## March 9, 2004

# INSPECTION MEMORANDUM

**To:** Phil Maestri

Director, Management Improvement Team

> Office of Deputy Secretary

**From:** Cathy H. Lewis

Assistant Inspector General

Evaluation, Inspections, and Management Services

**Subject:** **Completion of Blueprint for Management Excellence Number
181** (ED/OIG I13E0007)

This memorandum provides the results of our inspection of one Action
Plan item from the Department of Education's (Department's) Blueprint
for Management Excellence. We will be examining approximately 25 Action
Plan items with two objectives in mind, determining if: 1) the items
were completed as described; and, 2) the items help meet the stated
Blueprint objective. In this report, we examined Action Item Number 181.

Blueprint Action Item 181 states:

> Establish a new Strategic Investment Office (SIO) to assist in
> conducting the Strategic Investment Process (SIP) throughout the
> organization.
>
> The comments field for the action item states: "Completed 3/31/03. The
> internal consultants staffed by details from across the Department
> will assist in conducting future strategic investment process reviews
> throughout the organization. First group of internal consultants began
> on 4/21/03."

**Objective 1: Was the action item completed as described?**

According to a Department spokesperson, a formal Strategic Investment
Office (SIO) was never established. Instead, on January 2003, the
Secretary approved the creation of In-House-Consultants. Although the
original intention was to establish a group that could replace or
supplement the external consultants that provided support in Phase I of
the SIP, the decision was made to have the group provide a wide-range of
services rather than focus on just the SIP. Their mission is to provide
services that promote sound business strategies, streamlined processes,
and innovative practices. According to the head of the consulting group,
the in-house consultants have not been trained to be responsible for
conducting the strategic investment process. For Phase II of the SIP,
only three members of the consulting group will be assisting One-ED
teams.

The in-house consultants' office is comprised almost entirely of
individuals on a temporary-one-year detail. If the goal is to create a
stable office of experienced individuals to assist other offices, this
approach to staffing may fall short. The learning curve for these
individuals is significant and hiring a new cadre of consultants each
year will result in a loss of institutional knowledge gained by the
"retiring" consultants.

**Objective 2: Do the actions taken to close this action item help to
meet the stated Blueprint objective?**

The stated purpose of Action Item Number 181 was to set up an office
that could help with the strategic investment process. Such an office
could have helped the Department advance the goal of improving the
strategic management of human capital. However, the group that was
created was not the office envisioned by the action item. While the
broader, more generic focus of this group may be better suited to the
actual skills and ability of the staff and the fact that group members
are on one-year detail assignments, this change was not reflected in the
MIT reporting documents. Also, it is not clear that this information was
shared with the Executive Management Team (EMT) and that this group
agrees that a Strategic Investment Office, as described in Action Item
Number 181 is still necessary.

**Recommendation**

Clarify whether the EMT still wants to establish a Strategic Investment
Office as described in Action Item Number 181. If not, this item should
be listed as closed. If they do still feel it is needed, Action Item
Number 181 should be listed as open and necessary steps taken to
implement the action item as described.

**MIT Response**

The MIT provided additional information about the implementation of the
SIP and agreed that Action Item Number 181 should be listed as closed.
The MIT response is included as an attachment to this memorandum.