COVID-19 and its Impact: Seven Essays on Reframing Government Management and Operations

In fall 2020, the IBM Center for The Business of Government initiated a Challenge Grant Competition soliciting essays from academics and practitioners describing how government can best transform the way it works, operates, and delivers services to the public in light of the impact of this pandemic.

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By

Gurdeep Gill

Ruth Woo Fellow

King County ggill@kingcounty.gov

Laura Goddeeris

Director, Survey Research and the COVID-19 Action Team

ICMA lgoddeeris@icma.org

Zachary S. Huitink

Research Associate, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs

Syracuse University zshuitin@syr.edu

Robert Handfield,

Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management

North Carolina State University robert_handfield@ncsu.edu

Rodney Scott

Visiting Fellow

University of New South Wales School of Business

Sherri Greenberg

Clinical Professor in Public Policy Practice, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs

The University of Texas at Austin srgreenberg@austin.utexas.edu

Tad McGalliard

Director for Research, Development, and Technical Assistance

ICMA

Eleanor Merton

Research Fellow

Victoria University of Wellington Eleanor.Merton@publicservice.govt.nz

Maya McKenzie

Epidemiologist

Washington State Department of Health, mckenzie.maya@gmail.com

Richard C. Feiock

In re-framing government management and operations, this compendium of seven essays highlights several key themes:

  • Changing the nature of work focuses on government jobs best suited to shift virtually, the new “workday,” best practices, government as a model workplace, and workplace health, safety, and privacy.
  • Reimagining how government delivers services and products to the public explores ways to improve operational effectiveness by addressing engagement, equity, and culture in government service delivery.
  • Managing risk and building resilience focuses on building supply chain resiliency making them immune to unpredictable shocks, emphasizing the critical importance of managing risks and vulnerabilities effectively while also identifying principles that fosters trust in institutions and how they operate in times of crisis.

We hope that government leaders and stakeholders across the country and around the world find the insights in this special report helpful as they adapt changes necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic into their longer term operations.

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Read the article in Government Executive!

COVID-19 and its Impact: Seven Essays on Reframing Government Management and Operations