a

GAO

United States General Accounting Office

Report to Congressional Requesters

January 2003 TRANSPORTATION 

SECURITY 

ADMINISTRATION

Actions and Plans to 

Build a ResultsOriented Culture

GAO-03-190
In its first year, TSA has simultaneously started to build the infrastructure of a

large organization as it focused primarily on meeting its aviation security

deadlines. As TSA begins to take responsibility for security in the maritime and

surface modes of transportation, its current and future challenge is to continue

to build, sustain, and institutionalize the organizational capacity to help it

achieve its current and future goals. In this regard, TSA has made an impressive

start in implementing practices that can create a results-oriented culture. These

practices—leadership commitment, strategic planning, performance

management, collaboration and communication, and public reporting and

customer service—are shown below. Such practices are especially important

when TSA moves into the newly created Department of Homeland Security.

Selected ATSA requirements, TSA actions and plans, and recommended next steps for each

results-oriented practice.

ATSA 

requirements TSA actions and plans Recommended next steps 

Leadership commitment to creating a high-performing organization 

Performance 

agreements for 

head of TSA and 

executives. 

Established standardized performance 

agreements for TSA executives. 

Establish a performance 

agreement for the head of TSA and 

add expectations in performance 

agreements for top leadership to 

foster the culture of a highperforming organization.

Strategic planning to establish results-oriented goals and measures 

Planning and 

reporting 

requirements. 

Articulated vision, mission, values, 

strategic goal, and performance goals 

and measures. 

Developed automated system to collect 

performance data. 

Establish security performance 

goals and measures for all modes 

of transportation as part of a 

strategic planning process that 

involves stakeholders. 

Performance management to promote accountability for results 

Performance 

management 

system and 

performance 

agreements. 

Established an interim performance 

management system and created 

performance agreements that include 

organizational and individual goals and 

standards of performance. 

Ensure the permanent system 

makes meaningful distinctions in 

performance. 

Involve employees in developing its 

permanent system. 

Collaboration and communication to achieve national outcomes 

Work within and 

outside the 

government to 

accomplish its 

mission. 

Established several offices to 

collaborate and communicate with 

stakeholders. 

Stated plans to use memorandums to 

formalize roles and responsibilities of 

TSA and other agencies in 

transportation security. 

Define more clearly the 

collaboration and communication 

roles and responsibilities of TSAís 

various offices. 

Formalize roles and responsibilities 

among governmental entities for 

transportation security. 

Public reporting and customer service to build citizen confidence 

A 180-day action 

plan and two 

progress reports 

within 6 months 

of enactment. 

Submitted 180-day action plan and both 

progress reports within established time 

frames. 

Stated plans to develop customer 

satisfaction index. 

Continue to develop and implement 

mechanisms, such as the customer 

satisfaction index, to gauge 

customer satisfaction and improve 

customer service. 

TRANSPORTATION SECURITY

ADMINISTRATION

Actions and Plans to Build a ResultsOriented Culture

www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-190.

To view the full report, including the scope

and methodology, click on the link above.

For more information, contact J. Christopher

Mihm, 202-512-6086, mihmj@gao.gov.

Highlights of GAO-03-190, a report to

Congressional Requesters

January 2003

Source: GAO.

Never has a results-oriented focus

been more critical than today,

when the security of America’s

citizens depends on the outcomes

of many federal programs. In

response to the September 11

terrorist attacks, the Congress

passed the Aviation and

Transportation Security Act

(ATSA) that created the

Transportation Security

Administration (TSA) and made it

responsible for transportation

security. ATSA requires TSA to

implement specific practices that

are intended to make it a resultsoriented organization.

GAO makes specific

recommendations to the Secretary

of Transportation and the Under

Secretary of Transportation for

Security to continue and augment

TSA’s progress in implementing

ATSA’s results-oriented practices.

The adjacent table shows selected

recommended next steps for TSA.

We provided drafts of this report to

officials from the Department of

Transportation (DOT), including

TSA, for their review and comment.

