Federal Management Issue Area Plan--Fiscal Years 1995-96 (Letter Report,
03/01/95, GAO/IAP-95-9).

GAO provided information on its Federal Management issue area plan,
focusing on: (1) the integration of management requirements, improvement
strategies, and tools into management framework; (2) management reform
initiatives; (3) program implementation strategies that can be used to
improve efficiency and effectiveness; (4) federal statistical programs
that measure performance; and (5) the federal government's role as a
provider of accessible data.

GAO plans to: (1) describe key management laws and requirements and how
they function at the agency and program level; (2) identify strategies
that can support and integrate management improvement efforts; (3)
identify major challenges and opportunities in institutionalizing
strategic planning and performance measurement; (4) help agencies
implement the Government Performance and Results Act and expand
understanding of the act across GAO; (5) describe initiatives to
reinvent work and budget processes; (6) assess alternatives in carrying
out governmental functions; (7) assess available options to resolve the
District of Columbia's fiscal crisis; (8) identify ways to enhance
acceptance of the Consumer Price Index as a measure of inflation; (9)
determine the usability of federal statistical data; (10) identify
measures to reduce the cost of the 2000 Census; and (11) develop a
framework for publishing and electronically disseminating government
information.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  IAP-95-9
     TITLE:  Federal Management Issue Area Plan--Fiscal Years 1995-96
      DATE:  03/01/95
   SUBJECT:  Statistical data
             Information dissemination operations
             Strategic planning
             Census
             Cost effectiveness analysis
             General management reviews
             Compliance
             Data integrity
IDENTIFIER:  OMB 2000
             Consumer Price Index
             District of Columbia
             GMR
             
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Cover
================================================================ COVER


General Government Division

March 1995

FEDERAL MANAGEMENT ISSUE AREA PLAN
- FISCAL YEARS 1995-96

GAO/IAP-95-9



Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV


FOREWORD
============================================================ Chapter 0

The Federal Management issue area is one of the General Accounting
Office's 35 issue areas.  Relying heavily on consultation with
congressional committees, agency officials, and other experts, GAO
develops strategic plans to ensure that its limited resources are
directed toward the most important concerns of the Congress.  The
Federal Management issue area reviews a broad range of cross-cutting
federal management and statistical policy issues that include the
Government Performance and Results Act; the National Performance
Review; regulatory reform; privatization and other public-private mix
alternatives; and the examination of the quality, reliability, and
usefulness of leading social and economic statistical data series. 

GAO serves as a source of timely, accurate information and unbiased
analysis for decisionmakers in the Congress and executive agencies. 
For each issue area, GAO's strategic plan describes the significance
of the issues, our objectives, and the focus of our work.  Our work
results in such products as reports, briefings, and testimonies. 

GAO's work on federal management issues is focused on the following
principal issues: 

ï¿½the integration of management requirements, improvement strategies,
and tools into a consistent management framework;

ï¿½use of strategic planning and outcome-oriented performance
measurements to continually improve agencies' effectiveness;

ï¿½the management reform initiatives that are being or can be
implemented;

ï¿½the mix of program implementation strategies, including expanding
the use of the private sector and its delivery methods, that can be
used to improve effectiveness and efficiency;

ï¿½ federal statistical programs as a source of accurate, adequate, and
timely measures of social and economic activity and government
performance; and

ï¿½ the federal government's role as a provider of useful and readily
accessible data at reasonable cost. 

In the pages that follow, we describe our key planned work on these
pivotal issues. 

Because events may significantly affect even the best of plans, our
planning process allows for updating the plan and responding quickly
to emerging issues.  If you have any questions or suggestions about
this plan, please call either me or Charles I.  Patton, Associate
Director, on (202) 512-8676. 

