The Public Manager articles from September 2003

The Public Manager archives from September 2003

The manager's musings.(Editorial)
September 22, 2003... Learning from conflict IN HIS 1995 BOOK Jihad vs. McWorld, Benjamin Barber illuminated underlying conflicts between religious and tribal fundamentalism and secular capitalism, thereby helping us understand the forces that are key to...

Point-counterpoint on empowerment: a leading private HRM consultant takes issue with T.E. Winchell's article, "Obstacles to Empowerment in the Federal Service," and the author responds.(Human Resources Management)
September 22, 2003... The article by T. E. Winchell, "Obstacles to Empowerment in the Federal Service," in the Spring issue of The Public Manager added more confusion than understanding to a very important topic. He argues that "corporate best practices" have too...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
September 22, 2003... The Summer 2003 issue of TPM included an incorrect version of the article by Lauren Cragg, "Resource Maximization: Using Risk Management." The correct version is posted to our Web site: www.thepublicmanager.org.

Counterpoint.(Obstacles to Empowerment in the Federal Service)(Column)
September 22, 2003... Three Obstacles to Empowerment My article, "Obstacles to Empowerment in the Federal Service," identified three impediments to implementing empowerment strategies in federal organizations: a top-down budget process; the lack of...

A final rejoinder.
September 22, 2003... This debate started because Winchell's article followed a couple of mine on changes in the way work is organized and managed. One was on the successful rollout of a "goal sharing," group incentive plan across the US General Services...

Coffe and CEC celebrate landmarks.(Happy Anniversary!)(Council of Former Federal Executives, Coalition for Effective Change)
September 22, 2003... Fifteen Years The Council of Former Federal Executives (COFFE) is celebrating its 15th anniversary. COFFE was founded in 1988 by former government executives who wanted to promote and support the effective, efficient, and responsive...

ISO 9000 and New Jersey state government: learn how public managers are promoting management improvement by encouraging and assisting in a worldwide standard certification process.
September 22, 2003... During the 1970s, various methodologies for establishing benchmarking tools for uniform standards of quality were discussed throughout the world. Subsequently, 91 countries, including the United States under the auspices of the American...

Best practices in federal acquisition: a former senior procurement executive at the US Departments of Commerce and the Treasury sets the stage for a new series on government acquisition reform and provides a wide panorama of promising new directions.
September 22, 2003... In 2001, the most recent year for which statistics are readily available, federal agencies reported 11,410,869 contract actions, spending over $234 billion. Of that, about $140 billion was spent on services. An additional 24,443,850 purchase...

A case of the smarties: the director of the Pennsylvania program to improve state and local government discusses smart growth in the US, drawing on recent lessons learned from initiatives in dozens of states and communities nationwide.
September 22, 2003... In hundreds of regions across the United States, local officials are now discussing whether and how much of a case of the "smarties" their jurisdictions should catch. This contagion involves smart planning, smart design, smart rules, smart...

Searching and discovering the best in nonprofit management: learn about what it takes to be recognized as a well-managed nonprofit organization as the Washington Council of Agencies shares five excellence-award winning stories.
September 22, 2003... Amid increased awareness, growing scrutiny, and a scandal or two, the Washington area nonprofit sector has shining examples of outstanding nonprofit management. The search and discovery is done annually through the Washington Post Award for...

The 2003 state of training in the US: a leading futurist explores breakthroughs in training during the last 20 years and how they might improve our effectiveness in responding to homeland security threats.
September 22, 2003... It was a warm day in South Florida and Thomas did not think much about it when he started to sweat. Focused on the baseball game between the Marlins and the Braves he did not even notice that he had started to drool. His friend Tyrone, who was...

Mastering the Art of Public Leadership: The Brookings Institution's Center for Public Policy Education has initiated an innovative training program that may sow the seeds for a change in federal government culture through its first cohort of emerging leaders.
September 22, 2003... The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes. --Marcel Proust Facing the expected retirement of large numbers of federal executives, many agencies are creating leadership programs in an...

The challenge of managing diversity in South Africa: a long-time observer and researcher shares his views on new opportunities the human resources community has to transform itself and shift to more inclusive personnel policies and approaches.
September 22, 2003... Since April 1994, the dawn of democracy in South Africa brought challenges and opportunities in the public service. Remarkable opportunities were created for the previously disadvantaged as a result of the determination to eliminate racism,...