TSA’s Director of Strategic

Management and Analysis provided

oral comments on behalf of DOT

and TSA generally agreeing with

the contents, findings, and

recommendations of the draft

report.
Page i GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

Contents

Letter 1

Results in Brief 3

Background 6

TSA Actions and Plans to Implement Selected Results-Oriented 

Practices 10

Concluding Observations 36

Recommendations for Executive Action 36

Agency Comments 37

Appendix

Appendix I: Objective, Scope, and Methodology 39

Related GAO Products 40

Tables Table 1: Summary of ATSA Requirements, TSA Actions and Plans, 

and Recommended Next Steps, by Results-Oriented 

Practice 4

Table 2: Summary of Opportunities to Help Ensure Useful Annual 

Plans and Applied Practices 21

Figures Figure 1: Standardized Performance Agreement for TSA 

Executives 14

Figure 2: DOT and TSA Goal Alignment for Aviation Security 18

Figure 3: TSA’s Interim Performance Management System 23

Abbreviations

ATSA Aviation and Transportation Security Act

CSI customer satisfaction index

DHS Department of Homeland Security

DOT Department of Transportation

GPRA Government Performance and Results Act

PBO performance-based organization
Contents

Page ii GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

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Page 1 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

United States General Accounting Office

Washington, D.C. 20548

A

January 17, 2003 Letr

The Honorable Ernest F. Hollings

United States Senate 

The Honorable Kay Bailey Hutchison

United States Senate

The Honorable John McCain

United States Senate

The Honorable John D. Rockefeller, IV

United States Senate

Over a year has passed since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, 

turned commercial aircraft into missiles, killing thousands of people, 

destroying billions of dollars’ worth of property, and realigning our national 

priorities. These attacks tragically underscore the forces that are likely to 

shape American society, the United States’ place in the world, and the role 

of the federal government. The federal government is engaged in a 

comprehensive review, reassessment, reprioritization, and as appropriate 

reengineering of what the government does, how it does business, and in 

some cases, who does the government’s business. Leading public and 

private organizations in the United States and abroad have found that for 

organizations to successfully transform themselves they must often 

fundamentally change their cultures so they are more results oriented, 

customer focused, and collaborative in nature.1

 Ultimately, federal agencies 

will need to transform their cultures to meet the realities of a postSeptember 11 environment and the challenges of the 21st century. 

In response to the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Congress passed the 

Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA) in November 2001, which 

created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) as a new 

organization in the Department of Transportation (DOT). According to 

ATSA, TSA is responsible for security in aviation and other modes of 

transportation. In addition, ATSA requires TSA to implement specific 

practices that are intended to make it a results-oriented organization. Also 

1

U.S. General Accounting Office, Highlights of a GAO Forum: Mergers and 

Transformation: Lessons Learned for a Department of Homeland Security and Other 

Federal Agencies, GAO-03-293SP (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 14, 2002).
Page 2 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Congress created the 

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to better coordinate the United 

States’ efforts to combat terrorism. The creation of this department moves 

TSA and its responsibilities for security of all modes of transportation out 

of DOT and into the newly created DHS.

A key factor to help organizations achieve their missions and program 

results is to implement a positive control environment. A positive control 

environment provides discipline and structure as well as the climate that 

influences the quality of internal control. In essence, a positive control 

environment requires management and employees to establish a supportive 

attitude toward internal control and conscientious management. As such, 

effective internal control includes strategic planning, budget formulation 

and execution, organizational alignment and control, performance 

measurement, human capital, financial management, information 

technology, and acquisition.

At your request, this report describes TSA’s actions and plans for 

implementing the results-oriented practices required in ATSA and 

recommends next steps for TSA to take to build a results-oriented 

organizational culture and to establish a positive control environment. To 

address the objective of this report, we reviewed our models, guides, 

reports, and other products on strategic planning and performance 

measurement, strategic human capital management, transformation 

efforts, and other related areas to identify results-oriented practices and 

recommend next steps for TSA. We next analyzed ATSA in relation to our 

products to identify any results-oriented practices that were statutorily 

required in the legislation. We interviewed officials from various TSA 

offices responsible for strategic planning, human capital, training, budget, 

public affairs, and policy, among others and reviewed TSA and DOT 

missions, performance goals and measures, performance agreements, 

policies and procedures, and organizational charts and other relevant 

documentation. For additional information on our scope and methodology, 

see appendix I.

This report addresses a part of your larger request for GAO to provide 

information on the extent to which TSA’s policies, procedures, and 

organizational structure are likely to ensure the adequate oversight of its 

workforce of air marshals, airline passenger and baggage screeners, and 

other security personnel, as well as other matters. We have testified before 

your committee and issued reports on TSA and aviation security that 

address issues included in your larger request. In an ongoing effort to 
Page 3 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

provide real-time, constructive assistance to TSA, we provided TSA with 

our guides and reports on strategic planning and strategic human capital 

management. See related GAO products listed at the end of this report for a 

list of GAO reports, testimonies, guides, and other products related to TSA, 

transportation security, and results-oriented practices. 

