Building the Enterprise - Booz Allen Hamilton

services. Further, applying an enterpriseapproach will increase savings,result in substantial efficiencies andimprove outcomes in cross-governmentaladministrative functionssuch as the management of finances,human capital, information technology,procurement and real property.For example, HUD and the Departmentof Veterans Affairs (VA)have collaborated successfully on agoal of ending homelessness amongveterans by 2015. Under the directionof the departmental secretaries,teams have coordinated the use ofHUD vouchers for veterans to rentprivately owned housing and targetedVA services such as health care,mental health and substance abusetreatment, vocational assistance, andjob development and placement. Aninteragency team of executives fromVA and HUD leads the effort in tandem,providing the two departmentswith weekly updates on voucher use,along with detailed reports on thestatus and recent activity of everyveteran in the program. Both departmentshave cooperated to ensurethat resources are being properlydeployed and goals are being met.The homelessness initiativecame about because of the personalcommitment of two Cabinet secretaries,who sent a strong signalthat the issue was important, madeclear they wanted their staffs to collaborateand sustained their commitmentto dealing in an integratedway with multiple issues affectingveterans. The administration reportedthat the program has resulted ina 17.2 percent decline in veteranshomelessness from January 2009through January 2012, even in theface of difficult economic conditionsand a growing veterans population.We need to institutionalize thisapproach as a way of doing businessand make sure it is sustained and notdependent on the personality andgoodwill of Cabinet secretaries, whoafter several years may depart andleave cross-agency initiatives withouta champion.What we propose is not withoutprecedent or foundation. The seedsof an enterprise approach to governmentcan be found in the GovernmentPerformance and ResultsAct of 1993 (GPRA) and its progeny,the Government Performance andResults Modernization Act of 2010(GPRAMA). Together, these statutesprovide a basis for agencies to worktogether in a more coordinated andcross-cutting way.GPRA is a watershed law that forthe first time required agencies to setconcrete performance goals, developstrategic plans to achieve thosegoals, measure their performance“We need an approach thatis as adaptive and flexibleas the challenges it isdesigned to overcome.”against them, and report their progressto Congress. It also required theOffice of Management and Budget(OMB) to craft a government-wideperformance plan to provide a perspectiveacross agencies. OMB didso, issuing plans in 1998 and 1999 aspart of the federal budget process,but the initiative was subsequentlyabandoned. As one government expertnoted, the government-wideplan was “a document in search ofan audience” because “no one feltownership” in the executive branchor in Congress.Times have changed. GPRAMAlaid the foundation for an enterpriseapproach to government byrequiring the White House to identifyand establish a small number ofhigh-priority cross-agency policyand management goals (see followingpage) and to name goal leadersto coordinate the activities of themultiple programs and agencies thatmust work together to achieve commonobjectives.The good news is that agenciesand programs have set targets tomeet the overall cross-agency policygoals. These goals have includedenergy efficiency, job training andveterans’ career readiness, as well asmanagement initiatives such as reducingoverpayments and strategicsourcing. While progress has beenmade, initial outcomes have beenspotty. High-level administration attentionhas been missing, and absentthe necessary infrastructure to operationalizeand sustain that attention,the stove-piped nature of governmenthas remained fully intact.The administration now has agreat opportunity. Without the needfor additional legislation, it can makeenterprise government a reality byexpanding and institutionalizing it,giving it teeth through strong seniorleadership engagement and commitment,and creating a managementinfrastructure.BUILDING THE ENTERPRISE 5