The Public Manager articles from December 2001

The Public Manager archives from December 2001

Public management in the new South Africa. (The Manager's Musings).
December 22, 2001... The Winter issue's musings were inspired by a conference in South Africa this past autumn. Preparing my keynote--"Leading and Managing Public Sector Change: Challenges and Choices for the New South Africa"--I was a little apprehensive. I knew a...

Mini-forum: The HRM of IT. (The Manager's Musings).
December 22, 2001... The Winter issue includes a timely mini-forum on federal government plans to become more competitive in recruiting, retaining, and developing IT professionals. Fred Thompson, the US Treasury Department's assistant director for consulting and...

More HR and IT. (The Manager's Musings).
December 22, 2001... Another timely perspective complementing the mini-forum is provided by Kay Coles James, director of the Office of Personnel Management, who shares her views on improving government's ability to attract and retain top talent across the board. On...

New starts. (The Manager's Musings).
December 22, 2001... The Winter issue also kicks off two new features. One is a series on state and municipal government introduced and edited quarterly by Tom Catlaw, a research assistant at The George Washington University (GWU) Center for Excellence in Municipal...

Collaborative government. (The Manager's Musings).
December 22, 2001... Moving into the field, Hutch Brown and Russ Linden share a case study on how the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management are working together to improve customer service. Also,...

The last word. (The Manager's Musings).
December 22, 2001... Finally, Grimaldi looks for humor in the unlikeliest of places. And Al Hyde has the last word with Views that look behind one's "freedom to manage."

Making the federal government an employer of choice for IT employees. (Mini-Forum: Ensuring the IT Workforce of the Future).
December 22, 2001... How the federal chief information officers (CIO) council plans to attract and retain the very best professionals to develop and manage a wide variety of IT systems. Introduction to the mini-forum. The articles that follow provide industry,...

Finding a better way to attract and retain skilled IT workers: How the federal government is considering transforming itself into an employer of choice for IT professionals. (Mini-Forum: Ensuring the IT Workforce of the Future).(Transforming Power of Information Technology: Making the Federal Government an Employer of Choice for IT Employees)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2001... Fighting cyber-terrorism, communicating with citizens through e-government, protecting our computer and telecommunications infrastructure, and creating a citizen-centered, performance-based government are demands calling for a skilled...

The transforming power of information technology. (Mini-Forum: Ensuring the IT Workforce of the Future).(Transforming Power of Information Technology: Making the Federal Government an Employer of Choice for IT Employees )
December 22, 2001... A new study provides a blueprint for how the federal government could transition to a market-based human resources management system for its IT professionals. Information technology (IT) has radically changed the landscape of how we...

They all have to be in the boat: Managing large-scale change. (Mini-Forum: Ensuring the IT Workforce of the Future).
December 22, 2001... How the National Academy of Public Administration completed a federal governmentwide study to attract and retain IT professionals more effectively. The opportunity for the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) to conduct a study...

A private sector view: How IBM has sought to stay competitive as most of the business world has become e-business. (Mini-Forum: Ensuring the IT Workforce of the Future).(International Business Machines Corp.)(information technology)
December 22, 2001... Last September, the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) released its study on how the federal government might revamp its compensation policies to help it attract and retain high quality technology workers. That this study was...

The HR paradigm shift and the federal human capital opportunity. (Human Resources Management).(human resources)
December 22, 2001... The director of the office of personnel management (OPM) shares her views on solutions for improving the federal government's ability to attract and retain top talent. Prior to the tragedy of September 11, those in government were...

Leading from the middle: The power and influence of middle leaders. (State and Municipal Management).
December 22, 2001... How the district of Columbia is working with middle management to effect change at the top and bottom of municipal agencies and offices; launching a new series. Widespread experience and recent research suggest that organizations engaging...

New directions for federal executive boards and associations: What public mangers are doing in close to 100 communities across the country to advance federal, state, and local initiatives through intergovernmental partnering. (Beyond the Beltway).
December 22, 2001... About 90 percent of federal employees work outside of Washington DC, i.e., "beyond the beltway." And, the personal interaction of most Americans with their government is with this vast majority. It is very clear now that the September 11th...