Weapons, people, and leadership: a case study in succession planning; the executive director of Naval Sea Systems Command Port Hueneme Surface Warfare Center Division in Port Hueneme, CA provides insights into the center's Management Succession Program.
September 22, 2003... The last few years had been good ones for the organization: it enjoyed an excellent reputation as a center of excellence, and productivity levels were setting the standard for comparable operations. But when I looked out on the horizon, I knew...

Moving boxes.(Maryland's move to face its fiscal crisis )
September 22, 2003... Maryland's move to face its fiscal crisis raises the question: Do we want to reform programs so they are better aligned to achieve intended results? Like many states, Maryland is facing a severe fiscal crisis. In response, Governor Robert...

Getting the most out of internship programs: a practical guide for government agencies: learn what three government agencies are doing to unify, clarify, and strengthen efforts to attract younger and more diverse employees to the federal workplace.(Young Professionals' Arena)
September 22, 2003... It is estimated that 60,000 young, ambitious, diverse individuals descend upon the nation's capital each summer, eager to put in long hours for little to no pay to get some experience under their belts. A good percentage of such students are...

Government in and out of the news: a groundbreaking study shows that there is less news about the federal government in the national media than there used to be, and that what news there is tends to be negative and judgmental. How is all this affecting our view of government?(Image of Public Service)
September 22, 2003... The past 20 years have been marked by dramatic changes in the political environment. When Ronald Reagan became president in 1981, American hostages were being released after their lengthy captivity in Iran. Americans were disillusioned with...

Chicago 311: a 24/7 telephone and online customer service center: learn how a recent winner of the prestigious Innovations in American Government Award not only improves citizens' connection to government, but actually improves the City of Chicago's performance in the process.(Image of Public Service)
September 22, 2003... Who You Going to Call? It's a sweltering late summer night in Chicago in 1994. A fast-moving cold front will shortly envelop the city, sparking brief but violent thunderstorms from the Indiana state line to the city's northern limit....

Election Follies.(The Uncivil Servant)
September 22, 2003... Make no mistake about it. We are into election year politics. No, this isn't the actual year in which elections will occur (that is another fun-filled year away), but we will soon wish it were to hasten getting through the craziness that awaits...

It's a boy! The birth of public administration and its implications for today.(Views You Can Use)
September 22, 2003... The birth of public administration, like that of any profession, was very much a product of its time and place in history. It emerged during a period dominated by masculine rhetoric and even today continues to embrace many of those values such...

Pay for performance: the answer to the human capital crisis?(Fedland)(Related Article: EDITORS' NOTE)
September 22, 2003... The stars may be aligning themselves to move the federal government to a new method for determining increases in employee compensation. With the creation of the US Department of Homeland Security and the proposed bill to allow the Department of...

Senior executives better administrators than political appointees?(Potpourri)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2003... Federal programs run by senior executives are, on average, better administered than those administered by political appointees, concluded a recent study by David E. Lewis of Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and...

If it ain't broke ... or is it?(For the People: Can We Fix Public Service)(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... If it ain't broke... or is it? For the People: Can We Fix Public Service, John D. Donahue and Joseph S. Nye, Jr. Editors, Brookings Institution Press, 2003. No one would not argue that public servants play a significant role in the...

Management is power and power is management.(False Prophets: The Gurus Who Created Modern Management and Why Their Ideas are Bad for Business)(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... Management is power and power is management False Prophets: The Gurus Who Created Modern Management and Why Their Ideas are Bad for Business, By James Hoopes, Persus Publishing, 2003. The basic premise of this book is that the...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
September 22, 2003... The Summer 2003 issue of The Public Manager included an incorrect version of the article by Lauren Cragg, "Resource Maximization: Using Risk Management." A revised version of the article has been posted on The Public Manager's Web site at...

New and notable.(Book Review)
September 22, 2003... New and Notable There can't be too many books--but there can be too many book reviews. Alas, even with our lofty standards and eclectic taste, the number of books we have to review is outpacing the two-three pages of space in which we have...

The 2003 National public service awards.(Recognition by their Peers)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2003... The American Society for Public Administration and the National Academy of Public Administration established this program to pay tribute to public service practitioners whose careers exhibit the highest standard of excellence, dedication, and...