Results in Brief TSA has faced immense challenges in its first year of existence. In its first 

year, TSA has simultaneously started to build the infrastructure of a large 

organization as it focused primarily on meeting its aviation security 

deadlines. TSA reports that it met two of its most significant mandated 

deadlines—to deploy federal passenger screeners at airports across the 

nation by November 19, 2002 and to screen every piece of checked baggage 

for explosives by December 31, 2002.2 To date, TSA has recruited, hired, 

trained, and deployed over 44,000 federal screeners to meet these 

deadlines. As TSA begins to take responsibility for security in the maritime 

and surface modes of transportation, its current and future challenge is to 

continue to build, sustain, and institutionalize the organizational capacity 

to help it achieve its current and future goals. In this regard, TSA has made 

an impressive start in implementing practices in 

• leadership commitment to creating a high-performing organization,

• strategic planning to establish results-oriented goals and measures,

• performance management to promote accountability for results,

• collaboration and communication to achieve national outcomes, and 

2

The Homeland Security Act of 2002, Public Law 107-296, Nov. 25, 2002, the legislation that 

created DHS, amends this requirement. According to the legislation, if, in his discretion or at 

the request of an airport, the Under Secretary of Transportation for Security determines that 

TSA is not able to deploy explosives detection systems required in ATSA by December 31, 

2002, then for each airport for which the Under Secretary makes this determination, the 

Under Secretary shall submit to specific congressional committees a detailed plan for the 

deployment of the number of explosives detection systems at that airport necessary to meet 

the requirement as soon as practicable at that airport but no later than December 31, 2003. 

Also, the Under Secretary shall take all necessary action to ensure that alternative means of 

screening all checked baggage are implemented until the requirements have been met. TSA 

reports that as of December 31, 2002, about 90 percent of all checked baggage will be 

screened using explosives detection systems or explosives trace detection equipment and 

the remaining checked baggage will be screened using alternative means. 
Page 4 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

• public reporting and customer service to build citizen confidence.

These practices establish the foundation of a results-oriented culture that 

will remain critically important when TSA moves into the new DHS. 

Specifically, TSA has begun taking actions required in ATSA and used by 

leading organizations when they emphasize a focus on results. These 

actions lay the groundwork for “recommended next steps” that TSA can 

take to help reinforce a results-oriented culture. ATSA’s requirements, TSA’s 

actions and plans to implement them, and recommended next steps for 

each results-oriented practice are shown in table 1. We provided drafts of 

this report to officials from DOT, including TSA, for their review and 

comment. TSA’s Director of Strategic Management and Analysis provided 

oral comments on behalf of DOT and TSA generally agreeing with the 

contents, findings, and recommendations of the draft report. In addition to 

making minor technical clarifications, we made changes where appropriate 

to reflect progress TSA has made in the results-oriented practices since the 

completion of our audit work. 

Table 1: Summary of ATSA Requirements, TSA Actions and Plans, and Recommended Next Steps, by Results-Oriented Practice

ATSA requirements TSA actions and plans Recommended next steps 

Leadership commitment to creating a high-performing organization

• Requires performance 

agreements between the 

Secretary of DOT and the 

Under Secretary of 

Transportation for Security 

and between the Under 

Secretary and TSA 

executives.

• Stated leadership commitment to creating a resultsoriented culture in its 180-day action plan.

• Expressed plans to use the Baldrige performance 

excellence criteria as a management tool to promote 

quality and performance. 

• Established standardized performance agreements for 

TSA executives.

• Establish a performance agreement for the 

Under Secretary of Transportation for 

Security that articulates how bonuses will 

be tied to performance.

• Add expectations in performance 

agreements for top leadership to foster the 

culture of a high-performing organization.

Strategic planning to establish results-oriented goals and measures

• Requires a 5-year 

performance plan and 

annual performance report 

consistent with the principles 

of the Government 

Performance and Results 

Act.

• Articulated vision, mission, values, strategic goal, and 

performance goals and measures. 

• Developed automated system to collect performance 

data to demonstrate progress in meeting goals.

• Aligned aviation security performance goals and 

measures with DOT goals. 

• Reported it submitted its first annual performance 

report.

• Establish security performance goals and 

measures for all modes of transportation as 

part of a strategic planning process that 

involves stakeholders. 

• Apply practices that have been shown to 

provide useful information in agency 

performance plans.
Page 5 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

Source: GAO analysis.

Performance management to promote accountability for results

• Requires a performance 

management system.

• Requires performance 

agreements for all 

employees that include 

organizational and individual 

goals. 

• Established an interim performance management 

system.

• Created standardized performance agreements for 

groups of employees that include organizational and 

individual goals and standards of performance. 

• Build on the current performance 

agreements to achieve additional benefits. 