William M.  Hunt
Director
Federal Management Issues

Contents


   FOREWORD
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:1

1


   TABLE I:  KEY ISSUES
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:2

4


   TABLE II:  PLANNED MAJOR WORK
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:3

8


   TABLE III:  GAO CONTACTS
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:4

9


TABLE I:  KEY ISSUES
============================================================ Chapter 2

Issue                                    Significance
---------------------------------------  ---------------------------------------
Integrated management framework:         In the next several years, a wide array
How can current management               of government reinvention and reform
requirements, improvement strategies,    initiatives will be undertaken by both
and tools be integrated into a           the legislative and executive branches.
management framework to accomplish       Many of these initiatives will affect
agencies' goals in a results-oriented    the management of agencies and
environment?                             programs. These efforts will follow
                                         recent reforms, including the Chief
                                         Financial Officers Act, the Government
                                         Performance and Results Act of 1993
                                         (GPRA), and the first phase of the
                                         National Performance Review (NPR) as
                                         well as earlier reforms, such as the
                                         Federal Managers Financial Integrity
                                         Act and the Paperwork Reduction Act.
                                         The success of these new initiatives
                                         will rest in part on how well they can
                                         be integrated into a management
                                         framework to leverage current and
                                         earlier improvement initiatives as well
                                         as ongoing management processes. The
                                         administration also is planning to
                                         introduce its own set of initiatives
                                         that need to be considered in any
                                         management framework.


Managing for results: How can agencies   The landmark GPRA seeks to
use strategic planning and outcome-      fundamentally change the orientation of
oriented performance measurements to     federal management and accountability
continually improve effectiveness and    away from a preoccupation with inputs
responsiveness within given resource     and rigid adherence to prescribed
levels?                                  processes to a greater focus on
                                         outcomes and results. Outcome-oriented
                                         strategic planning and performance
                                         measurement and reporting are the core
                                         elements of GPRA. Many of the current
                                         management initiatives in the Congress
                                         and the administration (e.g., Senator
                                         Roth's Blueprint for Reform, efforts to
                                         shift responsibility for many federal
                                         programs to states and local
                                         governments, NPR, and the
                                         administration's streamlining efforts)
                                         require agreement on the desired
                                         outcomes of federal programs and the
                                         existence of systematic methods and
                                         measures to assess their progress.




Management reform initiatives:           A number of plans have been proposed or
What management reform initiatives are   are under way to reform the way federal
being or can be implemented to improve   programs are managed and implemented,
government operations and                including NPR, OMB 2000, and
effectiveness?                           congressional initiatives to
                                         restructure government and reduce the
                                         burden of federal regulations. Taken
                                         together, these efforts have the
                                         potential to significantly improve the
                                         efficiency, effectiveness, and
                                         responsiveness of government.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Objectives                               Focus of work
---------------------------------------  ---------------------------------------
--Describe key management laws and       ï¿½ Identify major requirements contained
requirements and their linkage points    in laws and regulations that govern
and identify opportunities to align and  federal managers and their rationale,
streamline requirements that enhance     underlying assumptions, and
management capacity while ensuring       applicability to current conditions.
accountability.                          ï¿½ Assess key requirements to determine
                                         gaps and overlaps between various laws
--Describe how requirements are          and regulations and to identify the
communicated to and function at the      impact on agency operations and
agency and program operating levels.     opportunities to better integrate and
                                         align requirements.
--Identify and describe effective        ï¿½ Describe the linkage among the major
strategies and tools that can support    management processes created through
and integrate management improvement     law and case studies that describe and
efforts.                                 analyze the various strategies and
                                         tools used in linking requirements and
--Determine how federal agencies manage  systems to achieve program results.
and integrate recent and ongoing         ï¿½ Identify and assess practices that
changes.                                 provide agency managers greater
                                         capacity to manage and integrate recent
                                         and ongoing changes in their agencies.



