Can contract management be improved?

Dr. Kelman says government should take contracting more seriously.

Government contracts out more than $300 billion in services, but does not link contracts to the cost of managing the contracts.

Reforms are needed to shift contract officers’ role from just choosing contractors to also managing contractors.

Should contract management be re-conceptualized as a high-level management job? If so, do you have examples of how?

How can government be expected to respond to the unknown?

Dr. Kettl says government will increasingly need to be able to responding to non-routine problems?

Responsibility for solving “non-routine” problems (i.e., Katrina, terrorist attacks, Avian Bird Flu) is often highly diffused.

Non-routine problem require different patterns of coordination, and solutions based on information and communication.

What advice would you give the next President on how to transform large, formal organizations so they do not stymie innovative managers? Have you seen examples of where this was done well?

Is the performance movement in jeopardy?

Dr. Kelman suggests the performance measurement and management “movement” of the past decade is on the edge of a shift – either backward or forward. He opts for forward movement where:

• Outcome measures are preferable to input, output, or activity measures

• Efforts move from supplying more measures to a demand for useful measures

Should the next President place a greater distinction on his/her use as performance-improvement tool vs. as an accountability tool? If so, do you have examples of how?

How can we eliminate the dead hand of bureaucracy?

Dr. Kettl says it is imperative to create knowledge-driven organizations

• Routine and predictability are essential for certain large-scale functions – such as air traffic control and social security payments

• Other functions suffer from routine – such as social services and homeland security

What advice would you give the next President in restructuring federal agencies so that they can respond dynamically without falling into a bureaucratic routine?

Does Dr. Kelman have it right?

Dr. Steve Kelman’s essay says the use of performance management is at a turning point in government. Is he right? What if anything should the next President do about it?

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Does Dr. Kettl have it right?

Dr. Donald Kettl’s essay says the federal government today is no match for the problems of the 21^st century. He says government has to radically change the way it operates. Is he right? What would you want the next President to do about it?

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