Call for Research Report Proposals

Since the creation of the IBM Center for The Business of Government over 16 years ago, it has been our goal to help public sector leaders and managers address real-world problems by sponsoring independent, third-party research from top minds in academe and the nonprofit sector. We aim to produce research and analysis that helps government leaders respond more effectively to their mission and management challenges.

The IBM Center is named "The Business of Government" because we focus on the management and operation of government,not the policies of government. Public sector leaders and managers need the best, most practical advice available when it comes to delivering the business of government.We seek to bridge the gap between research and practice by helping to stimulate and accelerate the production of research that points to actionable recommendations.

For this reason, we are pleased to solicit proposals that result in reports that have sound research, insightful findings, and actionable recommendations for government leaders and public managers in the following areas of interest:

• Performance:  Fostering a culture of outcomes, providing incentives, and enhancing evidence-based decision making.
• Risk:  Managing the many forms of risk, including security, economic, budget and program, and privacy.
• Innovation:  Driving innovation that supports longer term transformation.
• Mission:  Aligning mission support functions with mission delivery effectiveness.
• Efficiency:  Developing cost savings strategies that improve efficiency and effectiveness.
• Leadership:  Identifying new models for leading positive change within and across agencies.

We are eager to help communicate what researchers know and learn about what works in these areas to busy government leaders and public managers.  Budget and fiscal issues have dominated headlines—as well as the attention of government executives—over the past year.  They will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future.  While cost savings and coping strategies will be important,budget considerations are only one part of a management improvement agenda. The public will continue to expect better services and improved performance, even in the face of austerity. This means public managers will have to turn to other strategies to meet expectations, such as innovation, better management of risks, new approaches to performance and results,and new models of leadership.

Implicit in each of these strategies is the potential of technology and best business practices to help leverage government transformation. Understanding this potential will be an undercurrent in the research we will sponsor. We are looking for proposals that will provide insights, best practices, and practical, actionable recommendations that will have lasting impact on how government works.

We look forward to receiving proposals that continue our partnership with leading public management researchers. Our next deadlines are October 1, 2014, and April 1, 2015. 

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