    Comptroller General's Forum: High-Performing Organizations:
    Metrics, Means, and Mechanisms for Achieving High Performance in
    the 21st Century Public Management Environment (13-FEB-04,
    GAO-04-343SP).

    As we face the challenges of the 21st century, the federal
    government must strive to build high-performing organizations.
    Nothing less than a fundamental transformation in the people,
    processes, technology, and environment used by federal agencies
    to address public goals will be necessary to address public
    needs. In high-performing organizations, management controls,
    processes, practices, and systems are adopted that are consistent
    with prevailing best practices and contribute to concrete
    organizational results. Ultimately, however, the federal
    government needs to change its culture to become more
    results-oriented, client- and customer-focused, and collaborative
    in nature. On November 6, 2003, GAO hosted a forum to discuss
    what it means for a federal agency to be high-performing in an
    environment where results and outcomes are increasingly
    accomplished through partnerships that cut across different
    levels of government and different sectors of the economy. The
    forum included discussions of the metrics, means, and mechanisms
    that a federal agency should use to optimize its influence and
    contribution to nationally important results and outcomes. The
    forum included representatives of the public, not-for-profit, and
    for-profit sectors as well as academia who are knowledgeable of
    what it takes for organizations to become high-performing.
    -------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
    REPORTNUM:   GAO-04-343SP
        ACCNO:   A09289
      TITLE:     Comptroller General's Forum: High-Performing
    Organizations: Metrics, Means, and Mechanisms for Achieving High
    Performance in the 21st Century Public Management Environment
         DATE:   02/13/2004
      SUBJECT:   Agency missions
    	     Budgeting
    	     Customer service
    	     Interagency relations
    	     Intragovernmental fund accounts
    	     Personnel management
    	     Public administration
    	     Education or training
    	     Performance measures
    	     Productivity in government
    	     Personnel recruiting
    	     Human resources utilization
    	     Chief operating officers

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    GAO-04-343SP

    Highlights of GAO-04-343SP.

    As we face the challenges of the 21st century, the federal government must
    strive to build high-performing organizations. Nothing less than a
    fundamental transformation in the people, processes, technology, and
    environment used by federal agencies to address public goals will be
    necessary to address public needs. In high-performing organizations,
    management controls, processes, practices, and systems are adopted that
    are consistent with prevailing best practices and contribute to concrete
    organizational results. Ultimately, however, the federal government needs
    to change its culture to become more resultsoriented, client- and
    customerfocused, and collaborative in nature.

    On November 6, 2003, GAO hosted a forum to discuss what it means for a
    federal agency to be highperforming in an environment where results and
    outcomes are increasingly accomplished through partnerships that cut
    across different levels of government and different sectors of the
    economy. The forum included discussions of the metrics, means, and
    mechanisms that a federal agency should use to optimize its influence and
    contribution to nationally important results and outcomes. The forum
    included representatives of the public, not-for-profit, and for-profit
    sectors as well as academia who are knowledgeable of what it takes for
    organizations to become high-performing.

    www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-343SP.

    To view the full product click on the link above. For more information,
    contact J. Christopher Mihm, Managing Director, Strategic Issues on (202)
    512-6806 or mihmj@gao.gov.

    February 2004

    HIGHLIGHTS OF A GAO FORUM

    High-Performing Organizations: Metrics, Means, and Mechanisms for Achieving High
             Performance in the 21st Century Public Management Environment

    There was broad agreement among participants at the forum on the key
    characteristics and capabilities of high-performing organizations, which
    comprise four themes as follows:

    o  	A clear, well-articulated, and compelling mission. Highperforming
    organizations have a clear, well-articulated, and compelling mission, the
    strategic goals to achieve it, and a performance management system that
    aligns with these goals to show employees how their performance can
    contribute to overall organizational results.

    o  	Strategic use of partnerships. Since the federal government is
    increasingly reliant on partners to achieve its outcomes, becoming a
    high-performing organization requires that federal agencies effectively
    manage relationships with other organizations outside of their direct
    control.

    o  	Focus on needs of clients and customers. Serving the needs of clients
    and customers involves identifying their needs, striving to meet them,
    measuring performance, and publicly reporting on progress to help assure
    appropriate transparency and accountability.

    o  	Strategic management of people. Most high-performing organizations
    have strong, charismatic, visionary, and sustained leadership, the
    capability to identify what skills and competencies the employees and the
    organization need, and other key characteristics including effective
    recruiting, comprehensive training and development, retention of
    high-performing employees, and a streamlined hiring process.

    During the forum, the Comptroller General offered several options that the
    Congress, the executive branch, and others could pursue to facilitate
    transformation and to achieve high performance in the federal government.
    Several of the participants provided their views and experiences with
    these options. These options included:

    o  	establishing a governmentwide transformation fund where federal
    agencies could apply for funds to make short-term targeted investments,
    based on a well-developed business case;

    o  	employing the Chief Operating Officer concept or establishing a
    related senior management position, such as a Principal Under Secretary
    for Management and/or Chief Administrative Officer, to provide long-term
    attention and focus on management issues and transformational change at
    selected federal agencies; and

    o  	examining certain federal budget reforms, such as a biennial budget
    process, which could encourage the Congress and federal agencies to focus
    on long-range issues and possibly provide more time for oversight of
    existing government programs, policies, functions, and activities.

    A

    United States General Accounting Office Washington, D.C. 20548

    February 13, 2004

    Subject: 	Highlights of a GAO Forum on High-Performing Organizations:
    Metrics, Means, and Mechanisms for Achieving High Performance in the 21st
    Century Public Management Environment

    The federal government faces a range of new challenges in the 21st century
    that it must confront to enhance performance, ensure accountability, and
    position the nation for the future. These include long-term fiscal
    challenges posed by the nation's large and growing long-term fiscal
    imbalance-the federal government's most pressing challenge-and several
    major trends including: evolving national and homeland security threats,
    increasing global interdependence, the global shift to market-oriented
    knowledgebased economies, an aging and more diverse population, rapid
    advances in science and technology, various quality of life challenges,
    and diverse governance structures and tools. Given these challenges, the
    federal government needs to engage in a comprehensive review,
    reassessment, reprioritization, and as appropriate, reengineering of what
    the federal government does, how it does business, and in some cases, who
    does its business. To enhance the nation's capacity to both respond to the
    fiscal challenges and to make government more relevant for the 21st
    century, this process should involve examining the base of existing
    government programs, policies, functions, and activities so that emerging
    needs can be addressed while outdated and unsustainable programs can be
    either reformed or eliminated.

