 have indicated the main reasons for the insufficient inclusion of the deaf into the decision-making in municipalities in the Republic of Lithuania. The singless for the improvement of the situation in municipalities has been modelled on the base of the mentioned results by activating all budgetary and public organisations operating under the Board of Municipality as well as Administration.
Thesis "The Participation of the Lithuanian Non-Governmental Organisations in the Decision Making Processes of Public Administration Institutions" analyzes the collaboration between non governmental organizations and public administration institutions. Government and third sector relationship is analyzed comparing empirical data which is collected form primary and secondary resources, fulfilled quantitative and qualitative research, theories of a method of institutional analysis and network models. The main aim of this thesis – to analyze theoretical and practical non-governmental organizations' possibilities to represent citizens' interests and collaborate with central governments' and local municipalities' institutions. This thesis analyzes the idea of institutional analysis theories and the part of institutions in the area of public policy, explaining relationships between individuals' and institutions' while analyzing how the rules of such relationships are defined and applied. In the first part of this thesis the formal groups' – non-governmental organizations' possibilities to participate in the decision making processes and public policy forming is analyzed. Thesis investigates the possibilities of "from bottom" rising initiatives to apply in public administration system of Lithuania, the principles of non-governmental organizations' establishment and their significance, as well as analyses the definitions of the non-governmental organization. The second part of this thesis analyses the inclusion of interest groups' into public policy formation while evaluating the possibilities of social learning concepts to adapt to Lithuania. Fulfilled quantitative and qualitative researches answer the question how central government institutions consult with NGO and how their include NGO into decision making processes. Explores NGOs' representation principles and public administration institutions' choices with whom to collaborate while making decisions. In the third part the situation of the local government institutions' and NGOs' collaboration is analyzed. In this part the comprehensive review of Lithuania's municipalities and NGO collaboration analysis is presented. It presents the good practice examples as well, which show that formalized and institutionalized relationships between NGOs and local government institutions create bigger possibilities for democratic decision making and NGO representation system.
Thesis "The Participation of the Lithuanian Non-Governmental Organisations in the Decision Making Processes of Public Administration Institutions" analyzes the collaboration between non governmental organizations and public administration institutions. Government and third sector relationship is analyzed comparing empirical data which is collected form primary and secondary resources, fulfilled quantitative and qualitative research, theories of a method of institutional analysis and network models. The main aim of this thesis – to analyze theoretical and practical non-governmental organizations' possibilities to represent citizens' interests and collaborate with central governments' and local municipalities' institutions. This thesis analyzes the idea of institutional analysis theories and the part of institutions in the area of public policy, explaining relationships between individuals' and institutions' while analyzing how the rules of such relationships are defined and applied. In the first part of this thesis the formal groups' – non-governmental organizations' possibilities to participate in the decision making processes and public policy forming is analyzed. Thesis investigates the possibilities of "from bottom" rising initiatives to apply in public administration system of Lithuania, the principles of non-governmental organizations' establishment and their significance, as well as analyses the definitions of the non-governmental organization. The second part of this thesis analyses the inclusion of interest groups' into public policy formation while evaluating the possibilities of social learning concepts to adapt to Lithuania. Fulfilled quantitative and qualitative researches answer the question how central government institutions consult with NGO and how their include NGO into decision making processes. Explores NGOs' representation principles and public administration institutions' choices with whom to collaborate while making decisions. In the third part the situation of the local government institutions' and NGOs' collaboration is analyzed. In this part the comprehensive review of Lithuania's municipalities and NGO collaboration analysis is presented. It presents the good practice examples as well, which show that formalized and institutionalized relationships between NGOs and local government institutions create bigger possibilities for democratic decision making and NGO representation system.
Šio darbo objektas – Kauno rajono bendruomenių organizacijų įtraukimas į sprendimų priėmimą, o tikslas - išstudijuoti Kauno rajono savivaldybės gyventojų įtraukimo į viešųjų sprendimų priėmimo veiksmingumą, atsižvelgiant į bendruomeninių organizacijų skirtingus interesus ir kylančias jų sankirtas. Tyrimo metu buvo iškelti šie uždaviniai: išnagrinėti tinklaveikos teorines prieigas ir jų taikymą; nustatyti Kauno rajono savivaldybės bendruomeninių organizacijų tinklų formavimąsi lemiančius veiksnius, tinklų struktūros kaitą ir jų dinamiškumą; nustatyti Kauno rajono savivaldybės bendruomeninių organizacijų poveikį viešosioms paslaugoms ir jų plėtrai; ištirti Kauno rajono savivaldybės bendruomeninių organizacijų, seniūnijų ir savivaldybės sąveikavimą viešųjų paslaugų teikime ir gerinime; nustatyti tinklaveikos spragas tarp kelių pagrindinių veikėjų, - savivaldybės pagrindinių institucijų, seniūnijų, seniūnaičių bei bendruomeninių organizacijų. Tyrime dalyvavo 4 Kauno rajono bendruomeninių organizacijų pirmininkai, 4 seniūnijų seniūnai, Kauno rajono bendruomeninių organizacijų sąjungos pirmininkė, Kauno rajono meras. Tyrimo rezultatų analizė atskleidė, jog Kauno rajono bendruomeninės organizacijos ilgą laikotarpį buvo nepakankamai aktyvios, kadangi nebuvo susikūrusi kritinė iniciatyvių narių masė, todėl ilgą laikotarpį jos neturėjo reikšmingo