Since 1998, the IBM center for The Business of Government has been studying the substantial changes that are under way at all levels of government within the United States and in other nations across the world. These changes are being driven by a series of new imperatives in the United States. Fortunately, there is now a set of trends that seems to be responding to these imperatives and is leading to more results-oriented government. These trends, often in combination with one another, make it more likely that government will be able to successfully respond to the ever-increasing and complex challenges it faces today and will continue to face in the future.

Six Trends Transforming Government
By Mark A. Abramson, Jonathan D. Breul, and John M. Kamensky

INTRODUCTION:

Since 1998, the IBM Center for The Business of Government has been studying the substantial changes that are under way at all levels of government within the United States and in other nations across the world. Donald Kettl, Stanley I. Sheer Endowed Term Professor in the Social Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania and one of over 250 individuals who have received Center research stipend awards, observes how these changes are being driven by a series of new imperatives in the United States. “These imperatives,” he writes, “emerge from America’s struggle to deal with deep challenges facing the nation. At the core is a fundamental problem: The current conduct of American government is a poor match for the problems it must solve.”

The “poor match” he describes is reflected in media accounts that have showcased highly visible challenges such as the government’s disappointing response to Hurricane Katrina, the complex implementation of the Medicare prescription drug benefit, and information technology failures such as the abandonment of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s attempts to upgrade its computer capabilities. Increasingly, the challenges now facing government are more complex and require a new set of imperatives for success. Kettl describes these imperatives facing the performance of government in the 21st century as:

• A policy agenda that focuses more on problems than on structures
• Political accountability that works more through results than on processes
• Public administration that works through networks rather than through hierarchies
• Political leadership that leverages action rather than simply makes decisions
• Citizenship that is based on involvement rather than remoteness

Fortunately, there is a set of trends we have observed that seems to be responding to these imperatives and is leading to improved government performance. These trends, often in combination with one another, make it more likely that government will be able to successfully respond to the ever-increasing and complex challenges it faces today and will continue to face in the future. The IBM Center’s research over the past eight years has documented a wide range of management challenges facing government leaders and responses to those challenges. Based on this research, the Center has identified six significant trends that are transforming government performance (see Figure 1 on page 4):

• Trend One: Changing the Rules
• Trend Two: Using Performance Management
• Trend Three: Providing Competition, Choice, and Incentives
• Trend Four: Performing On Demand
• Trend Five: Engaging Citizens
• Trend Six: Using Networks and Partnerships

These innovative approaches to improving government performance are being driven, in part, by advances in technology that have resulted in significant changes in the operation of organizations in both the public and private sectors. The technology budget for the U.S. federal government, for example, has nearly doubled since 2001 to over $65 billion. Technology should now be viewed not only as a fundamental tool for government, but also as a driver for transforming the operations of government. For example, the Internal Revenue Service is shifting from an organization managing over a billion pieces of paper each year to one now managing paperless electronic tax filing transactions—and increasing customer satisfaction dramatically.

We have observed the six trends discussed in this report occurring at all levels of government within the United States—federal, state, and local—and governments across the world. In fact, many of the trends were first seen in other countries and now increasingly in the United States. Many of these trends became commonplace in state or local governments before being widely adopted by the U.S. federal government. In other instances, the federal government was in the lead, spearheading a trend that led to improved government performance.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Mark A. Abramson is Executive Director of the IBM Center for The Business of Government. As Executive Director, he oversees all Center publications, Center events for government executives, The Business of Government magazine, The Business of Government Hour radio program, and the Center’s website (www.businessofgovernment.org).

Mr. Abramson is co-editor of the IBM Center for The Business of Government Book Series, published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. He is also the author or editor of 13 books and has published more than 100 articles on public management. In 2005, he was appointed to the editorial board of the Public Administration Review.

Prior to helping found the IBM Center for The Business of Government, he served as Chairman of Leadership Inc. from 1994 to 1998. From 1983 to 1994, Mr. Abramson served as the first President of the Council for Excellence in Government in Washington, D.C. and was one of several Council founders.

Mr. Abramson was elected a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration in 1992. Since 1995, he has served as an evaluator and team leader for the Innovations in American Government Awards Program sponsored by the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. In August 2005, Mr. Abramson was recognized by the Center for Leadership and Management at the Graduate School, USDA, for “Outstanding Leadership and a Life Long Commitment to Public Service and Collaboration.” In 2003, he was recognized for distinguished public service by Phi Alpha Sigma, the honorary public administration society. Mr. Abramson holds a Master of Arts in Political Science from Syracuse University, a Master of Arts in History from New York University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Florida State University.

Jonathan D. Breul is a widely recognized expert on the policy and practice of improving government management and performance. He is currently Partner, IBM Global Business Services, and Senior Fellow, IBM Center for The Business of Government.

Formerly Senior Advisor to the Deputy Director for Management in the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President, Mr. Breul served as OMB’s senior career executive with primary responsibility for government-wide general management policies. He helped develop the President’s Management Agenda, was instrumental in establishing the President’s Management Council, and championed efforts to integrate performance information with the budget process. He led the overall implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act. In addition to his OMB activities, he helped Senator John Glenn (D-Ohio) launch the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act.

For nearly eight years, Mr. Breul served as the U.S. delegate and elected vice chair of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Public Management Committee. He is a fellow and member of the Board of Trustees of the National Academy of Public Administration and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s Graduate Public Policy Institute.

Mr. Breul has received numerous awards including Federal Computer Week’s 2002 “Federal 100.” In 1998, he received the Elmer Staats Award from the National Capital Area Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration. In 1995, he received
the Mydral Award for Public Service from the American Evaluation Association. He holds a Master of Public Administration from Northeastern University and a Bachelor of Arts from Colby College.

John M. Kamensky is a Senior Fellow at the IBM Center for The Business of Government and an Associate Partner with IBM Global Business Services.

During 24 years of public service, he played a key role in helping pioneer the federal government’s performance and results orientation. He is passionate about creating a government that is results oriented, performance based, customer focused, and collaborative in nature. He is the co-editor of Managing for Results 2002, Collaboration: Using Networks and Partnerships, Managing for Results 2005, and Competition, Choice, and Incentives in Government Programs.

Prior to joining the private sector in February 2001, Mr. Kamensky served for eight years as deputy director of Vice President Gore’s National Partnership for Reinventing Government. Before that, he worked at the Government Accountability Office for 16 years, where he played a role in the development and passage of the Government Performance and Results Act. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. Mr. Kamensky received a Master of Public Affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, in Austin, Texas.

About the IBM Center for The Business of Government

Through research stipends and events, the IBM Center for The Business of Government stimulates research and facilitates discussion on new approaches to improving the effectiveness of government at the federal, state, local, and international levels.

The Center is one of the ways that IBM seeks to advance knowledge on how to improve public sector effectiveness. The IBM Center focuses on the future of the operation and management of the public sector.

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