Christopher G. Wye

Chris Wye served as Director of the Center for Improving Government Performance at the National Academy of Public Administration from 1994 until 2003. The Center provides assistance to government agencies on improving management processes using the techniques of performance-based management, including strategic planning, performance measurement, program evaluation, performance-based budgeting, and strategic management.

Fred Thompson

Fred Thompson is a specialist in government budgeting and accounting. He currently teaches at the Atkinson Graduate School of Management atWillamette University, where he is Grace and Elmer Goudy Professor of Public Management and Policy Analysis. He previously taught in Columbia University appointments at UCLA of British Columbia. Professor Thompson has held senior staff positions with the Economic Council of Canada and the Department of Finance of the State of California.

Charles Thompson

Dr. Charles Thompson is a Human Capital Management Consultant for International Business Machines (IBM). Dr. Thompson uses issue-based consulting techniques to design and implement human capital solutions related to the entire employee life cycle (i.e., recruitment, selection, career development, etc.) for federal government and healthcare organizations.

David H. Schanzer

David Schanzer was appointed to be Director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security in 2005. He previously served in a variety of postions in the legislative and executive branches of the federal government, including Minority Staff Director of the Committee on Homeland Security, United States House of Representatives and Special Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, United States Department of Defense.

Schanzer is a Visiting Professor of Public Policy at Duke University and an Adjunct Professor of Public Policy at the University of North Carolina

Christopher G. Wye

Chris Wye served as Director of the Center for Improving Government Performance at the National Academy of Public Administration from 1994 until 2003. The Center provides assistance to government agencies on improving management processes using the techniques of performance-based management, including strategic planning, performance measurement, program evaluation, performance-based budgeting, and strategic management.

Trevor L. Brown

Trevor Brown conducts research and teaches on public management and leadership, governance, government contracting, public private partnerships, and democracy and democratic transitions.

Professor Brown received his Ph.D. in Public Policy and Political Science from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Department of Political Science, Indiana University and a B.A. in Public Policy from Stanford University.

Trend Six: Leadership

The right kind of leadership approach and style can drive change in government

Governments today face serious, seemingly intractable public management issues that go to the core of effective governance and leadership -- testing the very form, structure, and capacity required to meet these problems head-on.

Reverse Auctioning: Saving Money and Increasing Transparency

Simply put, reverse auctions are auctions that enable sellers to “bid down” prices for their goods and services. The use of reverse auctions has substantially increased since Wyld’s initial report in 2000, albeit at a slower pace than anticipated in the earlier study. This new report contains original research on the potential of reverse auctions as a government cost-saving tool that also saves time and increases transparency.

Best Places to Work in the Federal Government® Staff/Manager Alignment Scores

Managers play an important role in an organization; they implement policies from senior leadership and also carry concerns up the chain from staff to decision-makers. If managers and staff don’t see eye-to-eye on the key issues, then managers may be unable or unwilling to properly acknowledge and share staff concerns to leadership. Executives may be left unaware of what’s happening on the front lines, issuing policies that risk failure because they aren’t fully informed.