Can Ministries of Foreign A"airs Work E#ciently a Perform Well? The Danish MFA can.

Abstract

This article has two main aims: 1) to introduce generally, theoretically, and
on the qualified basis, the issues of measurement, management and the
evaluation of efficiency and performance within public institutions, and
especially within Ministries of Foreign Affairs (MFA). The means are
definitions and explanations of key words and the short description of the
most suitable and the most often used approaches, methods and systems.
2) Nearly half of the article is dedicated to the case study of the Royal
Danish MFA. Approaches and projects, which have been used and also basic
priorities and (performance) objectives are explained here. In order to
stress and prove the success story of the Danish MFA, there is also shown a
quantitative benchmarking of fundamental parameters of selected
European and worldwide MFAs. i In the conclusion, preferred
recommendations, both generally valid and applicable in the MFA of the CR
are introduced. The most important conclusion of the article is that
performance and efficiency of MFAs are measurable, and that it is possible
to evaluate and to improve them systematically. The essential tools for that
are the performance contracts and reports, the competence development
of employees, the consistent utilization of the information and
communications technologies, the associated knowledge sharing, and the
outsourcing. There are also shortly described the most widely used
methods and management approaches in this field - Balanced Scorecard,
Management by Objectives, benchmarking, Productivity analysis, and
Knowledge Management.