    As we face the mounting challenges of the 21st century, the federal
    government must strive to build high-performing organizations. Nothing
    less than a fundamental transformation in the people, processes,
    technology, and environment used by federal agencies to address public
    goals will be necessary to address the public needs facing the nation in a
    time of rapid change. In high-performing organizations, management
    controls, processes, practices, and systems are adopted in areas such as
    financial management, information technology, acquisition management, and
    human capital that are consistent with prevailing best practices and that
    contribute to concrete organizational results. Ultimately, however, to
    successfully transform, the federal government needs to change its culture
    to become more results-oriented, client- and customer-focused, and
    collaborative in nature. This will require that the federal government
    create a culture that moves from

    o  outputs to results,

    o  stovepipes to matrixes,

    o  hierarchical to flatter and more horizontal structures,

    o 	an inward to an external focus on clients, customers, partners, and
    other stakeholders,

    o  micro-management to employee empowerment,

    o  reactive behavior to proactive approaches,

    o  avoiding new technologies to embracing and leveraging them,

    o  hoarding knowledge to sharing knowledge,

    o  avoiding risk to managing risk,

    o  protecting "turf" to forming partnerships, and

    o  adversarial to constructive labor/management relations.

    Delivering high performance and achieving important national goals require
    the federal government to establish partnerships or networks with a broad
    range of federal, state, and local governmental agencies as well as
    not-for-profit and for-profit organizations, both domestically and
    internationally. Promoting effective partnerships with third parties in
    the formulation and design of complex national initiatives will prove
    increasingly vital to achieving successful policy outcomes in the years
    ahead. Protecting the nation from the threat of terrorism, for instance,
    has called for a concerted effort by all three levels of government as
    well as key private sector leaders responsible for critical infrastructure
    and resources. This growing interdependence means that the performance and
    fiscal capacity of the public sector as a whole will become more relevant
    in determining how successful the nation will be in addressing important
    national policy goals. Successful partnerships will entail refocusing
    current metrics and accountability mechanisms to capture a more integrated
    perspective on the efforts and accomplishments realized across
    conventional government or private sector boundaries.

    A central question for the federal government is, if results and outcomes
    are increasingly accomplished through partnerships that cut across levels
    of government and different sectors of the economy, what does it mean for
    a federal agency to be high-performing in this environment? More directly,
    what are the metrics, means, and mechanisms that a federal agency should
    use to optimize its influence and contribution to nationally important
    results and outcomes? On November 6, 2003, GAO hosted a forum to discuss
    these questions. The forum brought together representatives from the
    public, not-for-profit, and for-profit sectors, as well as academia. These
    parties are knowledgeable about what it takes for organizations to become
    high-performing, as well as the challenges facing federal agencies in
    becoming high-performing organizations in the 21st century.

    Prior to the forum, GAO staff met with a number of these representatives
    and other experts who helped us develop the themes that we explored in our
    discussion. As agreed with the participants, the purpose of the forum
    discussion was not to reach a consensus, but rather to engage in an open
    dialogue without attribution. Appendix I of this report summarizes the
    collective discussion of the forum participants as well as subsequent
    comments we received from the participants on a draft of this report, and
    it does not necessarily represent the views of any individual participant.
    It also includes additional information based on prior GAO work that
    provides context for the discussion. In summary, there was broad agreement
    among the forum participants on the key characteristics and capabilities
    of high-performing organizations, which comprise four themes as follows:

    o 	A clear, well-articulated, and compelling mission. High-performing
    organizations have a clear, well-articulated, and compelling mission, the
    strategic goals to achieve it, and a performance management system that
    aligns with these goals to show employees how their performance can
    contribute to overall organizational results. With these in place,
    regularly communicating a clear and consistent message about the
    importance of fulfilling the mission helps engage employees, clients,
    customers, partners, and other stakeholders in achieving higher
    performance.

    o 	Strategic use of partnerships. Since the federal government is
    increasingly reliant on partners to achieve its outcomes, becoming a
    high-performing organization requires that federal agencies effectively
    manage relationships with other organizations outside of their direct
    control.

    o 	Focus on needs of clients and customers. Serving the needs of clients
    and customers involves identifying their needs, striving to meet them,
    measuring performance, and publicly reporting on progress to help assure
    appropriate transparency and accountability.

    o 	Strategic management of people. Most high-performing organizations have
    strong, charismatic, visionary, and sustained leadership, the capability
    to identify what skills and competencies employees and the organization
    need, and other key characteristics including effective recruiting,
    comprehensive training and development, retention of high-performing
    employees, and a streamlined hiring process.

    During the forum, I also raised several options that could be adopted to
    facilitate transformation and to achieve high performance in the federal
    government that the Congress, the executive branch such as the Office of
    Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel Management, and other
    federal agencies, as well as public, for-profit, and not-for-profit
    organizations could pursue. Several of the participants provided their
    views on these options and their experiences with them. These options
    included:

    o 	establishing a governmentwide transformation fund where federal
    agencies could apply for funds to make short-term targeted investments,
    based on a well-developed business case;

    o 	employing the Chief Operating Officer concept or establishing a related
    senior management position, such as a Principal Under Secretary for
    Management and/or Chief Administrative Officer, to provide long-term
    attention and focus on management issues and transformational change at
    selected federal agencies; and

    o 	examining certain federal budget reforms, such as a biennial budget
    process, which could encourage the Congress and federal agencies to focus
    on long-range issues and possibly provide more time for oversight of
    existing government programs, policies, functions, and activities.

    Moving forward, GAO will continue to play a professional, objective,
    factbased, non-partisan, non-ideological, and constructive role in
    assisting the Congress and the executive branch as federal agencies strive
    for higher performance. For example, federal agencies face challenges to
    improving their ability to manage partnerships, such as finding the
    balance between

    preserving partners' operational flexibility with the need to maintain the
    accountability of all partners. Other challenges for partnerships include
    identifying the metrics to measure the performance of a partnership and
    expanding the use of an appropriate targeting and risk management approach
    to focus limited resources to achieve desired outcomes. Addressing these
    challenges is vitally important to foster the development of
    high-performing organizations within the federal government.

    Appendix I summarizes the collective discussion of the forum participants
    as well as subsequent comments we received from the participants on a
    draft of this report. It also includes additional information based on
    prior GAO work that provides context for the discussion. Appendix II
    provides a list of the participants. Appendix III lists related GAO
    products on organizational transformation and the 21st century public
    management environment. Appendix IV contains a selected bibliography on
    highperforming organizations and networked government or partnerships.
    Appendix V summarizes planned and past Comptroller General forums and
    roundtables. This report will be posted on our Web site at www.gao.gov.
    For additional information on our work on federal agency transformation
    efforts and strategic human capital management, please contact J.
    Christopher Mihm, Managing Director, Strategic Issues on (202) 512-6806 or
    at mihmj@gao.gov. Key contributors to this report include Sarah Veale,
    Eric Mader, Ellen Grady, and Peter Del Toro.

