The Public Manager articles from March 2006

The Public Manager archives from March 2006

Rocky mountain high.(The Manager's Musings)(American Society for Public Administration)(Personal account)
March 22, 2006... As I sit here at Denver International Airport awaiting my flight back east, I muse over the 2006 ASPA annual conference I just attended--the people I met, colleagues with whom I became reacquainted, lessons learned from practitioners and...

New heights.(The Manager's Musings)
March 22, 2006... Speaking of highs, the spring issue is packed with fresh ideas and innovative approaches. Carl Fillichio interviews Linda Springer, the new director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, who identifies what the federal government needs do...

Peaks and valleys.(The manager's musings)
March 22, 2006... Preparing for the ups and downs that characterize the public sector, James Smith provides an overview of budgeting for disasters at all levels of government. Sticking with this theme, Mick Mortlock offers his take on a disaster report card, and...

Winning ways.(The manager's musings)
March 22, 2006... In her essay on ethical leadership and the public trust, Amanda Erickson, winner of the 2006 ASPA Wallace O. Keene Conference Scholarship, shares her thoughts on important characteristics others typically look for in leaders. And lastly,...

Getting ready for the retirement Tsunami: Linda Springer, director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, discusses what the federal government needs to do before its retirement peak in 2008-10.
March 22, 2006... Forget brain drain, talent takeoff, or retirement wave when speaking of the future of federal human resources management. Those words don't adequately describe the situation anymore. The federal government is facing a retirement tsunami in the...

Tougher challenges--and leadership to match: public servants are using innovative techniques to get better results quickly and cost-efficiently, improving workforce performance and spanning organizational boundaries to effect much-needed changes.(Excellence in Government Fellows Program)
March 22, 2006... Disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 attacks call for extraordinary leadership: innovative, collaborative, and accountable for results that have tangible, lasting impact. Of course, the issues public managers regularly face don't often...

Budgeting for disasters: Part I. overview of the problem: budgeting philosophies and practices can be applied to different disaster response challenges: planning, prevention, preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery, remediation, and reconstruction.
March 22, 2006... Historically, when disaster strikes, all levels of government do what is necessary and worry about paying for it later. Many, but not all, local and state governments have contingency or rainy day funds for disaster response. Once these...

Citizen auditors--Web-enabled, open-source government: models that oversee the financial holdings and reporting accuracy of America's corporations can be used to effect transparency in government--right down to where federal relief funds go for Hurricane Katrina victims.
March 22, 2006... Draught beer, designer jeans, and Louis Vuitton handbags all share a common thread: they are line items on the de facto general ledger for federal Katrina assistance. Though remarkably nonsensical, this painful reality paints a stark picture of...

A disaster report card: almost five years after 9/11 and nearly a year after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, how well prepared are we for the next disaster?(Emergency Management Accreditation Program)
March 22, 2006... Does anyone doubt that if terrorists were to plant time-delay explosive devices on ten tanker trucks at a truck stop in Salina, Kansas, that mass chaos would result? Picture an octopus of horror, trucks going north, south, east, and west, each...

ERP: integrating and extending the enterprise: senior leadership examines the benefits and challenges of enterprise resource planning.
March 22, 2006... Enterprise resource planning (ERP) has boosted the productivity of the federal workforce and enabled tremendous growth in sales revenue in the private sector. ERP systems integrate data throughout the organization, speeding up processes,...

A road map for federal strategic sourcing: new, more collaborative sourcing critically analyzes an organization's spending and allows agency leaders to make effective, efficient business decisions.(Office of Management and Budget)
March 22, 2006... On May 20, 2005, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memorandum to chief acquisition officers (CAOs), chief financial officers (CFOs), and chief information officers (CIOs) concerning the importance of implementing...

Fantastic FOSE: three diverse concepts featured at FOSE will give future public managers faster, easier, and cheaper means of managing the federal inventory.(Federal Office Systems Exp)
March 22, 2006... The Federal Office Systems Expo--now known as FOSE (pronounced FAH-SEE)--celebrated thirty years of bringing technology to government March 7-9, 2006. Background In 1976,Apple Computer incorporated and introduced the Apple I, which...

E-Learning in the inspector general community: the federal government is using e-learning to raise inspector general skill levels, reduce training costs, and increase training hours and training opportunities--strengthening the community's core competencies overall.
March 22, 2006... The Challenge The inspector general (IG) community has an acknowledged need for a new medium of education and training. We also need continuous learning, if it is to be effective at improving federal programs and operations. The challenge...

Recruiting and retaining young IT leaders: federal agencies use a wide range of innovative mechanisms to attract young IT professionals to government service and to sustain their interest over time.(Federal Computer Week Government CIO Summit)
March 22, 2006... The Federal Computer Week Government CIO Summit took place November 6-8 in Tucson, Arizona. During this event, which I attended, federal, state, and local information technology (IT) leaders met with private industry experts to discuss key...

Public-private entrepreneurism at the local level: a small town--Holtville, California--achieves fame and fortune through entrepreneurial innovation.(Holtville Grand Prix Motorcycle Race)
March 22, 2006... The Holtville Grand Prix Motorcycle Race--the "Great Race"--made its debut at Holt Park on Saturday, October 29, 2005.The course, which began downtown and wound its way through desert brush, past farmland, and along the silty banks of the Alamo...

Competing for talent in the federal government--Part I: several federal agencies are streamlining their hiring and recruiting processes, making their organizations "employers of first choice" for the next generation of civil servants.
March 22, 2006... Federal government agencies face a colossal human capital challenge: how can they win the increasingly competitive war for talent? How can they streamline their hiring and recruitment processes to attract a new generation of workers to public...

Ethical leadership and the public trust: the winner of the 2006 ASPA Wallace O. Keene Conference Scholarship shares her thoughts on four important characteristics of leaders: honesty, foresight, competence, and the ability to inspire.(Image of Public Service)(American Society for Public Administration)
March 22, 2006... The importance of leadership in our society has not diminished, nor will it. We demand much from our corporate, political, and community leaders, and often find ourselves dissatisfied with their less-than-heroic efforts. The first step in...

Leadership challenges facing today's federal managers: the FEIAA's recent executive forum shared best practices in human capital management, financial management, competitive sourcing, change management, and leading across generations.(Federal Executive Institute Alumni Association)(Conference notes)
March 22, 2006... The Federal Executive Institute Alumni Association (FEIAA), the premier organization for graduates of the Federal Executive Institute (FEI), held its annual executive forum March 8 and 9. The theme was "Leadership Challenges Facing Today's...

Alexander and other great milestones.(reflections of a writer)(Editorial)
March 22, 2006... When Alexander the Great was my age, he'd been dead for almost 25 years--and that was AFTER conquering the known world. I can't even conquer the weeds in the backyard! The point of that: this issue marks the beginning of my twenty-sixth year...

Wither human resources management among the states.(Civil Service Reform in the States: Personnel Policy and Politics at the Subnational Level)(Book review)
March 22, 2006... J. Edward Kellough and Lloyd G. Nigro, eds. Civil Service Reform in the States: Personnel Policy and Politics at the Subnational Level (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006). This is an extraordinary book. It is scholarly, with...