The Public Manager: The New Bureaucrat articles from September 1998

The Public Manager: The New Bureaucrat archives from September 1998

Preparing executives for the new millennium.(government executives)
September 22, 1998... It is the time to look forward to make sure that our senior executives have the leadership skills needed to meet the challenges of the future. During Public Service Recognition Week in May, Vice President Gore addressed members of the...

NAPA panel comments on OPM proposals for SES.(National Academy of Public Administration; Office of Personnel Management; Senior Executive Service)
September 22, 1998... The National Academy of Public Administration's Public Service Panel reviewed the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposal to modify the Senior Executive Service (SES) and provided Director Lachance their observations and recommendations....

Moving toward successful implementation of the Results Act.(Government Performance and Results Act)
September 22, 1998... This article suggests that the Results Act will succeed when it is no longer considered a requirement but a normal way of doing business. August 1998 marked the fifth anniversary of the enactment of the Government Performance and Results...

Governing by results: a dream beginning to take shape.(Government Performance Results Act)
September 22, 1998... The Results Act can answer: "Is the government producing results, as judged by honest, objective performance measures?" Every day we make decisions on how to shape federal programs and apply limited federal resources in ways that make the...

Paper - rock - scissors - and results.(implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act)
September 22, 1998... The author compares GPRA to an old game and asks federal managers to consider what role they have taken in this game. Everyone knows the schoolyard game of paper - rock - and scissors. Count to three and make your hand into paper, rock, or...

Improving the usefulness of agencies' annual performance plans.
September 22, 1998... Reviews of the first annual performance plans provided valuable guidance for improving future plans. The Fiscal Year 1999 annual performance plans represent the first attempt across all executive agencies to carry out the annual...

Learning to make GPRA work.(Government Performance and Results Act)
September 22, 1998... Moving GPRA from theory to practice requires a learning process that permeates the organization. As we enter the second year of GPRA implementation, a few observations are in order. The pace for those involved in GPRA planning has been...

Turning the corner on GPRA implementation.(Government Performance and Results Act)
September 22, 1998... GPRA data can move all levels toward the true intent of GPRA - better delivery of services at a lower cost to taxpayers. Although federal government agencies have been working on the implementation of the Government Performance and Results...

Getting results Americans care about.(Government Performance and Results Act)
September 22, 1998... GPRA is a tool that will help federal managers achieve results that matter to the American people. "I see a growing wave of change. What's the point of all this change? To serve our customers." Even as he was getting ready to retire,...

Making GPRA work for your agency.(Government Performance and Results Act)
September 22, 1998... A senior government official offers practical tips for integrating GPRA into the day-to-day operations of a federal agency. In 1993, President Clinton signed into law the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). GPRA is not just the...

Reporting and verifying performance measures.(Government Performance and Results Act)
September 22, 1998... Valid and accurate performance measures are essential to successful implementation of the Results Act. The implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act (Results Act) has progressed through the strategic planning and annual...

Moving from GPRA outputs to GPRA outcomes.(Government Performance and Results Act)
September 22, 1998... Agency managers are finding that outcomes are far more difficult to define and measure than the traditional outputs. The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) is truly at a crossroads. The statute, which has been widely seen as the...

It will take more than strategic plans to create 21st century government organizations.(Government Performance and Results Act)
September 22, 1998... In addition to strategic and performance plans, successful implementation of GPRA will require changes in management systems. The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) is an attempt to use strategic and performance plans to provide...

Assessing the quality and usefulness of performance measurement systems.
September 22, 1998... Performance measurement can be a valuable tool only if the information is accurate, complete, and meaningful. As federal agencies have begun to develop performance plans and reports, policymakers, managers, auditors, and evaluators have...

Don't panic - at least not yet.(Government Performance and Results Act implementation)
September 22, 1998... It is clear that some people feel the Government Performance and Results Act has complicated their lives by adding new tasks. But maybe the situation is not so bad. Some Reasons for Concern True, the Results Act has imposed...

Approaching Y2K federal labor-management relations.
September 22, 1998... Understanding the federal sector labor-management relationship today is not easy. The federal sector is a perplexing mix of power and politics when it comes to organized labor. Understanding the federal sector labor-management relationship...

A new era of labor-management relations in the federal government?
September 22, 1998... This article examines some of the events over the past few years that have led to more cordial and productive dialogues between labor and management. We all have heard the familiar adage that bad habits are hard to break. It readily...

How federal managers and union representatives view partnerships.(National Partnership Council survey)
September 22, 1998... A National Partnership Council-sponsored survey found that a sizable percentage of both management and union representatives believe that various performance measures have been improved by partnerships. President Clinton established the...

New options, new talent.(National Academy of Public Administration panel study)(part 1)
September 22, 1998... There are growing pressures on organizations as they seek to find new ways to get the skills they need and to balance surges and contractions in their work. Public and private organizations alike are finding innovative ways to obtain...

Tying value to cost in an outsourcing relationship.
September 22, 1998... Using a performance measurement balanced scorecard to determine whether an outsourcing facility was providing the necessary value. There are no easy ways to measure the contribution of information technology (IT) to the operations of...

Mobility: a personal perspective.(a retired government executive's views on mobility)
September 22, 1998... Department Editor's Note Recent discussions on changing the Senior Executive Service (SES) have emphasized the lack of mobility in the current system and how the system might be changed to increase mobility. There is no question that many...

The feminization of power meets the separation of powers.
September 22, 1998... The three branches of government each display distinctive patterns in women's advance to positions of power. Herewith the supply side. When Colonel Kelly Flynn, the first woman to become a B-52 pilot, was being drummed out of the Air Force...

Circular A-76: privatization or public-private competition?
September 22, 1998... The 1980s, it is said, was the decade of privatization; the 1990s is the decade of public-private competition. This new service delivery thinking of public-private is reflected in Vice President Al Gore's National Performance Review: ...

The Washington Monument Syndrome: Monica in Wonderland.
September 22, 1998... The Characters Alice - Monica Lewinsky Cheshire Cat - Bill Queen of Hearts - Hillary White Rabbit - Ken Starr Mad Hatter - Dan Burton Knave of Hearts - Rush Limbaugh The Mouse - Linda Tripp The Caterpillar - CBS Correspondent Rita Braver...

The balanced scorecard - moving above the bottom line.(balanced scorecard approach to measuring performance)
September 22, 1998... One supposedly immutable difference between public and private sector management is the lack of a bottom line for government. Well, a closer look will reveal that the private sector is not quite so enamored of its inherent advantage of having a...

The state of performance measurement in the capital budget development process.
September 22, 1998... Policymakers who want to make informed decisions on capital issues (i.e., expenditures, financing, bonds, etc.) often cannot find the information necessary to make accurate or relevant decisions. Despite the fact that capital programs...

New Strategies for Public Pay: Rethinking Government Compensation Programs.(Review)
September 22, 1998... Risher, Howard, Charles H. Fay, and Associates, (Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1997) If this book had been published as little as 10 years ago, its title would have implied that some of the venerable chestnuts of public sector...

Websites: Government Performance and Results Act.
September 22, 1998... With the passage of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) performance (among other things) became more than just a fad, it became law. Since it required federal agencies to implement performance measures, strategic planning,...