    I wish to thank all of the participants in the forum for taking the time
    to share their knowledge and to provide their insights and perspectives on
    the important matters this document discusses. I look forward to working
    with them and others on this and other important issues of mutual interest
    and concern in the future.

    David M. Walker Comptroller General of the United States

    Appendix I

             High-Performing Organizations: Highlights of Forum Discussion

    Appendix I summarizes the collective discussion of the forum participants
    as well as subsequent comments we received from the participants on a
    draft of this report. It also includes additional information based on
    prior GAO work that provides context for the discussion. Overall, the
    forum discussion provides guidance and options for consideration in
    developing high-performing organizations in the federal government.
    Although federal agencies have the primary responsibility for moving the
    federal government towards high performance, the Congress has a key role
    through its legislative, appropriations, and oversight capacities in
    establishing, monitoring, and maintaining both governmentwide and
    agency-specific management reform initiatives.

    Key Characteristics and Capabilities of High-Performing Organizations

    High-performing organizations have a focus on achieving results and
    outcomes and a results-oriented organizational culture is fostered to
    reinforce this focus. The forum participants identified key
    characteristics and capabilities of high-performing organizations that
    support this resultsoriented focus, which include having a clear,
    well-articulated, and compelling mission, strategically using
    partnerships, focusing on the needs of clients and customers, and
    strategically managing people. Highperforming organizations have a
    coherent mission, the strategic goals for achieving it, and a performance
    management system that aligns with these goals to show employees how their
    performance can contribute to overall organizational results. Since the
    federal government is increasingly reliant on organizations outside of its
    direct control to achieve outcomes, becoming a high-performing
    organization requires that federal agencies effectively manage these
    partnerships. Serving the needs of clients and customers involves
    identifying their needs, striving to meet them, measuring performance, and
    publicly reporting on progress to help assure appropriate transparency and
    accountability. To manage people strategically, most high-performing
    organizations have strong, charismatic, visionary, and sustained
    leadership, the capability to identify what skills and competencies
    employees and the organization need, and other key characteristics
    including effective recruiting, comprehensive training and development,
    retention of high-performing employees, and a streamlined hiring process.

                                       Appendix I
                      High-Performing Organizations: Highlights of
                                    Forum Discussion

      High-Performing Organizations Focus on Achieving Results and Outcomes

    A Clear, Well-Articulated, and Compelling Mission

    High-performing organizations have a focus on achieving results and
    outcomes and a results-oriented organizational culture is fostered to
    reinforce this focus. By definition outcomes are achieved outside of an
    organization. Thus, results-oriented organizations focus on the often
    complex interplay of internal and external relationships, initiatives,
    actions, and trends that contribute to achieving desired outcomes.
    Highperforming organizations in this context seek to develop data-driven
    understandings of how their efforts contribute to overall results.

    Participants generally agreed that to sustain a focus on results,
    highperforming organizations continuously assess and benchmark performance
    and efforts to improve performance. For example, one participant noted
    that pilots and demonstration projects help to identify innovative ways to
    improve performance. Such pilots and demonstration projects allow for
    experiences to be rigorously evaluated, shared systematically with others,
    and new procedures adjusted as appropriate, before they receive wider
    application. One of the participants noted, however, that there is a
    paucity of comparative metrics for benchmarking whether an organization
    has or is becoming high-performing. Several participants also stated that
    highperforming organizations manage risks to improve performance, but
    maintain accountability by continually assessing the impact of these
    risks.

    As part of the discussion of what it means to be a high-performing
    organization, several participants discussed the unique aspects of
    pursuing high performance in the federal government and in the public
    management environment as compared to the private sector. Nevertheless,
    participants generally agreed that the following key characteristics and
    capabilities drive high performance across both the public and private
    sectors.

    There was general agreement among participants about the importance of
    strategic planning, particularly about the importance of having a mission
    that employees, clients, customers, partners, and other stakeholders
    understand and find compelling. Further, participants emphasized the
    importance of setting goals to achieve the mission, and aligning the
    organization's activities, core processes, and resources with those goals.
    We have reported that establishing a coherent mission and integrated
    strategic goals guides organizational transformation. Together, they
    define the culture and serve as the vehicle for employees to unite and
    rally

    Appendix I
    High-Performing Organizations: Highlights of
    Forum Discussion

    around.1 This alignment is particularly important in the current
    environment where results are achieved by working with and through others
    and resources are severely constrained, as noted by several participants.
    Several participants also identified the importance of aligning an
    organization's performance management system with achieving goals to
    create a "line of sight" that shows employees how their performance can
    contribute to overall organizational results. One participant explained
    the importance of using performance management systems to help strengthen
    accountability. We have found that performance management systems
    reinforce accountability for change management and other goals. In
    particular, high-performing organizations strengthen accountability for
    achieving crosscutting goals by placing greater emphasis on collaboration,
    interaction, and teamwork both within and across organizational boundaries
    to achieve results that often transcend specific organizational
    boundaries.2

    To help sharpen a focus on agencies' missions, one participant suggested
    that federal agencies ask themselves hypothetically what they would do if
    their budgets were 50 percent smaller. This exercise is intended to not
    only help federal agencies identify their core purpose or mission, but to
    help them assess which core activities are necessary to fulfill it. We
    have found that high-performing organizations develop fact-based
    understandings of how their activities contribute to accomplishing their
    mission and broader results. These organizations evaluate and adjust their
    efforts to optimize their contributions to results.3 Several participants
    said that policy-makers need to re-examine the base of federal activities,
    identify programs that have outlived their relevance, and make difficult
    choices about wants, needs, and affordability.

    Several participants stated that regularly communicating a clear and
    consistent message about the importance of fulfilling the organization's
    mission helps engage employees, clients, customers, partners, and other

    1See U.S. General Accounting Office, Results-Oriented Cultures:
    Implementation Steps to Assist Mergers and Organizational Transformations,
    GAO-03-669 (Washington, D.C.: July 2003).

    2See U.S. General Accounting Office, Results-Oriented Cultures: Creating a
    Clear Linkage between Individual Performance and Organizational Success,
    GAO-03-488 (Washington, D.C.: March 2003).

    3See U.S. General Accounting Office, A Model of Strategic Human Capital
    Management, GAO-02-373SP (Washington, D.C.: March 2002).

                                       Appendix I
                      High-Performing Organizations: Highlights of
                                    Forum Discussion

    stakeholders in achieving higher performance. An effective, on-going
    communications strategy is essential to implementing a transformation. One
    participant noted that most federal agencies do a poor job of effectively
    communicating with employees.

