The Public Manager articles from December 2008

The Public Manager archives from December 2008

The manager's musings.
December 22, 2008... Streams of Change In his book, The Third Wave, published almost three decades ago, Alvin Toffler suggests we simplify and synthesize our view of how we relate to the future by looking for "those streams of change that... run together to...

Introduction: four articles offer different perspectives on one of the most important issues of our time: climate change mitigation.(mitigation of global warming)
December 22, 2008... Overwhelming evidence demonstrates that our climate is changing, and the change is the result of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This change is our problem, our children's problem, and their children's problem--on down through the generations...

A Federal Leader's Guide to Climate Change: in January 2009, a new book will inform President Barack Obama's team on the risks, responsibilities, and solutions associated with this global challenge.(Forum: Climate Change Mitigation)(LMI)
December 22, 2008... This article describes LMI's creation of a new guide for federal leaders as they assume office in the Obama administration in January 2009. We have created A Federal Leader's Guide to Climate Change to inform those joining the administration,...

Local government lessons on emissions inventories: federal managers can learn from local governments and ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, which has pioneered processes for greenhouse gas emissions inventories.
December 22, 2008... More and more local governments, state governments, and corporations now report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Soon, federal agencies will be required to inventory the annual emissions from their buildings, fleets, and other sources. A...

Managing incentives for green vehicles: public managers can learn practical lessons by comparing individual state incentive policies to identify best practices.(Forum: Climate Change Mitigation)
December 22, 2008... With increasing concerns about global warming, energy security, and gas prices, policymakers have encouraged the adoption of more efficient vehicles. These automobiles run the gamut from alternative fuel--such as hydrogen, natural gas,...

A new direction in our energy future: the governor of Wisconsin describes comprehensive plans in the Midwest to address energy security and climate change.
December 22, 2008... Rising prices, increasing dependence on imports, growth in domestic and global energy demand, and mounting concern over how to address climate change while sustaining and enhancing economic growth and job creation pose serious challenges to the...

Managing to green at the Department of Labor: the PMA has helped DOL improve the way it does business by becoming more citizen centered, results oriented, and market based.(President's Management Agenda)
December 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For the past eight years, the prized position in the traffic light scoring system that supports the President's Management Agenda (PMA) has been owned by the color green. Since President George W Bush launched his...

A tale of two performance management systems: a comparison of the State Department's Senior Foreign Service system and that of the Senior Executive Service reveals the benefits of decentralization.
December 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The 1990s ushered in a new era of government in the United States, one that gave employees more autonomy and discretion in performing their duties. In return, however, the government instituted a results-driven...

Influencing government networks through the campaign: managing government in a complex environment requires a new strategy to achieve results.
December 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As the federal government increasingly turns to the private sector for advanced products and services, agencies and companies are finding it harder to deliver high-quality results on time and within budget. Several...

A practical roadmap for transforming the federal workforce: a forum convened just before the election explores federal human capital issues facing the Obama administration.
December 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As Barack Obama begins his historic presidency, it's time to shift away from the drama of the presidential campaign and look at how the forty-fourth president will actually govern. The new administration's success...

Workplace learning to improve IT project management: the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health uses integrated, strategic training to mature its IT management.
December 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Department of Defense and private sector have reaped the benefits of standardizing project management tools and techniques for many years. Improvements in the way projects are estimated, scheduled, monitored, and...

Transforming culture at the public buildings service: an organization that furnished space and technical expertise to federal agencies evolved into a provider of workplace solutions that help clients become more productive.(General Services Administration. Public Buildings Service)
December 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] How does a large organization change its cultural DNA? How could an organization whose purpose was providing space and technical expertise to the federal government become a relationship-based provider of workplace...

Federal IT capital planning and investment control: maximizing IT return on investment requires new approaches to designing and managing assets, determining priorities, setting strategies, and allocating constrained resources.
December 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Capital planning and investment control (CPIC) is a body of practices and procedures for managing the entire set of a government agency's information technology (IT) resources as if it were a financial portfolio. It...

Emergency management and the new administration: a wide range of organizational, intergovernmental, and operational EM issues face the incoming president and his team.(Forum: Emergency Management)
December 22, 2008... President Obama will enter office at a time of problems unprecedented in number, complexity, and concern for the well-being of the nation. Among them is national security, both from international and domestic threats. The nation became fixated...

Obstacles to disaster recovery: a recent emergency management task force report challenges all levels of government to remove barriers to effective community recovery.(Forum: Emergency Management)
December 22, 2008... Hurricane Katrina was the most costly natural disaster in American history. Some elements of government response were excellent--warnings from the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, for example--but other aspects of...

Assessing the risk to rail and transit systems: considering all hazards, terrorist and natural, spreading resources, and addressing common risks is the best approach.(antiterrorism measures)
December 22, 2008... On the morning of March 11, 2004, when bombs exploded in the Madrid train station, the security of America's rail and mass transit systems became of greater concern than the day before. In July 2005, Americans were reminded of the...

Public managers, volunteer organizations, and disasters: emergency managers need clear working relationships with nonprofits and charitable organizations that assist disaster victims.
December 22, 2008... Public managers often interact with the people of established voluntary nonprofit, charitable organizations, especially in times of local or state disasters, whether or not those events receive presidential declarations of major disaster or...

An essential team: local emergency managers and legal counsel: collaboration with attorneys results in fewer successful lawsuits against the jurisdiction, greater safety, better legal compliance, and more funding and reimbursement.
December 22, 2008... Many Americans dislike lawyers. They are frequently portrayed by the media as grasping, greedy characters, who care little for the effect their activities may have on society. Lawyers' actions contribute to the bad reputation fostered by the...

Show me the money: financial recovery after disaster: professional emergency management, physical mitigation, public education, and financial assistance can all lessen the impact of post-disaster community recovery costs.(Forum: Emergency Management)
December 22, 2008... The United States is unique in its far-reaching financial assistance programs for disaster-impacted areas. Communities that request and receive presidential disaster declarations are eligible to receive financial assistance through the Federal...

The American people speak out on health care: recent survey research and discussion events across the country identify specific challenges and offer suggestions for all with a stake in the system.(Image of Public Service)(Survey)
December 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There is no shortage of discussion about the problems of the U.S. health care system. Voluminous research demonstrates that the United States spends more on health care than any other nation, yet still underperforms...

The program manager's view: a recent survey shows the need for succession planning, formal training, and coaching to prepare the next generation for increasingly complex responsibilities.(Image of Public Service)(Survey)
December 22, 2008... The federal program management community is a highly visible group that manages more than $2.55 trillion dollars in annual budgets and oversees numerous programs critical to its constituencies. Despite this group's importance, the experiences...

Looking back.(Barack Obama elected US new president)
December 22, 2008... Congratulations, America!! We have now elected our forty-fourth president. And what an historic election it has been. For the first time in our history, we had the opportunity to choose a woman, a black, a minister, a guy from Cleveland, a very...