AMERICANS GIVE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT POOR MANAGEMENT GRADES
America, Inc. Study Reveals Opportunity for New Curriculum
Crystal City, Va., October 17, 2007 – Primavera Systems, Inc., today announced the results of its “America, Inc. – Annual Shareholder Management Report,” a new study that shows most Americans do not know how their government spends their money and gives the Federal government poor management grades. The study highlights a disconnect between the American public and government managers on the need for management changes. The majority of Americans call for new visibility, structure, and standard management practices.
America Grades the Government – Confusion at the Ballot Box
With just over a year until the next Presidential election, the “America, Inc.” study reveals that 89 percent of Americans give the government a grade of C, D, or F in fiscal responsibility and management efficiency. Drilling down on specific demographics, 98 percent of retirees give the government a failing grade – an interesting perspective in light of the aging population dynamic. Just as the public is skeptical of government management performance, two out of three Americans also feel left in the dark regarding Federal expenditures.
Grading the Federal government’s ability to effectively manage and obtain value from private-sector contractors, some 92 percent of Americans do not believe the government gets best value. Expressing the reform priority, 60 percent of Americans said the government should hold contractors accountable for project failure. Fifty-three percent of Americans called for the Federal government to levy penalties on contractors that fail to deliver.
Government Grades Itself – Does the Math Add Up?
While Americans fail the Federal government in management efficiency, Federal managers overall are satisfied with their management systems. Eighty percent of Federal managers believe their management system meets or exceeds basic requirements. Additionally, 61 percent are comfortable with their agency’s program management performance.
However, 69 percent of Federal managers report that only 1 in 5 projects finish on budget and on time. Many Federal managers also report a lack of measurable objectives, with 60 percent stating that they spend 50 percent or less of their time working on projects with measurable objectives.
Managers indicate that the government may be set up to flunk – 75 percent say their agency does not use a standardized project management system. In addition, most Federal managers do not receive recognition for a job well done. Seventy-one percent of managers report that their agency does a poor job of recognizing them for meeting program objectives. Federal managers cite limited access to project information as impacting project management success. Only 25 percent can easily access a complete and current database of agency-wide investments and only 29 percent can easily use project management databases for resource allocation.
New Curriculum – The Management Opportunity
The requirement for increased management structure is the key area of coalescence between public opinion and that of government managers. Asked how to improve government management performance, 62 percent of Americans called for increased visibility into how Federal agencies manage programs, and 61 percent reported that agencies need to enhance their management structure – establishing clear program goals and milestones, reporting against these goals, and holding stakeholders accountable. In sync with government managers, some 50 percent of Americans asked the government to implement standardized management practices and reports to allow for efficiency comparisons across agencies.
When asked how to improve visibility into how Federal agencies manage government programs, Federal managers provided the following recommendations:
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51 percent said agencies should enact a standardized project management system
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42 percent said agencies should move away from the homegrown spreadsheet approach
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40 percent said standardized systems for reporting and tracking project updates should be deployed
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38 percent said standardized systems for reporting projects in real time should be deployed
“Clearly, ‘Good enough for government work’ is no longer good enough,” said Margo Visitacion, industry and product marketing manager, Primavera. “Feedback from government managers reveals significant contradictions. We must build structured management practices into a new curriculum if we are to improve report card grades.”
Methodology
The “America, Inc. – Annual Shareholder Management Report” study findings are based on an online survey of 677 members of the general public and 151 Federal managers. The general public survey has a margin of error of +/-3.7% with a confidence level of 95 percent. The Federal manager survey has a margin of error of +/-8% with a confidence level of 95 percent. The study is available for download at http://www.primavera.com/americastudy.
About Primavera
Headquartered in Philadelphia, Pa., Primavera is a software company that provides business solutions for a project-driven world. The company helps organizations identify which projects and programs are most important to meet strategic objectives, and makes it easy for people to work collaboratively in order to deliver on their commitments. Primavera solutions are industry-specific and highly scalable, with the power to support global enterprises. Primavera solutions have ensured the success of projects collectively worth more than $5.5 trillion, ranging from small to large projects as well as public and private projects.Primavera solutions have successfully managedIT projects that span the globe, the construction of the world’s tallest buildings, ongoing multi-billion dollar oil discovery projects, space exploration, and the efficient use of personnel at professional services organizations. For more information, visit www.primavera.com or call +1.800.423.0245.
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