    Strategic Use of Partnerships 	To be a high-performing organization,
    federal agencies must effectively manage and influence relationships with
    organizations outside of their direct control. For many federal agencies,
    these partnerships can range from direct contractual relationships for
    products and services, to intergovernmental grants and regulatory
    relationships, to coordination across federal agencies. The challenge for
    federal agencies is to make effective use of these partnerships to
    optimize the federal contribution to achieving outcomes. For example,
    according to one participant, the Superintendent of the Golden Gate
    National Park has recently turned to the use of partnerships to provide
    programs and services in a tight fiscal environment. We have found that
    innovative partnerships at the National Park Service go well beyond basic
    partnerships, such as contracting for services, and can entail complex
    public/private business arrangements.4 A focus on the effective use of
    partnerships is a key to achieving results and has important implications
    across a range of management functions and activities. Topics for
    consideration to effectively use partnerships include:

    o 	Accountability for results becomes shared among the various federal and
    non-federal partners, rather than residing with a sole partner. One
    participant said that holding partners accountable is one of the
    challenges of managing partnerships.

    o 	Establishing knowledge-sharing networks. For example, one participant
    noted that federal agencies often lack sufficient collaboration to share
    their experiences and best practices.

    Focus on Needs of Clients and Participants generally agreed that
    high-performing organizations focus on

    Customers	the needs of their clients and customers. This entails at a
    minimum, undertaking concerted efforts to understand and respond to client
    and customer needs, measuring progress toward meeting these needs, and
    publicly reporting on that progress and improvement opportunities-to help
    assure appropriate accountability and transparency. One participant
    suggested that federal agencies need to engage citizens more directly and

    4See U.S. General Accounting Office, Public-Private Partnerships: Key
    Elements of Federal Building and Facility Partnerships, GAO/GGD-99-23
    (Washington, D.C.: February 1999).

                                       Appendix I
                       High-Performing Organizations:Highlightsof
                                    Forum Discussion

    involve them in the process of agency transformation to learn how to
    better respond to public needs.

    One participant emphasized that it is difficult to successfully transform
    into a high-performing organization unless both policymakers and the
    American people support the effort to make changes. In that regard,
    federal agencies need to build a business case for transformation so that
    needed changes can be made before crises develop. Prudent risk-management
    must be a key part of change management efforts.

    Strategic Management of People	People are the primary resource of
    high-performing organizations and they need to be engaged for the
    organization to achieve its mission and strategic goals and to
    successfully transform. As GAO has repeatedly noted, people are at the
    center of any serious change management or transformation initiative.
    Several participants noted that strong, charismatic, and visionary leaders
    who empower their employees to achieve results and manage risks for the
    benefit of clients and customers are important elements of highperforming
    organizations. Sustained leadership also drives high-performing
    organizations to achieve results. High turnover among politically
    appointed leaders can make it difficult to follow through with
    organizational transformation. Some of the participants said that because
    of this turnover, it is particularly important for appointees and senior
    career civil servants to develop good working relationships from the
    beginning.

    Several participants also said that high-performing organizations develop
    the capability to identify what skills and competences employees and the
    organization need to be successful, both now and in the future. We have
    found that workforce planning efforts linked to strategic goals and
    objectives enable an agency to address its current and future human
    capital needs, such as determining the skills and competencies needed for
    an agency to pursue its mission.5 Further, as part of workforce planning
    efforts, we have found that leading organizations use succession planning
    to identify, develop, and select human capital to ensure that successors
    ar the right people, with the right skills, available at the right time
    for leadership and other key positions.6

    5See U.S. General Accounting Office, Human Capital: Key Principles for
    Effective Strategic Workforce Planning, GAO-04-39 (Washington, D.C.:
    December 2003).

    6See U.S. General Accounting Office, Human Capital: Insights for U.S.
    Agencies from Other Countries' Succession Planning and Management
    Initiatives, GAO-03-914 (Washington, D.C.: September 2003).

    Appendix I
    High-Performing Organizations:Highlightsof
    Forum Discussion

    In that regard, there was general agreement that to achieve high
    performance, federal agencies must provide more comprehensive training and
    development opportunities to foster the development of top leaders and
    employees in general. Several participants stated that federal agencies
    should invest more in leadership training and development. For example,
    lessons could be learned from the leadership training programs in the
    Department of Defense and the U.S. military, according to some of the
    participants. Several participants also identified the need for training
    in strategic planning and performance evaluation. We recently reported
    that effective training and development programs are an integral part of
    enhancing the federal government's ability to attract and retain employees
    with the skills and competencies needed to achieve results and meet
    transformation challenges.7 A few participants expressed support for
    initiatives to strengthen recruiting of university students and partnering
    with the academic community to influence curriculum to better prepare
    students for working in the federal government.

    Several participants also discussed the importance of retaining
    highperforming employees, a practice of high-performing organizations. One
    invitee, who submitted comments prior to the forum because he could not
    attend, noted that high turnover in top managerial posts in general means
    newer supervisors and managers are spending less time in positions before
    moving up the chain of command. This individual stated that retaining top
    managers beyond retirement would alleviate such situations.

    Finally, some of the participants stated that the federal government's
    hiring process poses an impediment to achieving higher performance because
    it is too slow and too complex, which undermines the federal government's
    ability to hire individuals with the right skills and experience.
    Specifically, participants discussed the difficulty of identifying job
    applicants that are starting their professional federal careers. One
    participant noted that more aggressive internship programs might help
    because it would enable federal agencies to offer permanent jobs to
    interns who perform well. The invitee, who submitted comments prior to the
    forum, proposed that agencies looking to fill critical jobs might be more
    successful if the federal government maintained a database of qualified
    individuals. This database could be used to send notifications of
    vacancies or be accessed by agencies

    7See U.S. General Accounting Office, Human Capital: A Guide for Assessing
    Strategic Training and Development Efforts in the Federal Government,
    GAO-03-893G (Washington, D.C.: July 2003).