• Ensure the permanent performance 

management system makes meaningful 

distinctions in performance. 

• Involve employees in developing its 

permanent performance management 

system.

Collaboration and communication to achieve national outcomes

• Requires TSA to work within 

and outside the government 

to accomplish its mission.

• Establishes a Transportation 

Security Oversight Board to 

facilitate collaboration and 

communication.

• Established Offices of Security Regulation and Policy, 

Communications and Public Information, Law 

Enforcement and Security Liaison, and Legislative 

Affairs to collaborate and communicate with 

stakeholders.

• Convened the Oversight Board, which has met twice.

• Stated plans to use memorandums of understanding 

and memorandums of agreement to formalize roles and 

responsibilities of TSA and other agencies in 

transportation security.

• Define more clearly the collaboration and 

communication roles and responsibilities of 

TSA’s various offices. 

• Formalize roles and responsibilities among 

governmental entities for transportation 

security.

Public reporting and customer service to build citizen confidence

• Requires a 180-day action 

plan and two progress 

reports within 6 months of 

enactment.

• Submitted 180-day action plan and both progress 

reports within established time frames. 

• Maintains a Web site to provide information to the 

public. 

• Created ombudsman position to serve customers.

• Developed measures to track customer satisfaction.

• Reviewed and eliminated security procedures that do 

not enhance security or customer service.

• Stated plans to develop a customer satisfaction index to 

analyze customer opinions to improve performance.

• Fill the ombudsman position to facilitate 

responsiveness of TSA to the public.

• Continue to develop and implement 

mechanisms, such as the customer 

satisfaction index, to gauge customer 

satisfaction and improve customer service.

(Continued From Previous Page)

ATSA requirements TSA actions and plans Recommended next steps 
Page 6 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

Background Unlike other federal organizations that must transform their existing 

cultures, TSA has the opportunity to create a culture that fosters high 

performance from the outset. For TSA, this means creating a culture that 

focuses on 

• results rather than processes;

• matrixes rather than stovepipes;

• an external (citizen, customer, and stakeholder) perspective rather than 

an inward perspective;

• employee empowerment rather than micromanagement;

• risk management rather than risk avoidance; and

• knowledge sharing rather than knowledge hoarding.

TSA is an organization facing immense challenges to simultaneously build 

the infrastructure of a large government agency responsible for security in 

all modes of transportation and meet unprecedented deadlines required in 

ATSA to federalize aviation security. Two of the most significant deadlines 

require TSA to

• deploy federal passenger screeners at security checkpoints at 429 

airports across the nation by November 19, 2002, and

• install explosives detection systems to screen every piece of checked 

baggage for explosives no later than December 31, 2002.
Page 7 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

In July 2002, we testified before your committee on the progress TSA has 

made in enhancing aviation security and in meeting the deadlines to deploy 

federal screeners at security checkpoints and to install explosives 

detection systems.3

 At that time, we reported that while TSA’s efforts were 

well underway to hire and train thousands of key security personnel, 

including federal screeners and security directors, TSA had experienced 

unexpected delays in finding and hiring security screener personnel who 

met the requirements of ATSA.4

 We also reported that while TSA had made 

progress in checking all bags for explosives and planning for the purchase 

and installation of explosives detection equipment, TSA had not kept pace 

with planned milestones to meet congressional deadlines for using 

explosives detection systems to screen 100 percent of checked baggage. In 

addition, we reported that TSA had not fully implemented the 

responsibilities required in ATSA such as the security of other modes of 

transportation, cargo security, and general aviation security. Finally, we 

also observed that the move of TSA from DOT to a DHS poses further 

challenges that may delay progress on meeting mandated deadlines and 

addressing other security vulnerabilities in the nation’s transportation 

system. 

3

U.S. General Accounting Office, Aviation Security: Transportation Security 

Administration Faces Immediate and Long-Term Challenges, GAO-02-971T (Washington, 

D.C.: July 25, 2002).

4

ATSA requires that federal security screener personnel have a satisfactory or better score 

on a federal security screening personnel selection examination; be a U.S. citizen; possess a 

high school diploma, general equivalency diploma, or experience that the Under Secretary 

has determined to be sufficient for the individuals to perform the duties of the position; have 

basic aptitudes and physical abilities, including color perception, visual and aural acuity, 

physical coordination, and motor skills; have English proficiency to include reading, 

speaking, and writing in English; have the ability to demonstrate daily a fitness for duty 

without impairment due to illegal drugs, sleep deprivation, medication, or alcohol; 

successfully pass an employment investigation background check (including a criminal 

history record check); not pose a national security risk or threat; and satisfactorily complete 

all initial, recurrent, and appropriate specialized training required by the security program. 

