The Public Manager: The New Bureaucrat articles from March 1998

The Public Manager: The New Bureaucrat archives from March 1998

There is life beyond the beltway. (operations of federal agencies outside the Washington, DC, metropolitan area)
March 22, 1998... A new Public Manager department dedicated to the proposition that 70 percent of federal operations and almost all of the innovative state and local programs are beyond the beltway and we need to hear from them. This is my first attempt to edit...

From philosophy to practice: a case of acquisition management reform.(Mini-Forum: The Government Acquisition Process)
March 22, 1998... What began as philosophical pronouncements and easy exhortations is now finding a home in practical implementation. When President Clinton signed the Federal Acquisition and Streamlining Act (FASA) in mid-October 1994, reactions ran the gamut...

Buying research and development commercially.(Mini-Forum: The Government Acquisition Process)
March 22, 1998... The possibilities are endless with industry now driving the technology train and government trying to hitch a ride. The availability, of fewer budget dollars is forcing the government to seek new and innovative ways to capitalize on corporate...

Federal outsourcing: part 1.(Mini-Forum: The Government Acquisition Process)
March 22, 1998... This part one of a two-part discussion establishes a strategic context for federal outsourcing as a means for promoting success and avoiding failure. Leon de Looff reports in his 1997 book Information Systems Outsourcing: Decision Making:...

Bringing the goal posts toward the center. (the Office of Personnel Management's federal human resources management)
March 22, 1998... The Office of Personnel Management's federal human resources management initiatives for the new millennium synthesize the views of opposing philosophical camps maximum flexibility and centralization. For two decades, commencing at the same time...

Fostering a learning, innovative government: the role of academic/practitioner collaboration.
March 22, 1998... Recent reinventing government reform studies address the need for government organizations to become more hospitable to learning and creativity. As seen in the aspirational language found in recent "reinventing government" reform studies...

Reengineering: avoiding becoming lost in space. (reengineering of government organizations)
March 22, 1998... Author identifies several potential problem areas government managers may anticipate and hope to avoid as they reengineer key activities in their organizations. In the early 1990s, government managers, under pressure to produce major...

Work/life programs as management programs.
March 22, 1998... Yesterday's "family-friendly"programs, such as alternative work schedules and telecommuting, now called "work/life"programs, not only benefit management, but also help employees cope with massive changes. The term "family-friendly" has been...

Training: the critical success factor for the Results Act. (Government Performance and Results Act)
March 22, 1998... Successful implementation of GPRA will require continual training in three critical success factors. We show you related training opportunities, interagency interest groups, and graduate degree and certificate program. In 1993, Congress passed...

Strategic IT alignment and managing the use of very large databases. (information technology)
March 22, 1998... Recommended actions for both the CIO or IT manager and the customer or operational manager to improve the extent and quality of strategic alignment with the mission. Under the new legal framework of the Government Performance and Results Act...

Some "pragmatics" for information technology managers: a gen-Xer's view.
March 22, 1998... The human element is just as critical in the maintenance of technology as the technical element but is far easier to forget. The pace of technological change is speeding up. Product cycles have shortened in some cases to three months and...

Creating "Reinvention University." (National Partnership for Reinventing Government)
March 22, 1998... A new meaning for "NPR" requires a new approach to training senior executives. NPR believes government's role is to include incentives and franchising opportunities. One of the challenges involved in reinventing government is helping senior...

A time of progress, change, and stability. (views of interns from the Dept of Health and Human Services)
March 22, 1998... We are grappling with difficult programmatic, policy, and work culture issues and must be motivated to solve problems creatively and use our teamwork skills. Department Editor's Note With this issue the Young Professionals' Arena takes a...

Cost and Effect: Using Integrated Cost Systems to Drive Profitability.
March 22, 1998... Kaplan, Robert S. and Robin Cooper, (Harvard Business School Press: 1998). Management theories - fads to be less kind - abound. It seems that every day another fad arises with the promise of solving an organization's problems, be they...