                                       Appendix I
                       High-Performing Organizations:Highlightsof
                                    Forum Discussion

    searching for qualified candidates. We have reported that high-performing
    organizations need a results-oriented workforce to accomplish their
    missions, but that the current federal hiring process often falls short of
    meeting the needs of agencies, managers, and applicants.8

    Next Steps to Foster Development of High-Performing Organizations

    The Comptroller General also offered several options that could be adopted
    to facilitate transformation and to achieve high performance in the
    federal government that the Congress, the executive branch such as the
    Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel Management, and
    other federal agencies, as well as public, for-profit, and not-for-profit
    organizations could pursue. Several of the participants provided their
    views on these options and their experiences with them. These options
    included (1) establishing a governmentwide transformation fund where
    federal agencies could apply for funds to make short-term targeted
    investments, based on a well-developed business case, (2) employing the
    Chief Operating Officer concept or establishing a related senior
    management position, such as a Principal Under Secretary for Management
    and/or Chief Administrative Officer, to provide long-term attention and
    focus on management issues and transformational change at selected federal
    agencies, and (3) examining certain federal budget reforms, such as a
    biennial budget process, which could encourage the Congress and federal
    agencies to focus on long-range issues and possibly provide more time for
    oversight of existing government programs, policies, functions, and
    activities.

      Governmentwide Transformation Fund

    Several participants discussed the idea of a governmentwide transformation
    fund as one proposal for helping federal agencies transition into higher
    performance. In prior testimony, we have proposed establishing a
    governmentwide fund where agencies, based on a well-developed business
    case, could apply for funds to modernize their performance management
    systems and ensure that those systems have adequate safeguards to prevent
    abuse.9 The basic idea of the fund would be to provide short-term targeted
    investments needed to prepare agencies to use

    8See U.S. General Accounting Office, Human Capital: Opportunities to
    Improve Executive Agencies' Hiring Processes, GAO-03-450 (Washington,
    D.C.: May 2003).

    9U.S. General Accounting Office, Human Capital: Building on DOD's Reform
    Effort to Foster Governmentwide Improvements, GAO-03-851T (Washington,
    D.C.: June 4, 2003).

    Appendix I
    High-Performing Organizations: Highlights of
    Forum Discussion

    their performance management systems as strategic tools to achieve
    organizational results and drive cultural change. If successful, this
    approach to targeted investments could be expanded to foster and support
    agencies' related transformation efforts, including other aspects of the
    high-performing organization concept recommended by the Commercial
    Activities Panel.10 To illustrate how such a funding approach could work,
    the Congress recently authorized the Secretary of Defense to implement a
    pilot program whereby selected Department of Defense organizations are
    provided incentives to re-engineer their operations in order to become
    high-performing organizations.11

    Some of the participants offered possible approaches for a governmentwide
    transformation fund. For example, one participant described a special
    funding program in the United Kingdom intended to assist government
    agencies in implementing reforms, but the agencies had to reimburse the
    government. Another participant explained how "performance partnerships"
    work for agencies in one state government. Agencies received funding to
    implement a new information technology system only after they had
    collaborated with other members of the partnership and met other
    requirements of the performance partnership. One participant proposed that
    the federal government have governmentwide standards to guide these
    transformation initiatives. Another participant said the Congress should
    take part in creating these standards and they should resemble the kinds
    of performance standards described in the President's Management Agenda.12

    On the other hand, some participants expressed concern that federal
    agencies would only implement transformation initiatives if they received
    funding through a governmentwide transformation fund. Further, some of the
    participants stated that federal agencies would have less commitment

    10The Commercial Activities Panel was mandated by section 832 of the
    National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001, which required
    the Comptroller General to convene a panel of experts to study the process
    used by the federal government to make sourcing decisions. After a
    yearlong study, the panel published its report on April 30, 2002. See
    Commercial Activities Panel, Improving the Sourcing Decisions of the
    Government: Final Report (Washington, D.C.: April 30, 2002). The report
    can be found on GAO's Web site at www.gao.gov under the Commercial
    Activities Panel heading.

    11National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004, Section 337,
    Public Law 108-136, Nov. 24, 2003.

    12Office of Management and Budget, The President's Management Agenda,
    Fiscal Year 2002 (Washington, D.C.: August 2001).

                                       Appendix I
                       High-Performing Organizations:Highlightsof
                                    Forum Discussion

    to the success of transformation initiatives if the agencies did not fund
    the initiatives themselves. One participant proposed setting aside a
    portion of the specific agency's budget as an incentive to fund and
    implement transformation initiatives.

    Chief Operating Officer	The possibility of employing the Chief Operating
    Officer concept or establishing a related senior management position, such
    as a Principal Under Secretary for Management and/or Chief Administrative
    Officer, to provide long-term attention and focus on management issues and
    transformational change at selected federal agencies was raised during
    discussions about the importance of continuity of leadership for federal
    agencies. On September 9, 2002, the Comptroller General convened a
    roundtable of executive branch leaders and management experts to discuss
    the Chief Operating Officer concept and how it might apply within selected
    federal departments and agencies as one leadership strategy to address
    certain systemic federal governance challenges.13 There was general
    agreement at the 2002 roundtable on a number of overall themes concerning
    the need for agencies to do the following:

    o 	Elevate attention on management issues and transformational change at
    selected federal agencies. The nature and scope of the changes needed in
    many agencies require the sustained and inspired commitment of the top
    political and career leadership.

    o 	Integrate various key management and transformation efforts. While
    officials with management responsibilities often have successfully worked
    together, there needs to be a single point within agencies with the
    perspective and responsibility-as well as authority-to ensure the
    successful implementation of functional management and, if appropriate,
    transformational change efforts.

    o 	Institutionalize accountability for addressing management issues and
    leading transformational change. The management weaknesses in some
    agencies are deeply entrenched and long standing and will take years of
    sustained attention and continuity to resolve. In addition, making
    fundamental changes in agencies' cultures will require a long-term

    13U.S. General Accounting Office, Highlights of a GAO Roundtable: The
    Chief Operating Officer Concept: A Potential Strategy to Address Federal
    Governance Challenges, GAO-03192SP (Washington, D.C.: October 2002).

                                       Appendix I
                       High-Performing Organizations:Highlightsof
                                    Forum Discussion

    effort. In the federal government, the frequent turnover of the political
    leadership has often made it difficult to obtain the sustained and
    inspired attention required to make needed changes.

    As discussed earlier, participants generally agreed that high-performing
    organizations have strong and sustained leadership. On the Chief Operating
    Officer concept, some of the participants discussed ways to ensure
    longterm attention and focus on management issues at federal agencies. The
    Comptroller General noted that in Canada, the United Kingdom, and
    Australia, government agencies are managed by a minister who is a
    political official and a deputy minister who is a career civil servant.
    Another participant stated that federal agencies need two types of top
    leaders-one dedicated to internal operations and one who is more
    externally focused.

