Major Management Challenges and Program Risks

This publication is part of GAO's performance and accountability series which provides a comprehensive assessment of government management, particularly the management challenges and program risks confronting federal agencies. Using a "performance-based management" approach, this landmark set of reports focuses on the results of government programs--how they affect the American taxpayer--rather than on the processes of government. This approach integrates thinking about organization, product and service delivery, use of technology, and human capital practices into every decision about the results that the government hopes to achieve. The series includes an overview volume discussing governmentwide management issues and 20 individual reports on the challenges facing specific cabinet departments and independent agencies. The reports take advantage of the wealth of new information made possible by management reform legislation, including audited financial statements for major federal agencies, mandated by the Chief Financial Officers Act, and strategic and performance plans required by the Government Performance and Results Act. In a companion volume to this series, GAO also updates its high-risk list of government operations and programs that are particularly vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement.

GAO noted that: (1) the Bureau of the Census faces a number of challenges and uncertainties in its endeavor to conduct an accurate and cost-effective Decennial Census in 2000; (2) taken together, these challenges and uncertainties have led GAO to conclude that the nation faces a high risk of an unsuccessful census in 2000--one that is less accurate and more costly than the 1990 Census; (3) these challenges include developing an accurate address list, securing an acceptable level of public cooperation through outreach and promotion initiatives, and completing field operations effectively and efficiently; (4) in the weather forecasting area, after substantial delays and cost overruns, three of the four planned technology modernization programs are now operational; (5) the final piece of the modernization--the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System--is not scheduled to be deployed until June 1999, and then only with less than full functionality; (6) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) continues to own, operate, and plan investments of millions of dollars in its aging in-house fleet of research and survey ships that are used for acquiring marine data; (7) although NOAA has increased its outsourcing with the private sector, universities, and other public entities for these services, it continues to rely heavily on its old, inefficient fleet; (8) continuing congressional oversight of the NOAA fleet is needed to ensure that NOAA is aggressively pursuing cost-effective alternatives for acquiring marine data; (9) in the financial management area, Commerce faces several challenges; (10) audits and the Department's own internal reviews continue to show that: (a) there are numerous areas where Commerce must improve its financial procedures to comply with federal accounting standards and to effectively reconcile and close its books at yearend; and (b) most Commerce bureaus lack effective automated systems to support sound financial management; (11) the Department continues to face significant challenges in implementing new computer systems to meet requirements and make all of its systems year 2000 compliant; (12) the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 provides an opportunity for the Department of Commerce to improve its performance and effectiveness and to enhance congressional and executive branch oversight and decisionmaking for these issues and in other program and mission support areas; and (13) the Department faces an especially formidable challenge in developing and presenting effective and useful Departmentwide strategic and performance plans that both cover all of its disparate activities and meet other criteria.