--Identify major challenges and          ï¿½ Assess agencies' efforts to implement
opportunities in institutionalizing      and institutionalize GPRA concepts.
strategic planning and performance       ï¿½ Identify the critical steps necessary
measurement.                             for the Congress and agencies to
                                         implement outcome-oriented strategic
--Provide tools and methodologies for    planning and performance measurement
implementing and improving strategic     systems.
planning and performance measurements.   ï¿½ Facilitate work on strategic planning
                                         and performance measurement by program
--Help agencies to implement GPRA by     issue areas across GAO.
transferring knowledge, helping them to  ï¿½ Support OPM's GPRA training efforts,
build skills, and providing lessons      as required by GPRA.
learned from related public and private  ï¿½ Provide agencies with tools to assess
efforts.                                 their progress in implementing GPRA.

--Expand the understanding of GPRA-
related concepts and principles across
GAO and facilitate their use in GAO
assignments and in other federal audit
organizations.

--Describe agencies' initiatives to      ï¿½ Monitor reinvention lab issues,
reinvent their work processes and        processes, and accomplishments,
lessons learned from those               describing certain labs in detail.
initiatives.                             ï¿½ Describe OMB 2000 goals and
--Describe OMB's efforts to integrate    implementation strategies within OMB
management into its budget process and   and selected agencies.
to improve its relations with other      ï¿½ Develop case studies of businesses'
federal agencies.                        regulatory burdens, problematic
--Identify opportunities for the         regulations, and possible solutions.
Congress and agencies to improve         ï¿½ Assess the second phase of NPR.
federal regulatory management.






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Issue                                    Significance
---------------------------------------  ---------------------------------------
Implementation strategies: What mix of   As congressional and executive branch
program implementation strategies,       leaders seek to make fundamental
including expanding the use of the       reforms in the role of government and
private sector and its delivery          the way it delivers programs, these
methods, can be used to improve          leaders must have current information
effectiveness and efficiency?            on the options available and the degree
                                         of success others have had in
                                         implementing these options.






Federal statistics: Do federal           Decisionmakers in both the public and
statistical programs provide accurate,   private sectors need to rely on federal
adequate, and timely measures of social  statistics to understand current
and economic activity and government     economic and social conditions and to
performance?                             estimate the likely effects of their
                                         decisions. The accuracy and timeliness
                                         of these statistics are frequently
                                         questioned, most notably in the recent
                                         debate over the reliability of the
                                         Consumer Price Index for adjusting
                                         federal taxes and expenditures for
                                         inflation. Successful GPRA
                                         implementation, furthermore, will
                                         increase the demand for federal
                                         statistics to improve their capability
                                         to measure the outcomes of federal
                                         programs. Inaccurate or incomplete data
                                         inherently limit the ability of
                                         decisionmakers to plan, evaluate, and
                                         improve programs. These needs must be
                                         balanced against the costs of
                                         statistical programs, particularly the
                                         paperwork burden.





Information policy: How can the federal  Government-generated information is the
government improve its role as a         lifeblood of the federal government and
provider of useful and readily           is essential to agency missions as well
accessible data at reasonable cost?      as to an informed public debate. The
                                         government's ability to provide the
                                         public with useful, accurate, and
                                         timely information in a cost-effective
                                         manner has been the subject of
                                         considerable debate, especially with
                                         the emergence of various electronic
                                         technologies. Conflicting proposals
                                         have been made on how best to reform
                                         the methods the government uses to meet
                                         its basic responsibility for informing
                                         the nation about its activities.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Objectives                               Focus of work
---------------------------------------  ---------------------------------------
--Assist the Congress by assessing       ï¿½ Describe uses and accountability of
alternative approaches to carry out      government corporations.
governmental and quasigovernmental       ï¿½ Survey other governments' use of the
functions.                               private sector.
                                         ï¿½ Identify alternative guidelines for
--Develop criteria for identifying       public sector roles.
alternatives to public sector roles.     ï¿½ Analyze U.S. cities' experiences in
                                         resolving fiscal crises to improve the
--Describe lessons learned from other    District of Columbia's management and
jurisdictions in expanding market        operations.
mechanisms to make them more             ï¿½ Assist the Congress in drafting
effective.                               legislation for a D.C. oversight
                                         board.
--Assist the Congress in assessing the   ï¿½ Provide the D.C. oversight board with
District of Columbia's fiscal crisis     needed information on other oversight
and the options available for resolving  boards and related issues.
it.