    Federal Budget Reforms	The Comptroller General asked participants to
    consider whether certain federal budget reforms, such as a biennial
    budget, would encourage the Congress and federal agencies to focus on
    long-range issues and possibly provide more time for oversight of existing
    government programs, policies, functions, and activities. In July 2001, we
    testified on considerations for updating the Budget Enforcement Act.14 We
    stated that those who have suggested that changing the appropriations
    cycle from annual to biennial believe it could (1) provide more focused
    time for congressional oversight of programs, (2) shift the allocation of
    agency officials' time from the preparation of budgets to improved
    financial management and analysis of program effectiveness, and (3)
    enhance agencies' abilities to manage their operations by providing more
    certainty in funding over two years. However, while we have said biennial
    budgeting would change the nature of congressional oversight, we have also
    said it would bring neither the end of congressional control nor the
    guarantee of improved oversight. It would require a change in the nature
    of that control. If the Congress decides to proceed with a change to a
    biennial budget cycle-including a biennial appropriations cycle-careful
    thought is necessary on implementation issues.

    14See U.S. General Accounting Office, Budget Process: Considerations for
    Updating the Budget Enforcement Act, GAO-01-991T (Washington, D.C.: July
    19, 2001).

    Appendix I
    High-Performing Organizations:Highlightsof
    Forum Discussion

    One participant stated that it would be useful to learn more from those
    states or countries that have biennial budgets to determine best
    practices.15 Another participant stated that the biennial budget was
    attractive theoretically, but that it would be difficult to convince the
    Congress of the benefits of a biennial budget and difficult to implement.
    One participant noted that the Department of Defense develops a biennial
    budget, but that it still must proceed through the annual appropriations
    process along with other federal agencies.

    15See U.S. General Accounting Office, Biennial Budgeting: Three States'
    Experiences, GAO01-132 (Washington, D.C.: October, 2000).

    Appendix II

                                   Forum Participants

    Facilitator

    David M. Walker	Comptroller General of the United States U.S. General
    Accounting Office

    Participants

    Lawrence F. Alwin, CPA Jonathan Breul

    Colin Campbell

    Jeff Chambers Gene L. Dodaro

    William Eggers

    Janet Hale

    Mary Hamilton

    Sallyanne Harper

    Ted Hoff State Auditor, Texas State Auditor's Office

    Associate Partner of IBM Business Consulting Services and Senior Fellow at
    the IBM Center for The Business of Government

    Canada Research Chair in U.S. Government and Politics, University of
    British Columbia

    Vice President of Human Resources, SAS

    Chief Operating Officer, U.S. General Accounting Office

    Global Director, Public Sector, Deloitte Research

    Under Secretary for Management, Department of Homeland Security

    Executive Director, American Society for Public Administration

    Chief Mission Support Officer and Chief Financial Officer, U.S. General
    Accounting Office

    Vice President Learning, IBM Corporation

    Appendix II
    Forum Participants

    Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson John Kamensky

    Colleen Kelley Gail McGinn Patricia McGinnis Frank A. Partlow, Jr. Marta
    Brito Perez

    John Potter Jacqueline Simon A.W. Pete Smith, Jr. Max Stier Robert Tobias

    President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

    Associate Partner of IBM Business Consulting Services and Senior Fellow at
    the IBM Center for The Business of Government

    National President, National Treasury Employees Union

    Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Plans, Department of Defense

    President and Chief Executive Officer, Council for Excellence in
    Government

    Chief of Staff, Government Printing Office

    Associate Director, Human Capital Leadership and Merit System
    Accountability, Office of Personnel Management

    Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer, U.S. Postal Service

    Public Policy Director, American Federation of Government Employees

    President and Chief Executive Officer, Private Sector Council

    President and Chief Executive Officer, Partnership for Public Service

    Director, Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation,
    American University

    Appendix III

                                  Related GAO Products

    U.S. Postal Service: Bold Action Needed to Continue Progress on Postal
    Transformation. GAO-04-108T. Washington, D.C.: November 5, 2003.

    Discusses the need for fundamental reform at the U.S. Postal Service and
    identifies various steps that the Service can take to modernize and
    improve its effectiveness and efficiency. While the Service has begun to
    implement a transformation plan, cut costs, and become more efficient, it
    continues to face a number of challenges.

    Results-Oriented Government: Shaping the Government to Meet 21st Century
    Challenges. GAO-03-1168T. Washington, D.C.: September 17, 2003.

    Describes significant performance and management problems facing the
    federal government and the importance of periodic reexamination and
    reevaluation of agencies' activities. Suggests a range of options that the
    Congress could use to eliminate redundancy and improve federal operations.

    Truth And Transparency: The Federal Government's Financial Condition And
    Fiscal Outlook, delivered by The Honorable David M. Walker, Comptroller
    General of the United States, at the National Press Club, Washington,
    D.C.: September 17, 2003.

    Provides a candid description of the federal government's current
    financial condition and fiscal outlook for the coming years, and presents
    several suggestions for the consideration of the Congress, the
    Administration, and others on how to address current and future financial
    challenges.

    GAO: Transformation, Challenges, and Opportunities. GAO-03-1167T.
    Washington, D.C.: September 16, 2003.

    Discusses GAO's major transformation effort over the past four years to
    effectively position the agency for the future including various
    initiatives that have helped GAO become more strategic, results-oriented,
    partnerial, and responsive. Identifies challenges and opportunities that
    still remain.

    Appendix III
    Related GAO Products

    Results-Oriented Cultures: Implementation Steps to Assist Mergers and
    Organizational Transformations. GAO-03-669. Washington, D.C.: July 2,
    2003.

    Building on the nine key practices for successful mergers and
    transformations identified at GAO's September 2002 forum on the issue,
    this report identifies specific implementation steps for each practice
    illustrated by private and public sector examples.

    FBI Reorganization: Progress Made in Efforts to Transform, but Major
    Challenges Continue. GAO-03-759T. Washington, D.C.: June 18, 2003.

    Reviews the FBI's efforts to reorganize and transform and finds that the
    agency has made progress in some areas over the past year, but a number of
    major challenges remain.

    Human Capital: Building on DOD's Reform Effort to Foster Governmentwide
    Improvements. GAO-03-851T. Washington, D.C.: June 4, 2003.

    Provides GAO's observations on recent DOD human capital reform proposals
    accompanying that agency's broader transformation effort. Identifies the
    need for governmentwide reform so that federal agencies can strategically
    manage their human capital.

    Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: A Governmentwide
    Perspective. GAO-03-95. Washington, D.C.: January 2003.

    Outlines an array of challenges and opportunities for federal agencies to
    enhance performance, ensure accountability, and position the nation for
    the future. Describes transformation efforts underway at several agencies
    to make their cultures more results-oriented, customer-focused, and
    collaborative in nature.

    Highlights of a GAO Forum: Mergers and Transformation: Lessons Learned for
    a Department of Homeland Security and Other Federal Agencies.
    GAO-03-293SP. Washington, D.C.: November 14, 2002.

