The Public Manager articles from March 2004

The Public Manager archives from March 2004

The Manager's musings.(The Bureaucrat Inc. becomes affiliate of Logistics Management Institute )
March 22, 2004... New affiliation AS THE SPRING/SUMMER ISSUE GOES TO PRESS, plans are underway for The Bureaucrat, Inc. (TBI), publisher of The Public Manager, to become a wholly-owned affiliate of the Logistics Management Institute (LMI) effective in Fall...

Competitive sourcing: a near- and longer-term perspective on how one of the five pillars of the President's Management Agenda will likely kick into an even higher gear after the November 2004 presidential election--no matter what the outcome.(the 2003 management fad of the year)
March 22, 2004... This year's public management fad of the year proves that there can be a difference between being a fad and a favorite. Whatever your thoughts about past winners like "e-government" and the "human capital crisis," these fads never created the...

Global training in the world today: an overview of international initiatives and programs that the US government and nonprofit organizations undertake to assist nations in achieving a democratic structure and economic health.(PUBLIC MANAGEMENT TRAINING)
March 22, 2004... Since the waning days of World War II, the United States government and many nonprofit organizations have embarked on a series of initiatives to help war-torn governments and developing countries everywhere get back on their feet. The United...

Taming the spending beast: strategic sourcing at the Department of Homeland Security; how the agency's chief procurement officer is molding a unified acquisition system from 22 different agencies and cultures, hundreds of thousands of procurement transactions processed with different procedures, and vertical instead of enterprise-wide planning with each agency buying many of the same things.(ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT)
March 22, 2004... Everyone knows that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a huge, diverse organization born in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on our homeland. The administration, Congress, and the American public deserve and, indeed, demand...

Electronic government forges new partnerships: learn more about federal E-Gov initiatives and how efforts with a focus on nonprofit capacity building are taking shape in Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.(information technology management)
March 22, 2004... President Bush and Congress have made a commitment to streamlining government with an emphasis on the delivery of information and services over the Internet. The focus on expanding electronic government (E-Gov) is one element of the President's...

Chesapeake Bay blues: science, politics, and the struggle to save the bay; How could it be that scientists know so much about the Bay, the public cares so deeply about its health, and so many people have worked for decades to protect this national treasure, and yet the ecosystem remains in abysmally poor condition?(REGIONAL GOVERNANCE)
March 22, 2004... The Chesapeake Bay is a unique and dynamic ecosystem. The geological forces responsible for shaping the Bay can be traced back some 18,000 years when glacial melting marked the end of the last ice age (Pleistocene period) and triggered a rise...

Progress report on personnel reform: highlights from the recent Volcker Commission Conference, "Transforming the Public Service: Progress Made and the Work Ahead".(HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT)
March 22, 2004... On February 18, 2004, the Volcker Commission on the Public Service and the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) held a conference, "Transforming the Public Service: Progress Made and the Work Ahead." Conference cosponsors included...

Planning for the transition to pay for performance: what are the practical consequences of the federal government's increased emphasis on pay for performance and what can agencies do to prepare for this change in policy direction?(human resource management)
March 22, 2004... In the federal government, the debate effectively is over. Pay for performance is the announced compensation philosophy for the Department of Homeland Security as well as the Department of Defense (DOD). There already are a few agencies and...

The government performance and results act of 1993 provides a solid foundation for better results: federal agencies are becoming more results oriented, but the US comptroller general believes fiscal challenges and a range of competing pressures require that we increase our focus on achieving a more results-oriented and accountable federal government.(performance management)
March 22, 2004... The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) is the centerpiece of a statutory framework that Congress put in place during the 1990s to help improve the economy, efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, and accountability of the federal...

Developing leaders for the federal inspectors general community: how a new curriculum that goes beyond traditional competencies by emphasizing personal leadership and organizational results offers new tools to improve governmental programs and operations and build a network for governmentwide collaboration.(ARTICLE)
March 22, 2004... On February 12, 2003, a new and expanded agenda for the federal Offices of Inspector General was proposed with the creation of a pilot leadership development curriculum. As communicated by the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency...

Government innovation that makes a difference: learn how two recent winners of the Innovations in American Government Award are helping to improve the lives of the disadvantaged.(IMAGE OF PUBLIC SERVICE)
March 22, 2004... What do the Ohio Appalachian Center for Higher Education (OACHE) and New York City's La Bodega de la Familia have in common? First, both are government programs that help disadvantaged people improve their lives. Second, both were among the...

Making the federal government a "best place to work": implications on the first ever ranking of federal agencies by the Partnership for Public Service and American University's Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation to promote excellence and improve performance within government.(IMAGE OF PUBLIC SERVICE)
March 22, 2004... When the Partnership for Public Service (PPS) and American University's Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation (ISPPI) released the first ever rankings of the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government this past fall, people...

Does it bother you when ...? A whine taster's picks for some of the most irksome aspects of modern society--from presidential politics to the president's pigs.(THE UNCIVIL SERVANT)
March 22, 2004... Perhaps Grimaldi has been watching too much "60 Minutes" where Andy Rooney closes the show with his latest whining complaint about some aspect of modern society that just rankles him. Well, Grimaldi is far from a professional complainer,...

All good things ...(NEW IDEAS FOR MANAGEMENT)(Editorial)
March 22, 2004... All things come to an end. So it is that this issue marks the beginning of the end for our "editorial management" of "Views." Through seven years, Views has evolved (or at least we like to think so). Originating from an article arguing that...

After the fall: making the new federal personnel changes work.(Department of Homeland Security regulations)
March 22, 2004... The landscape for federal personnel management is changing dramatically. With the publication of proposed regulations for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in February and recent legislation which allows the Department of Defense to...

The essence of innovation.(The Innovators Solution)(Book Review)
March 22, 2004... Clayton Christensen and Michael Raynor, The Innovators Solution, Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2003, 301 pp. The Innovators Solution is the answer to the innovators dilemma. The dilemma presents the problem of what a company...

Budgeting surrealism--a "postscript" review.('Restoring Fiscal Sanity--How to Balance the Budget' by Alice M. Rivlin and Isabel Sawhill)(Book Review)
March 22, 2004... Alice M. Rivlin and Isabel Sawhill, Restoring Fiscal Sanity--How to Balance the Budget, Brookings Institution Press, 2004. The Brookings Institution's latest budget collection surely deserves a thoughtful and comprehensive review as a...

Cutting fat or low carb?(Balancing the Federal Budget: Trimming the Herds or Eating the Seed Corn?)(Book Review)
March 22, 2004... Irene S. Rubin, Balancing the Federal Budget: Trimming the Herds or Eating the Seed Corn?, Chatham House Publishers, January 2003, ISBN 1-889119-62-8, 318 pages, paper. 'We must invest more in our own people, in their jobs, in their...

LMI acquires The Public Manager from The Bureaucrat, Inc.: journal for public sector managers gets new publisher, retains editorial board.(PRESS RELEASE)
March 22, 2004... Effective in Fall 2004, The Bureaucrat, Inc., (TBI) and its quarterly journal, The Public Manager, will become a wholly-owned affiliate of LMI, a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving public sector management. TBI is a...