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This report continues the IBM Center’s long interest in risk management with a specific focus on employing risk management strategies to reduce improper payments in the U S Department of Labor’s (DOL) Unemployment Insurance (UI) program. There is a long tradition of public management scholarship that has provided empirical support for the hypothesis that management matters for government performance. One specific management activity that has been growing in prominence in federal agencies over the last several years is risk management.

These attacks are relentless, aggressive and constantly evolving, and have clearly shown that federal agencies and organizations are struggling in managing security threats, despite the stricter security protocols that are often in place at government agencies. Cyber threats are “among the most urgent dangers to America’s economic and national security,” President Obama was quoted as saying in a Wall Street Journal article in 2015.

For the next administration, the management of the federal workforce—including executives—will be a critical factor in the president’s success. The president’s political appointees will work with members of the career Senior Executive Service (SES) to direct the work of agencies and departments.

The authors present eight significant actions that the federal government can take to improve the federal acquisition process. While the report centers on acquisition in the Department of Defense (DoD) because of its dominant size in the federal budget, the eight proposed actions—which build on previous acquisition reforms including increased competition, more use of best value contracts, expanding the supplier base, and better tailoring of contract types to contract goals—apply to civilian agencies as well.