Workplaces in the private sector and the public sector have many similarities. After all, objectives need to be met and daily work needs to get accomplished. Through our experience with business process management we have identified five major differences between sectors: The Election Cycle Term Limits Legislative Controls Human Resources Structures Revenue is usually notRead… Read more »
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has provided government agencies with great opportunities to spend money on their local projects. The President’s new initiatives also require accountability. With these new expectations in place, it would not be prudent to spend the funds wildly. However, as is often the case, the funds will only existRead… Read more »
Over the weekend my father-in-law decided to take advantage of the Cash for Clunkers program and went car shopping. Unfortunately the Dodge dealer he went to in his home town of Paris, Illinois informed him that they had put the program on hold. Apparently they had sold five cars and had yet to be paidRead… Read more »
With the recent confirmation of the first federal Chief Performance Officer (CPO), Jeffrey Zients, a sprig of hope has emerged among the performance management and improvement crowd. The appointment marks the first time that a seasoned performance improvement leader has been selected to provide structure, vision and real, accountable results. Every administration has had aRead… Read more »
Information on recovery.gov recently reported that the Department of Agriculture was paying $1.2 million for 2 pounds of frozen ham. In fact the contract in question actually purchased 760,000 pounds of ham for $1.191 million for food banks and homeless shelters. In response to misstated information the board overseeing recovery.gov refused to correct the informationRead… Read more »
* $2.5 million for sliced ham in California * $800,000 for a new, clean-air garbage truck in Phoenix * $1.4 million to repair the door of a building in San Antonio * $350,000 to replace and upgrade a dumbwaiter in Brooklyn These are examples of projects that have been reported on recovery.org as stimulus projects.Read… Read more »
In a recent survey completed by Government Executive Magazine’s research arm, the Government Business Council, data revealed that only 66% of government managers who were aware of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) anticipated meeting or exceeding the expectations of the funding program. At the same time, only 11% of respondents of the surveyRead… Read more »
As pundits debate the effectiveness of the stimulus package, a new study released by the Government Business Council (GBC) says that agencies feel “overwhelmed” and “anxious” about the ability to successfully implement designed programs. These concerns reflect the current reality of an economy that continues to falter, with a rising unemployment rate, expected to exceedRead… Read more »
Recently during a visit to the GSA conference held in San Antonio, I had the opportunity to speak with several people in the federal government about Lean Six Sigma. In most cases they shared with me that they had “tried” Lean Six Sigma and it did not work or “we did that and are nowRead… Read more »
In a recent interview on Fox Business channel, I had the opportunity to discus how effectively the stimulus funds are being deployed. The discussion focused on how federal and state agencies now are not prepared for the challenges of such an enormous task. In fact, APQC recently reported that only 24% of state and federalRead… Read more »