The Public Manager articles from March 2008

The Public Manager archives from March 2008

The Manager's Musings.(Joseph LeDoux)
March 22, 2008... Synaptic Bureaucracy In his 2002 book, Synaptic Self, Joseph LeDoux explains how unlike other cells in the human organism, neurons-the cellular tissue of the brain-have nerve endings that communicate instantaneously with other brain cells...

Virtual networks: an opportunity for government: the increasing power of computing is enabling a new generation of Web-based applications--Web 2.0--to harness collective intelligence in the public sector.
March 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Today's government relies on a broad network that extends beyond other public-sector entities to include the private sector, nonprofit organizations, community groups, and individual citizens. Government entities...

Interagency network of enterprise assistance providers: an unusual partnership of government agencies and private businesses communicate and collaborate to enhance services to small business.
March 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Less than ten years ago, twenty million small businesses across America faced the catastrophic year 2000 crisis! Y2K, as it was called, threatened computers around the world because they were based on a DD/MM/YY...

Citizen engagement in Gallatin County: a county government in Montana uses communication techniques to democratize the decision-making process without impeding it.
March 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The population of Gallatin County, Montana, has grown about 3 percent annually for a number of years, leading Montana through most of the last decade. Growth brings challenges to local government, but in this case,...

Improving government transparency online: citizen-engaging technology can make government data available online, easy to access, and understandable.
March 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Democracy is founded on the principle that the moral authority of government derives from the consent of the governed. That consent is not particularly meaningful, however, unless it is informed. When government...

Introduction and overview--Part II.(Forum: The Next President's Management Agenda)(human resources technology )
March 22, 2008... In the winter issue of The Public Manager, we opened a dialogue on PMA 44--the President's Management Agenda of the forty-fourth president. Our forum contributors outlined where and how our next government should differ and grouped their ideas...

Human capital--the most critical asset: past efforts at the federal level have not succeeded in institutionalizing long-term change in the human capital function.(Forum: The Next President's Management Agenda)(Chief Human Capital Officers Act of 2002)
March 22, 2008... Since the comptroller general placed the management of human capital on the U.S. Government Accountability Office's list of high-risk programs in 1999, a series of legislative and policy initiatives have tried to recast the way federal agencies...

The courage to change when challenged: the U.S. government needs highly trained and talented top-level executives to promote innovation and growth through IT use.(Forum: The Next President's Management Agenda)
March 22, 2008... The nation faces an enormous challenge but has the opportunity to institute change through collaboration among top-level government and private-sector executives. Americans want an effective, efficient, and results-driven government as we move...

Acquisition challenges, 2008 and beyond: the new administration needs to rebuild the workforce, properly oversee it, and correctly use performance-based acquisition.(Forum: The Next President's Management Agenda)
March 22, 2008... As we head into 2008, federal acquisition faces a long list of challenges; three of the most pressing are the workforce, oversight, and performance-based acquisition. Workforce The key challenge for federal acquisition is rebuilding...

Inherently governmental functions: at a tipping point? Should the government rethink its long-standing policy on contracting out work?
March 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] More than 15 years ago, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Office of Federal Procurement Policy issued Policy Letter 92-1, Subject: Inherently Governmental Functions. This 1992 document offered the first...

The president, outcomes, and performance: changing from outputs to outcomes--evaluating individuals and organizations on results--requires cultural change and leadership at the top.(Forum: The Next President's Management Agenda)
March 22, 2008... Since Congress passed the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, the federal government has been struggling to measure outcome rather than output. Agreement is universal that designing and implementing an outcome-based performance...

Shifting federal telework into drive: the benefits of telework justify accelerated agency adoption.(Forum: The Next President's Management Agenda)
March 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In early November 2007, the House Subcommittee on FederalWorkforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia held a hearing on how to break new ground in telework. Telework Exchange, among other witnesses,...

Now is the time for collaboration: we need new forums where local, state, and federal leaders openly debate strategies to address national priorities.(Forum: The Next President's Management Agenda)
March 22, 2008... The public tells pollsters that the most important issues facing our nation (other than the war in Iraq) are as follows: * Security and safety * Jobs * Health care * Education * Environment * Long-term economic...

The challenge of managing across boundaries: the federal government can't accomplish its program objectives without increased collaboration inside and outside the executive branch.(Forum: The Next President's Management Agenda)
March 22, 2008... Starting in summer 2007, Cisco's Internet Business Solutions Group--the firm's global consulting arm--sponsored a series of seminars to bring leading thinkers on public management together with government and industry executives. Seminar...

Recruiting and engaging the federal workforce: a recent seminar examines employee motivation from three perspectives.
March 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The talk in government these days is about abolishing the General Schedule and replacing it with customized pay-for-performance systems. The General Schedule, however, is unlikely to disappear soon, so what can...

Telework: breaking new ground: successful telework programs feature active top-level leadership, clear policy and guidelines, solid program support, and integration in overall agency planning.(Brief article)
March 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Why and how do some federal telework programs succeed? Eight years as part of the leadership of federal telework at the General Services Administration (GSA) have shown me that when carefully planned and rigorously...

Speech and reason.(eloquence)(Brief article)
March 22, 2008... Speech and reason are the characteristics, the glory, and the happiness of man. These are the pillars which support the fair fabric of eloquence; the foundation, upon which is erected the most magnificent edifice, that genius could design, or...

FEMA, Katrina, and operations research: better operations management would have helped FEMA in preparedness and response work before Hurricane Katrina--and still could now.
March 22, 2008... In the wake of the poor government response to the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster, many questions have been asked about why the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), along with a host of other federal, state, and local emergency...

Federal contracting for food and refreshments: young contracting professionals need to know how to ensure fair and reasonable pricing when negotiating with the meeting industry.
March 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Contracting professionals must ensure that the federal government receives the best value for the taxpayer dollar while following acquisition regulations during procurement and contract management. This article...

Better thinking: an asset in any organization: enhanced thinking ability yields more effective decision making, improved problem solving, better individual and group performance evaluations, and higher morale.(Culture of Bureaucracy)
March 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For the past decade, I have been on a mission: to furnish government leaders with important data and content about an element crucial to their success--the ability to think effectively, critically, and creatively....

Lions and tigers and bears oh my!(The Uncivil Servant)
March 22, 2008... And the election process continues--ad infinitum, ad nauseum. But listening to all the rhetoric of the campaigns took me to an examination of how the debate in the public sector has degenerated to something devoid of substance. Worse still, we...