Fall/Winter 2011 Edition

In this issue of The Business of Government magazine, we survey the intersection where leadership, complex challenges, and the need for transformation meet. Whether it’s in the response to the global financial crisis or the national deficit.

The medical mission of the U.S. Department of Defense is to enhance DoD’s and the country’s security by providing health support for a full range of military operations, as well as sustaining the health of all service members and their families.

From collecting revenue to disbursing payments, the mission of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Management Service (FMS) is as varied as it is important.

The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) has a varied and vital mission—advancing the economic competitiveness of the United States while supporting a viable, safe, and secure U.S. merchant marine initiative for commerce and emergency response.

Whether the call is coming from a state governor or directly from the president of the United States, the National Guard must be always ready to respond and engage whether at home or abroad.

At the time of his nomination by President Barack Obama in January 2009, Robert Hale was Executive Director of the American Society of Military Comptrollers (ASMC), the professional association of Defense financial managers.

Today governments are facing very serious, seemingly intractable public management issues that go to the core of effective governance and leadership, testing the very form, structure, and capacity required to meet these problems head-on.

Robert Reisner, an expert in government transformation, has culled these insights in his recent IBM Center report, A Leader’s Guide to Transformation: Developing a Playbook for Successful Change Initiatives.

Government officials have warned of the potential for a cyber Pearl Harbor that paralyzes one or more critical components of the country’s public and private infrastructures.

The GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 requires each federal agency to identify a set of priority goals, designate someone to be the goal leader for each goal, review progress toward these goals, and publicly report at least quarterly on that progress.