poveikio Kauno rajono savivaldybės viešosios politikos procesams. Pagrindinis veiksnys, lėmęs Kauno rajono bendruomeninių organizacijų evoliuciją – tinklų dinamiškumo procesai, pakitusi tinklo narių struktūra ir jose pasikeitę pirmininkai. Tirtose bendruomeninėse organizacijose pasikeitus tinklinei struktūrai, joms pradėjus vadovauti naujiems pirmininkams pastebėtas aktyvus naujų tinklo narių įsitraukimas į bendruomenines organizacijas, o tai lėmė šių organizacijų evoliucionavimą į aktyviai veikiančius tinklus. Per pastaruosius dešimtmečius tinklų kaita Kauno rajone lėmė, jog bendruomeninės organizacijos šiuo laikotarpiu yra aktyvios vietos viešosios politikos procesų iniciatorės, įgyvendintojos, viešųjų gėrybių kūrėjos. ; The object of this work - the involvement of Kaunas district community organizations in the decision-making, and the aim of this work - to study the involvement of Kaunas district municipality residents in the efficiency of public decision-making, taking into account the different interests of community organizations and their emerging intersections. During the research the following tasks was set: to investigate the theoretical approaches of networking and their application; to identify the factors determining the formation of networks of community organizations of Kaunas district municipality, the change of network structure and their dynamism; to determine the impact of Kaunas district municipality community organizations on public services and their development; to study the interaction of Kaunas district municipality community organizations, elderships and the municipality in the provision and improvement of public services; to identify gaps in networking between several key figures - the main institutions of the municipality, elderships, elders and community organizations. In the research participated 4 chairmen of Kaunas district community organizations, 4 heads of elderships, chairwoman of Kaunas district community organizations union, Mayor of Kaunas district. The analysis of the research results revealed that Kaunas district community organizations were insufficiently active for a long time, as a critical mass of proactive members was not formed, therefore they did not have a significant impact on Kaunas district municipality public policy processes for a long time. The main factor that determined the evolution of Kaunas district community organizations is the processes of network dynamics, the changed structure of network members and the changed chairpersons. After the change of the network structure in the studied community organizations, the active involvement of new members of the network in community-based organizations has been observed since the new presidents took office, which led to the evolution of these organizations into active networks. During the last decades, the change of networks in Kaunas district has determined that community organizations in this period are active initiators, implementers and creators of local public policy processes. ; Politikos mokslų ir diplomatijos fakultetas ; Viešojo administravimo katedra
The paper is focused on the discussion about the role of non-governmental organizations during the decision-making process in local governance and what factors influence it. To achieve this, the following steps have been made: first, the concept of non-governmental organizations and their relationship with civil society was analyzed, then possible variations of relationship between non-governmental organizations and their impact to the public sector was described. In the last part of the paper, the stages of the decision–making and implementation process in the municipality were analyzed and theoretical aspects of enabling NGOs were discussed. The analyses showed that the decision-making and implementation processes depend on the understanding of the need to cooperate, the ability of both subjects to work together, their relationship with citizens and other interest groups. ; Straipsnyje analizuojama, kokie veiksniai daro poveikį nevyriausybinių organizacijų galimybėms dalyvauti sprendimų priėmimo ir įgyvendinimo procese savivaldybės lygmeniu Lietuvoje. Pirmoje darbo dalyje siekiama išanalizuoti pilietinės visuomenės ir nevyriausybinių organizacijų tarpusavio santykį bei jų galimus vaidmenis ir poveikį viešajam sektoriui. Antrojoje darbo dalyje struktūrizuojamas sprendimų priėmimo ir įgyvendinimo procesas bei išskiriami nevyriausybinių organizacijų dalyvavimo sprendimų priėmimo ir įgyvendinimo savivaldybėse proceso komponentai, kuriais remiantis siekiama numatyti nevyriausybinių organizacijų dalyvavimo savivaldybių sprendimų priėmimo ir įgyvendinimo procese galimybes bei jiems poveikį darančius veiksnius.
The objective of this study is to analyze the theoretical and practical possibilities of citizen participation in public administration. The paper focuses on citizen involvement in the decision making processes at the level of local governance. Involving people in decision making and promoting public dialogue between local government improves local government transparency and accountability thus creating conditions for effective governance. When citizens see their perceptible contribution to the decision making and as a result both the community as well as personally benefiting they will be interested to and will continue to actively participate in public administration. Willingness to change something in a community is a major factor involving people to participate in public administration and should be encouraged. The paper consists of three main parts. The first part is an introduction to the citizen participation in public administration emphasising the importance of participation. Further analysis of the forms of the civic participation and the legal framework. The second part accesses some of the theoretical approaches to citizen participation in public administration. The third describes a qualitative research using the interview data analysis. During which the results of citizen involvement in public administration processes at Kaunas district municipality are recieved. Citizen participation in public administration in local government is encouraged in Lithuania, and one of the priority issues. Although the law basis encourages citizen participation in public administration, there are identified ways and forms of paticipation, but there are also two main factors that hinder their implementation. The passive attitude of the population to the issues of participating in public administration. The latter one is influenced by inefficient information dispersion.
