Assessment of Transparency and Openness of a Public Utility Company (Institution, Organization) as a Guarantee of Effective Use of Local Finance and Territorial Development

Abstract

Features and modern operating conditions of utility companies (institutions, organizations), in particular, the processes of democratization, decentralization, openness of society,necessitate improving the system of indicators that define requirements for the criteria used to evaluate their performance. Given the goals, objectives and current functions, the evaluation of performance of a utility company(institution, organization) should be carried out both according to economic and social criteria, which is explained by the fact that activities of a utility company(institution, organization) are aimed at solving social problems of the corresponding territorial community.This means that its performance efficiency is not always determined by profitability.It is possible to assess effectiveness of utility companies’ using local finance, which are the main income item in their budget, and the level of influence of a utility company(institution, organization) on the development of a territorial community only if the enterprise is transparent and open. It is proposed to single out the criterion “Public awareness of activities of a utility company (institution, organization)” in the system of criteria for assessing social performance of a utility company(institution, organization). Accordingly, in the system of indicators for evaluating social performance, it is appropriate to determine the level of transparency and openness ofa utility company(institution, organization). An algorithm for assessing the level of transparency of a utility company(institution, organization) as one of the stages of evaluating performance efficiency of utility companies (organizations, institutions) is given.

Keywords

• utility company (institution
• organization)
• effectiveness
• social performance
• transparency and openness