University of Victoria

John Langford is a Professor and the Graduate Adviser in the School of Public Administration at the University of Victoria, in British Columbia. His teaching and research interests are in the areas of public sector governance, management, and ethics.

Robert B. Denhardt

Robert B. Denhardt is Professor in the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University and Visiting Scholar at the University of Delaware. Dr. Denhardt is a Past President of the American Society for Public Administration, and the founder and first chair of ASPA's National Campaign for Public Service, an effort to assert the dignity and worth of public service across the nation. He is also a member of the prestigious National Academy of Public Administration and a Fellow of the Canadian Centre for Management Development.

Developing a Management Roadmap for the New Administration

Developing a Management Roadmap for the New Administration. Join host Michael Keegan as he explores this effort and how presidential transitions work with David Eagles, Director, The Center for Presidential Transition, Partnership for Public Service and Dan Chenok, Executive Director, The IBM Center for The Business of Government.

Jonathan D. Breul

Jonathan D. Breul was the Executive Director of the IBM Center for The Business of Government and a Partner in IBM Global Business Services. The IBM Center for The Business of Government helps public sector executives improve the effectiveness of government with practical ideas and original thinking. The Center sponsors independent research by top minds in academe and the non-profit sector, and creates opportunities for dialogue on a broad range of public management topics.

What Agency Leaders Need to Know About Federal Acquisition

Most agencies in the U.S. government rely on products—goods and services—acquired through contracts to perform core functions, pursue agency objectives, and achieve mission success. In FY12, the federal government acquired $517 billion worth of products through contracts.

Unpacking the "Black Box" of Incident Reporting

While data can be used externally for accountability, it can also be used internally to predict and prevent these kinds of incidents.

These days, more detailed, near real-time data can be collected because of improvements in technology and new reporting systems.  However, these more detailed data – if not well-explained and put in context -- can alarm the public and cause political problems, even while improving performance.  Recent examples include:

Does Management Matter?

Gadi Ben-Yehuda

Slow reading, deep thinking.

I'm sharing only two links today.  The first is to a trend piece from Fast CoDesign on trends for 2014.  Some of the more salient ones:

Creating Dual Operating Systems

Large companies (and governments) cannot ignore the daily demands of running large enterprises that depend on hierarchy and routines, Kotter observes.  These structures and processes work well in stable, predictable environments and their evolution and refinements have contributed greatly to society in the past hundred years.

Developing Managers Versus Leaders

The Government Accountability Office has released its updated list of high risk areas across the federal government. It flags for attention the mission-critical skills gap in jobs such as telecommunications, cybersecurity and acquisition. But there is also a growing gap in experienced managers and leaders as baby boomers head for retirement. What approaches are needed to ensure the next generation of managers and leaders are ready?

Developing a Management Roadmap for the Next Administration

For new leadership teams across the government, effective management will constitute a critical success factor for the implementation of the President's agenda, the execution of that agenda by millions of federal employees and partners, and the public's confidence in government performance.

Pages