--Identify improvements that the Bureau  ï¿½ Assess the quality of federal
of Labor Statistics should make in       statistics that underlie federal
order to enhance the analytical          program decisions and evaluations.
soundness, popular understanding, and    ï¿½ Analyze and assess measurement issues
acceptance of the Consumer Price Index   in the Consumer Price Index.
as a measure of inflation.               ï¿½ Recommend improvements in reporting
                                         data on international transactions that
--Assist federal statistical agencies    are to increase their reliability in a
in improving the accuracy,               cost-effective manner.
completeness, and cost-effectiveness of  ï¿½ Analyze potential benefits and costs
international transaction statistics so  of greater consolidation or
that those statistics can be more        privatization of federal statistical
useful to government policymakers and    programs for the Congress.
business users.

--Assist the Congress in determining
whether the current dispersion of
statistical production among 70
agencies best serves the nation's need
for accurate, timely, and usable
statistical data in the most cost-
effective manner.




--Improve the coverage, accuracy,        ï¿½ Improve the accuracy and reduce the
timeliness, and cost-effectiveness of    cost of the decennial census and other
sociodemographic data used to formulate  sociodemographic surveys.
public policy.                           ï¿½ Suggest ways the federal government
                                         can obtain printing services in order
--Identify measures that the Bureau of   to increase efficiency and economy.
the Census can take to improve the       ï¿½ Review federal guidance for providing
effectiveness and reduce the cost of     government information electronically.
the 2000 Census.

--Assist in developing a framework for
publishing and electronically
disseminating government information.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TABLE II:  PLANNED MAJOR WORK
============================================================ Chapter 3

Issue                      Planned major job starts
-------------------------  -----------------------------------------------------
Integrated management      --Develop a comprehensive inventory of the major
framework                  legislative requirements for federal managers.
                           --Identify and describe management strategies and
                           tools for integrating statutory requirements.
                           --Assess how agencies' use management tools to manage
                           changes
                           being introduced.


Managing for results       --Provide agencies with tools to assess their
                           progress in meeting GPRA requirements.
                           --Continue assessing efforts to implement GPRA.
                           --Evaluate agencies' implementation of GPRA as
                           required by law.


Management improvement     --Monitor and assess the status of the
initiatives                administration's "NPR II" initiative.
                           --Identify ways to refocus federal regulatory
                           management from an emphasis on procedural compliance
                           to an emphasis on outcomes.
                           --Assess the Office of Management and Budget's
                           oversight and coordination of federal regulatory
                           policies.


Implementation strategies  --Conduct a survey of public-private mix options.
                           --Identify criteria and oversight capability for
                           establishing government corporations.


Federal statistics         --Identify ways for improving the Consumer Price
                           Index.
                           --Identify and assess ways for improving the accuracy
                           and usefulness of international transaction
                           statistics.
                           --Identify opportunities for improving coordination
                           of data gathering and streamlining the organization
                           of federal statistical production.


Information policy         --Identify opportunities to improve the accuracy and
                           reduce
                           the cost of the decennial census and other
                           sociodemographic surveys.
                           --Suggest ways the federal government can obtain
                           printing services in order to increase efficiency and
                           economy.
                           --Review federal guidance for providing government
                           information.
                           --Develop a framework for publishing government
                           information electronically.
                           --Review federal agencies' electronic data
                           dissemination policies and practices.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TABLE III:  GAO CONTACTS
============================================================ Chapter 4


      DIRECTOR
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4:0.1

William M.  Hunt (202) 512-8676


      ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4:0.2

Charles I.  Patton (202) 512-3532


      ASSISTANT DIRECTORS
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4:0.3

James A.  Burow
Frances P.  Clark
Curtis W.  Copeland
James McDermott
J.  Christopher Mihm
John K.  Needham


*** End of document. ***