The Public Manager articles from March 2002

The Public Manager archives from March 2002

Conference in southern Africa. (The Manager's Musings).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... THE SPRING ISSUE'S MUSINGS are stirred by a conference The Public Manager (TPM) is helping to plan in South Africa during September 16-18, 2002. The theme is the transformational process, and this first biennial conference will include...

Government accountants opine. (The Manager's Musings).
March 22, 2002... This issue includes a short mini-forum in which key presenters at the recent Association of Government Accountants' Annual Federal Leadership Conference share their views on the Bush administration's management directions. Nancy Potok, CFO at...

Fad of the Year. (The Manager's Musings).
March 22, 2002... Next, Al Hyde bestows the second annual Public Management Fad of the Year on the human capital crisis. After considering several serious contenders (i.e., the balanced scorecard, knowledge management, and a distant performance measurement), Al...

New series and old. (The Manager's Musings).
March 22, 2002... TPM's new series in the Spring issue include emphases on: partnering and networking, edited by John Kamensky, formerly with GAO and the NPR and now with PricewaterhouseCoopers; another on improving organizational performance edited by M. J....

Civility or not to. (The Manager's Musings).
March 22, 2002... Two other articles that touch on human sensibilities and how to manage the unexpected are contributed by Don Zauderer (workplace incivility) and Melissa Howard and Richard Buck (World Trade Center recovery).

Strategic human capital management: and the winner of the public Management Fad of the Year for 2001 is the human capital crisis! (Management Fad of the Year--2001).
March 22, 2002... Readers will remember that last year The Public Manager (TPM) inaugurated its first ever Management Fad of the Year award for the purpose of "recognizing the management change effort, concept, challenge, or issue that most dominated public...

Leading transformation: views on the President's Agenda: what key presenters had to say about current federal management directions at the Association of Government Accountants' Annual Leadership Conference. (Mini-Forum: Government Leadership).(President George W. Bush)
March 22, 2002... On January 24-22, 2002, the Association of Government Accountants (AGA) held its 13th Annual Federal Leadership Conference. The AGA, long known for its involvement in government finance and accounting, has continued to expand its focus as...

The President's Management Agenda: what President Bush has set his sites on in addressing the nation's most pressing management issues. (Mini-Forum: Government Leadership).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... In setting forth his management agenda, President Bush's vision for government reform has been guided by three principles. Government should be: * Citizen-centered, not bureaucracy-centered * Results-oriented *...

Performance-Based Organizations: what strategies can leaders pursue to make government more citizen-centered and publicly accountable? (Mini-Forum: Government Leadership).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... Government agencies need to change their incentives and organizational cultures to focus more on customers and achieving results (rather than process) and to be more responsive to American citizens. Performance-Based Organizations (PBOs) can be...

The case for changing how government does business: why the comptroller general of the United States believes government needs to change its business process in the 21st century and how to do it. (Mini-Forum: Government Leadership).(United States General Accounting Office)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... As comptroller general of the United States and head of the US General Accounting Office (GAO), I serve as the nation's chief accountability officer. And when it comes to transforming the government, I am committed to changing how we do...

Government's change-management challenge: key questions to which government leaders should find answers as they embark on systemwide reform. (Mini-Forum: Government Leadership).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... A compelling case can be made for change in the public sector at this time. Boundaries are increasingly irrelevant (i.e., governmental, organizational, and sectoral). Technologies are merging. Demographics are rendering stakeholder groups, the...

Stopping the cycle of youth violence in the District of Columbia. (State and Municipal Management).(Washington, D.C.)
March 22, 2002... How a bold new program is working to build relationships among students by constructing bridges across the DC government, and the nonprofit and private sectors. When 17 year-old seniors Andre Wallace and Natasha Marsh were gunned down in...

Getting results when no one is in charge. (New Series: Partnerships and Networks).
March 22, 2002... How and why public managers will increasingly turn to networks to address an expanding array of complex challenges and respond to public demands that their government focus on results, not hierarchy. Series Editor's Note I have been...

The American Customer Satisfaction Index: a tool to enhance citizen-centered, results-oriented service in the federal sector. (Improving Organizational Performance).
March 22, 2002... This administration is dedicated to ensuring that the resources entrusted to the federal government are well managed and wisely used. We owe that to the American people. George W. Bush In the President's Management Agenda (PMA),...