    Summarizes the findings of a GAO forum held in September 2002 to identify
    useful practices learned from major private and public sector
    organizational mergers and transformations that federal agencies,

    Appendix III
    Related GAO Products

    including the new Department of Homeland Security, could implement to
    successfully transform their cultures.

    Highlights of a GAO Roundtable: The Chief Operating Officer Concept: A
    Potential Strategy to Address Federal Governance Challenges. GAO-03192SP.
    Washington, D.C.: October 4, 2002.

    Summarizes the findings of a GAO roundtable held in September 2002 on the
    Chief Operating Officer concept and how it might be used in selected
    federal agencies as one strategy to address certain systemic governance
    and management challenges.

    Appendix IV

                        Selected Bibliography on High-Performing
                         Organizations and Networked Government

    This selected bibliography provides additional resources and information
    on how federal agencies work within networks and partnerships to achieve
    results and outcomes. Prior to our forum on high-performing organizations,
    we met with a number of representatives from the public, not-for-profit,
    and for-profit sectors, as well as academia, who helped us develop the
    themes that we explored during the forum. This selected bibliography was
    culled from materials cited by these representatives in our discussions
    with them as well as from our own review and knowledge of the literature
    on this topic.

    Eggers, William D. and Stephen Goldsmith. Government by Network: The New
    Public Management Imperative. Deloitte Research and The Innovations
    Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University,
    February 2004 (forthcoming).

    Describes the emergence of networked government as a fundamentally
    different organizational model for the formulation and delivery of public
    services. Identifies different types of networks and provides illustrative
    case studies.

    Atkinson, Robert D. Network Government for the Digital Age. Washington,
    D.C.: Progressive Policy Institute, May 2003.

    Outlines a framework for thinking about government in the Information Age
    that emphasizes "network government" and promotes collective action to
    advance the public good. Provides steps for creating network government.

    National Academy of Public Administration. Powering the Future: High
    Performance Partnerships. Washington, D.C.: April 2003.

    Identifies the characteristics of a high-performing partnership based on
    the experiences of 10 cross-sector partnerships. Describes how the
    partnerships work and how they provide better outcomes.

    Agranoff, Robert. Leveraging Networks: A Guide for Public Managers Working
    Across Organizations. Arlington, VA.: IBM Endowment for The Business of
    Government, March 2003.

    Describes 12 networks of government organizations, intergovernmental
    entities, and nonprofits and outlines from managers' perspectives the
    critical elements for successful collaboration.

    Appendix IV
    Selected Bibliography on High-Performing
    Organizations and Networked Government

    Kamarck, Elaine C. Applying 21st-Century Government to the Challenge of
    Homeland Security. Arlington, VA.: The PricewaterhouseCoopers Endowment
    for The Business of Government, June 2002.

    Describes reinvented government, government by network, and government by
    market as alternatives to the bureaucratic model. Applies these models to
    the problem of homeland security.

    Commercial Activities Panel. Commercial Activities Panel Final Report:
    Improving the Sourcing Decisions of the Government. Washington, D.C.:
    April 2002.

    Presents 10 principles for a strategic approach to sourcing in the federal
    government and then uses these principles to assess the federal
    government's current approach and develop recommendations for improvement.

    Fosler, R. Scott. Working Better Together: How Government, Business, and
    Nonprofit Organizations Can Achieve Public Purposes Through Cross-Sector
    Collaboration, Alliances, and Partnerships. Washington, D.C.: Three Sector
    Initiative, 2002.

    Identifies forces that that have blurred the conventional lines between
    government, business, and nonprofit organizations and offers lessons
    learned for making cross-collaboration efforts more effective.

    Kettl, Donald F. The Transformation of Governance: Public Administration
    for Twenty-First Century America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University
    Press, 2002.

    Discusses government's increasing reliance on tools such as grants,
    contracts, and loans that operate mainly through partnerships with
    nongovernmental players. Analyzes this transformation of governance and
    highlights the need for greater capacity to work with nongovernmental
    partners.

    Appendix IV
    Selected Bibliography on High-Performing
    Organizations and Networked Government

    Linden, Russell M. Working Across Boundaries: Making Collaboration Work in
    Government and Nonprofit Organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2002.

    Provides a framework describing key elements of successful collaboration.
    Case studies demonstrate how organizations overcome obstacles to generate
    greater value by working together.

    Salamon, Lester M. (ed.) The Tools of Government: A Guide to the New
    Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.

    Contains 22 essays covering a wide range of topics concerning the
    different tools of public action and the role of third-party actors in
    delivering government services. Provides a systematic discussion of how
    these tools are being used to address public problems both in the United
    States and abroad.

    Popovich, Mark G. (ed.) Creating High-Performance Government
    Organizations. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Public
    Administration, 1998.

    Provides guidance and tools intended to help managers and innovators at
    every level of government mold their organizations into results-oriented,
    mission-driven operations.

    Appendix V

                     GAO Forums and Roundtables (Planned and Past)

    GAO conducts periodic leadership forums and roundtables on topics
    affecting the federal government's role in meeting selected 21st century
    national challenges. Selected leaders and experts in various fields from
    the public, private and not-for-profit sectors are convened at these
    meetings to discuss certain key issues. The goal of each event is to
    produce dialogue that stimulates new partnerships and identifies actions
    designed to address the respective issues. A report summarizing the
    discussions without attribution and noting the participants who attended
    is published after each forum and roundtable.

    Sessions that are planned and have been held are listed below, as well as
    detailed descriptions of each event.

    Long-range Budget Challenges Forum Fall 2004

    One of our most difficult and contentious national issues involves
    allocation of limited resources to meet different needs over different
    generations. This forum will be designed to discuss current and projected
    budget challenges at different levels of government caused by changing
    national priorities, known demographic trends, rising health care costs
    and other factors. This forum will explore possible metrics and methods
    that could be used to place greater attention on budgetary choices and
    tradeoffs in the connection of stewardship issues and inter-generational
    challenges.

    Human Capital and Civil Service Reform Forum Spring 2004

    Effective human capital strategies are key to maximizing the government's
    performance, assuring its accountability and facilitating successful
    government transformations. This forum will discuss pending human capital
    reform efforts, recent legislation, and possible future legislative and
    administrative reform efforts. Special attention will be provided to
    developing an initial set of operating principles for determining
    agencyspecific vs. governmentwide human capital reforms and seeking
    agreement on a legislative and regulatory template for providing agencies
    with greater human capital authorities.

