According to a report from OMB, the President’s Management Agenda, enacted in August 2001, is a strategy for improving the management and performance of the federal government. It focuses on the areas where deficiencies were most apparent and where the government could begin to deliver concrete, measurable results. The President’s Management Agenda includes the following five government-wide initiatives:²²

• Strategic Management of Human Capital – having processes in place to ensure the right person is in the right job, at the right time, and is not only performing, but performing well;

• Competitive Sourcing – regularly examining commercial activities performed by the government to determine whether it is more efficient to obtain such services from federal employees or from the private sector;

• Improved Financial Performance – accurately accounting for the taxpayers’ money, giving managers timely and accurate program cost information to make informed management decisions, and controlling costs;

• Expanded Electronic Government – ensuring that the federal government’s annual investment in information technology (IT) significantly improves the government’s ability to serve citizens, and that IT systems are secure, and delivered on time and on budget; and

• Budget and Performance Integration – ensuring that performance is routinely considered in funding and management decisions, and that programs achieve expected results and work toward continual improvement.

The third initiative, “Improved Financial Performance,” includes provisions for agencies to determine the extent of improper payments and to establish goals for reducing them.

22. Excerpts from the President’s Management Agenda were taken from an OMB report, entitled The Federal Government is Results-Oriented, dated August 2004.