How to plan for and manage success in a labor relations environment. (Labor-Management Relations).
March 22, 2002... Traditional and nontraditional tools and techniques that federal labor relations practitioners-management and union reps alike-- believe are key to getting to yes. There are certain elements (contributors) of an organization's labor...

Building telework in Fairfax County government: a great way to work--Fairfax teleworks. (The Evolving Workplace).(Fairfax County, Virginia)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... Series Editor's Note This third installment of a four-part series offers a case study of a county's efforts to increase dramatically participation in telework to respond to a goal unanimously adopted by the metropolitan area's Council of...

Commercial solutions for secure remote access: how virtual office technology is keeping pace with the demands of increased telework. (The Evolving Workplace).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... Today, more than ever, having the ability to access important data remotely and to communicate is crucial. Modem business revolves around the ability to gain access to information quickly, securely, and dependably. This new business model,...

Workplace incivility and the management of human capital: how to build a community where people feel included, welcomed, and work together with mutual respect to enhance individual and organizational productivity. (Culture of Bureaucracy).
March 22, 2002... The events of September 11 have helped the American people understand that an effective federal government is essential to preserving our democracy and way of life. To keep our democracy strong, however, the federal government needs to recruit...

Now we are 30.(The Public Manager)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... It was 1972. President Nixon had not yet been reelected overwhelmingly. The Watergate was not a particularly well-known landmark in Washington DC. The Chicago Cubs were not expected to win the pennant. Among the troops of the National...

Strategies for surviving in the e-government evolution: how government organizations are using technology to manage performance and align organization, citizens, and suppliers in one strategic direction. (Technology/Performance Management).(strategic performance management)
March 22, 2002... The e-government evolution has forever changed how the government conducts business and interacts with internal and external audiences. Agencies need to overturn decades of embedded business culture to tackle the processes of the new...

World Trade Center recovery: a challenge to traditional disaster management. (Article).(Federal Emergency Management Agency )
March 22, 2002... How FEMA initiated new thinking and new systems to address multiple interests in determining eligible applicants, work, and funding in response to September 11, 2001. When the World Trade Center (WTC) was attacked on September 11, 2001,...

Public Service Recognition Week: a plan for growing ideas; a brief history of Public Service Recognition Week. (Image of Public Service).
March 22, 2002... The year is 1985. Three members of a Public Employees Roundtable (PER) are brainstorming over a brown-bag lunch. The Public Service Excellence Award winners are going to be selected next month by the PER board of directors. These awards will be...

Two heads are better than one: "we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit". (Coach's Corner).(use of coaching by federal agencies grows)
March 22, 2002... Aristotle I am excited to announce that more federal agencies are actively recruiting certified coaches to provide individual and group coaching. When I started my coaching business in 1989, I was one of a handful of coaches in the...

Now you see it, now you don't. (The Uncivil Servant).(hypocrisy in public life)
March 22, 2002... From the dawning of time, much of politics has been about misdirection and legerdemain. Harry Houdini would have been a great politician had his appendix not burst at an inopportune time (as if there is a good time to have that happen)....

Enron: 'lessons' for public managers? (Views You Can Use: New Ideas for Management).(3 management lessons)
March 22, 2002... 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. This month's Economist includes a...

Collaboration and information sharing: an ROI perspective? (Views You Can Use).(return on investment )
March 22, 2002... Public sector organizations are now engaged in a debate about how to make collaboration and information sharing happen and work. To make it happen, there is the matter of creating and deploying satisfactory information systems. To make it work,...

IT Pragmatics: Thinking about your next Virus attack and optimum digital health.
March 22, 2002... After spending some quality time with a family member suffering from strep throat, I have been thinking just how similar real world viruses are to their digital counterparts. The strep throat virus has withstood all attempts to eradicate it, is...

Tome marches on. (Review).
March 22, 2002... Quicker, Better, Cheaper? Managing Performance in American Government, Edited by Dali Forsythe (Rockefeller Institute Press: Albany, NY) $42.95, 635 pages The problem with management books, whether they are about reengineering,...

FEIAA's celebrates Executive of the Year. (Recognition by their Peers).(Federal Executive Institute Alumni Association)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... The Federal Executive Institute Alumni Association (FEIAA) sponsored its 17th annual Executive Forum in March in cooperation with the Federal Executive Institute (FEI). The theme was "Refreshing Your Executive Fitness." Thomas C....