Aligning traditional collective bargaining with nontraditional labor relations. (Labor-Management Relations).
December 22, 2001... When, where, and why to choose consensual methods of dispute resolution and traditional collective bargaining approaches-provided you have the choice. Collaboration and consensual methods of employment dispute resolution have emerged in...

Federal distributed work case study: IRS flexiplace and hoteling pilot. (The Evolving Workplace).
December 22, 2001... A recent IRS case study shows how federal managers can implement new requirements to enable 100 percent of eligible agency employees to telecommute by 2004. Part 2 of teleworking in the public sector. The Winter 2000 edition of the Internal...

"Smart" government online, not inline. (Managing Information/Technology).
December 22, 2001... How will the digital divide affect less-advantaged areas and what are the implications on democracy, equity, gender, and freedom in terms of e-haves and e-have nots? Opportunities, challenges, and concerns. Silicon Valley provides an...

NARFE in its 80th year: NARFE's more than 400,000 federal workers, retirees, spouses, and survivors unite to preserve the economic security and well being of federal employees on the job and in retirement. (Article).(National Association of Retired Federal Employees)
December 22, 2001... Heavy snow clouds were hanging over Washington that Saturday afternoon in February 1921. People talked, as usual, about the Washington weather and the forecast of a snowstorm. And now, while a chilly wind was blowing around the corners, they...

Shared neutrals mediation brings harmony and saves resources: In an environment of shrinking budgets, hiring freezes, and manpower reductions, many Federal Executive Boards (FEB) are turning to a novel dispute resolution resource. (Article).
December 22, 2001... Many federal agencies are widely pursuing workforce-planning initiatives in the hope of finding an effective, near-term solution to the possible loss of expertise and corporate knowledge. This difficult situation has been years in the making,...

Daring to be citizen centered: the forest service and Bureau of Land Management are working together to better serve their common customers--a breakthrough in collaborative governance. (Article).
December 22, 2001... It is May in southwestern Colorado and you want to go hiking. You find a local Forest Service office in the town of Durango, at the foot of the snow-capped San Juan Mountains. The national forest roads, you learn, are still closed by snow. "But...

Agreements and accountability: Building the language for accomplishment. (Coach's Corner).(Brief Article)
December 22, 2001... For those of you who read my column in www.gov exec.com, and for the many Public Manager readers for whom my writing is new, Coach's Corner is an interactive coaching feature where I, a master certified coach, provide information and guidance...

Is there humor in Afghanistan? (The Uncivil Servant).(Brief Article)
December 22, 2001... There is a burning question for our readers. Here is the ultimate test for Grimaldi-to squeeze some morsel of frivolity out of the worst and most recent invasion this country has seen since the War of 1812. (And wasn't the burning of the White...

The freedom to manage initiative. (New Ideas for Management).
December 22, 2001... A series of reviews, notes, comments, ideas, and references for public sector professionals trying to keep pace with the accelerating rate of change in the information-technological-management environment. (Views you can Use) "Freedom's...

Knowledge management: Are we getting somewhere?
December 22, 2001... Review of the IBM Systems Journal on Knowledge Management. Volume 40, No. 4, 2001. As frequent readers of Views will know, we've been periodically A examining this new and fast rising field of knowledge management (KM). By reviewing...

Don't rely on fixed theory.
December 22, 2001... Clausewitz on Strategy: Inspiration and Insight from a Master Strategist. The Strategy Institute of the Boston Consulting Group, 2001. This book, in my view, is a "must read" for any public manager or administrator who has any interest in...

The essence of different valuation methodologies.
December 22, 2001... Measuring ROI in E-Government: A Primer. Anexsys: 2001. Primer: "A usually small book covering the fundamentals of a topic." From time to time we see examples of useful guidebooks and sourcebooks that cover important subjects for...