Descripciones mejoradas de Syndetics:

The authors of this book contend that the civil service system, which was devised to create a uniform process for recruiting high-quality workers to government, is no longer uniform or a system. Nor does it help government find and retain the workers it needs to build a government that works.
The current civil service system was designed for a government in which federal agencies directly delivered most public services. But over the last generation, privatization and devolution have increased the number and importance of government's partnerships with private companies, nonprofit organizations, and state and local governments. Government workers today spend much of their time managing these partnerships, not delivering services, and this trend will only accelerate in the future. The authors contend that the current system poorly develops government workers who can effectively manage these partnerships, resulting too often in a gap between promise and performance.
This short, lively, and bipartisan volume, authored by the nation's leading experts on government management, describes what the government of the future will look like, what it will need to work well, and how in particular the nation can build the next generation of workers required to lead it.

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• 1. The Case for Reform(p. 1)
• 2. The Federal Government's People Problems(p. 9)
• 3. The Challenges of Government's Future(p. 33)
• 4. A New Human Resources Model(p. 61)
• 5. Guiding Principles(p. 87)
• Notes(p. 101)
• Index(p. 107)

Reseñas proporcionadas por Syndetics

Library Journal Review

In Government by Proxy: (Mis?)Managing Federal Programs (Congressional Quarterly Press, 1988) political scientist Kettl discussed the increasing reliance of the federal government upon intermediaries to carry out governmental policy. In his current book he continues this theme, explaining that this trend receives support from leaders both on the left and right of the political spectrum who endorse contracting out for services. While not disputing that benefits can be derived from privatization, he does show, through several case studies, that careful scrutiny must be made of this process. To succeed, Kettl believes career government officials must become smart buyers of services and able to negotiate and manage contracts, while elected and appointed officials must become aware of the issues involved in contracting and be able to determine and preserve core governmental functions. Recommended for large business and public administration collections.-- Robert Logsdon, Indiana State Lib . , Indianapolis (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

Kettl (political science, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison) considers a number of important issues related to governments and the private sector. Perhaps most important is whether private markets can competitively supply government agencies with what they want at a reasonable price and whether governments have the capacity to adequately monitor the contracts they conclude with private vendors. Often only one or two vendors can provide the goods and services government agencies are seeking. Sometimes governments may not award contracts to the lowest bidder to keep more than one vendor in business so that there will be some future competition. Or, the huge size of a government contract makes competitive bidding unlikely. Even if governments are able to benefit from the efficiency of a competitive bid process, they are unable to effectively monitor contract compliance and performance. Contract monitoring units are among the first casualties of budget cutbacks. Perhaps more critical, in Kettl's view, is that those responsible for monitoring do not have the appropriate skills. They are usually skilled in substantive issues rather than in contract management, oversight, and evaluation. Well documented and persuasively written. General through faculty. J. S. Zacek; SUNY at Albany

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

Donald F. Kettl is professor of public affairs at the La Follette Institute, the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Patricia W. Ingraham is professor of public administration and political science and director of the Campbell Institute of Public Affairs at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University
Ronald P. Sanders is director of the Maxwell Center for Advanced Public Management in Washington, D.C.
Constance Horner, a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution, served in the Reagan administration as director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and in the Bush administration as assistant to the president, director of Presidential Personnel, and deputy secretary of Health and Human Services