    Workforce Challenges and Opportunities April 22, 2004 in the 21st Century
    Forum

    The U.S. may face significant worker and skills shortages in the 21st
    century as a result of long-term demographic and employment trends such

    Appendix V
    GAO Forums and Roundtables (Planned and
    Past)

    as the aging of the large baby boom population together with slower labor
    force growth. In addition, the share of the workforce holding college
    degrees is projected to grow significantly slower than in the past.
    However, opportunities may exist for addressing the potential shortages
    such as increasing the workforce participation of seasoned workers,
    low-income individuals, those with disabilities, and foreign labor. This
    forum will discuss the future demands on the workforce, options for
    meeting these demands and their trade-offs, and the role government might
    play in helping to address these issues.

    Health Care Forum January 13, 2004

    The U.S. faces a huge and growing long-range fiscal imbalance due
    primarily to known demographic trends and rising health care costs.
    Concerned about these trends, the Comptroller General sponsored a forum to
    discuss with business leaders and health policy experts the current state
    of and the long-term challenges posed by the nation's health care system.
    In addition, the discussion focused on strategies for achieving an
    efficient, effective, reasonable, and sustainable health care financing
    and delivery system over the long term.

    High-Performing Organizations Forum November 6, 2003

    To respond to the governance challenges of the 21st century, government
    agencies must transform what they do, the way they do business, and in
    some cases, who does the government's business. This transformation must
    create a government that is less hierarchical, process-oriented,
    stovepiped, and inwardly focused and make government more
    partnershipbased, results-oriented, integrated, and externally focused. A
    goal of this transformation is to create high-performing organizations
    across the federal government. Government agencies will need to work
    better within networks-governmental and non-governmental organizations,
    and the private sector, both domestically and internationally-to achieve
    results. This forum identified the essential attributes of high-performing
    organizations within a networked public management environment and

    Appendix V
    GAO Forums and Roundtables (Planned and
    Past)

    possible next steps for creating high-performing organizations across the
    government.1

    Key National Indicators Forum February 27, 2003

    The U.S. faces profound challenges today and in the future such as the
    aging of the baby boomers, rising health care costs, and threats to our
    national security. The information needed to help the nation's leaders and
    concerned citizens address these challenges is not as available,
    comparable, or reliable as it could be for making public policy choices.
    The purpose of the forum was to discuss whether and how to develop a set
    of key national indicators that will provide better information to
    national decision makers for making public policy choices as well as to
    the public as a whole. 2 After the forum, several public and private
    sector institutions formed an informal national coordinating committee to
    begin organizing a national initiative as a temporary means of
    facilitating dialogue, work and funding to develop a more comprehensive
    national indicator system.

    Governance and Accountability Forum December 9, 2002

    Recent events have highlighted just how critical our corporate governance
    system and the accountability profession are to our market economy and
    civil society. This forum was designed to discuss implementation of the
    Sarbanes/Oxley Act of 2002, as well as other steps that have been taken,
    and additional steps that could be taken, to help improve the public
    confidence in these two critical foundations. Special emphasis was placed
    on steps designed to enhance independence of the corporate governance

    1See U.S. General Accounting Office, Highlights of a GAO Forum on
    High-Performing Organizations: Metrics, Means, and Mechanisms for
    Achieving High Performance in the 21st Century Public Management
    Environment, GAO-04-343SP (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 13, 2004).

    2See U.S. General Accounting Office in Cooperation With The National
    Academies, Forum on Key National Indicators: Assessing the Nation's
    Position and Progress, GAO-03-672SP (Washington, D.C.: May 2003).

    Appendix V
    GAO Forums and Roundtables (Planned and
    Past)

    system, and the accounting/auditing and attest/assurance models for the
    21st century.3

                    Mergers/Transformation Forum September 24, 2002

    The creation of the new Department of Homeland Security represents a major
    transformation challenge for the U.S. government. The Comptroller General
    facilitated a forum to identify and discuss useful practices learned from
    major private and public sector organizational mergers and transformations
    that federal agencies could implement to successfully transform their
    cultures. While there is no one right way to manage a successful merger or
    transformation, the participants' discussion identified key practices to
    ultimately create a new organization that is more than the "sum of its
    parts." GAO subsequently identified implementation steps for these
    practices to assist organizational mergers and transformations. 4

                  Chief Operating Officer Roundtable September 9, 2002

    GAO has amply documented that agencies are suffering from a range of
    long-standing management problems that are undermining their abilities to
    accomplish their missions and achieve results. The Comptroller General
    facilitated this roundtable to discuss the Chief Operating Officer concept
    and how it might apply within selected federal departments and agencies as
    one strategy to address certain systemic federal governance and management
    challenges. There was general agreement that the following three themes
    provided a course of action for the Chief Operating Officer concept (1)
    elevate attention on management issues and transformational change, (2)
    integrate various key management and transformation efforts,

    3See U.S. General Accounting Office, GAO Forum on Governance and
    Accountability: Challenges to Restore Public Confidence in U.S. Corporate
    Governance and Accountability Systems, GAO-03-419SP (Washington, D.C.:
    Jan. 24, 2003).

    4See U.S. General Accounting Office, Highlights of a GAO Forum: Mergers
    and Transformation: Lessons Learned for a Department of Homeland Security
    and Other Federal Agencies, GAO-03-293SP (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 14, 2002)
    and Results-Oriented Cultures: Implementation Steps to Assist Mergers and
    Organizational Transformations,

    GAO-03-669 (Washington, D.C.: July 2, 2003).

    Appendix V
    GAO Forums and Roundtables (Planned and
    Past)

    and (3) institutionalize accountability for addressing management issues
    and leading transformational change.5

    Governance, Transparency, and February 25, 2002 Accountability Forum

    The unexpected bankruptcy of Enron and the financial difficulties
    experienced by several other large corporations resulted in substantial
    losses to employees and shareholders. The Comptroller General convened a
    forum that focused on corporate governance, transparency, and
    accountability issues to assist the Congress in identifying systemic
    issues and changes that could serve to reduce the possibility of other
    Enron-like situations in the future. Forum participants included
    individuals from federal and state government, the private sector,
    standards-setting and oversight bodies, and a variety of other interested
    parties. The results of this forum, along with other GAO analysis,
    testimony, and reports, helped inform the Congress as it drafted
    legislation to strengthen government oversight of and protect the public's
    interest in the nation's financial markets.6

    5See U.S. General Accounting Office, Highlights of a GAO Roundtable: The
    Chief Operating Officer Concept: A Potential Strategy to Address Federal
    Governance Challenges, GAO-03192SP (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 4, 2002).

    6 See U.S. General Accounting Office, Highlights of GAO's Corporate,
    Governance, Transparency and Accountability Forum, GAO-02-494SP
    (Washington, D.C.: March 5, 2002).

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