The requirement for U.S. citizenship was subsequently changed by Public Law 107-296,

Nov. 25, 2002, to include legal residents of the United States.
Page 8 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

TSA and DOT leadership have also testified before the Congress at several 

hearings on challenges TSA was facing as it tried to meet its deadlines and 

other transportation security responsibilities while establishing itself as a 

federal organization.5

 Leadership stated that one of TSA’s challenges is to 

build a large organization from the ground up. Specifically, in January 2002, 

TSA only had approximately 15 employees of the more than 60,000 it 

reported it would need by the end of 2002. In addition, the Under Secretary 

of Transportation for Security testified that at that time the congressionally 

mandated cap on the number of employees it can employ of 45,000 would 

limit its ability to meet the deadlines. TSA also testified on the need for 

additional funding to meet its security responsibilities and the delays it 

experienced in receiving this funding. According to TSA and DOT, delays in 

funding and restrictions on the use of the additional funding at that time 

had undermined TSA’s ability to meet the deadlines. DOT leadership stated 

that TSA is especially disadvantaged by operating under a continuing 

resolution because it does not have money from previous years to help 

bridge the gaps between programmatic needs and the funding it receives 

under the continuing resolution.

When the Congress created TSA, it required practices consistent with other 

government initiatives to restructure their agencies in order to instill 

results-oriented organizational cultures. In the United States and abroad, 

governments have restructured their agencies to improve the delivery of 

government services and clarify accountability for results. During the 1980s 

and 1990s, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 

reported that its member countries increased efforts to restructure their 

public sector organizations for results.6

 Among member countries, 

restructured organizations represent about 50 percent, sometimes as high 

as 75 percent, of public expenditure and public servants. 

5

Statement of Admiral James Loy, Acting Under Secretary of Transportation for Security 

before the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, U.S. Senate on 

September 10, 2002; Statement of Stephen J. McHale, Deputy Under Secretary of 

Transportation for Management and Policy, Transportation Security Administration, before 

the Committee on Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives in Atlanta, Georgia 

on August 7, 2002; Statement of the Honorable Norman Y. Mineta, Secretary of 

Transportation before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,

U.S. Senate on July 25, 2002; Statement of the Honorable Norman Y. Mineta, Secretary of 

Transportation before the Subcommittee on Aviation, Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure, U.S. House of Representatives on July 23, 2002.

6

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Distributed Public 

Governance: Agencies Authorities And Other Autonomous Bodies, Preliminary Draft

(Nov. 14, 2001). 
Page 9 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

In 1988, the United Kingdom started to restructure its government agencies 

to increase their focus on accountability and improve customer service. 

Called “executive agencies,” these restructured agencies are still the 

predominant form of service delivery in the United Kingdom. As of 

December 2001, there were over 130 executive agencies covering more 

than three-quarters of the British civil service. In July 2002, the Prime 

Minister’s Office of Public Services Reform reviewed the performance of 

these executive agencies and set out to identify management principles 

that may have contributed to their success.7

 The Prime Minister’s Office 

concluded that the restructured executive agency model has been a 

success and the management principles underlying the restructured 

agencies continue to be highly relevant. These principles are: (1) a clear 

focus on delivering specified goals within a framework of accountability, 

(2) responsibility for performance resting clearly with the chief executive 

and agency staff, and (3) an agency focus that is outward rather than 

inward.

In the 1990s, the Congress recognized the need to restructure federal 

agencies and to hold them accountable for achieving program results.8

 To 

this end, the Congress established performance-based organizations 

(PBOs), modeled after the United Kingdom’s executive agencies: the Office 

of Student Financial Assistance, United States Patent and Trademark 

Office, and Air Traffic Organization. Designed in statute, PBOs were to 

commit to clear management objectives and specific targets for improved 

performance. These clearly defined performance goals, coupled with direct 

ties between the achievement of performance goals and the pay and tenure 

of the head of the PBO and other senior managers, were intended to lead to 

improved performance. Specifically, the head of the PBO is appointed for a 

set term, subject to annual performance agreements, and eligible for 

bonuses for improved organizational performance. 

Similarly for TSA, the Congress required an Under Secretary to be 

appointed for a 5-year term to manage TSA who is entitled to a bonus based 

7

The Prime Minister’s Office of Public Services Reform, Better Government Services: 

Executive Agencies in the 21st Century (London: 2002).

8

U.S. General Accounting Office, Federal Student Aid: Additional Management 

Improvements Would Clarify Strategic Direction and Enhance Accountability, GAO-02-

255 (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 30, 2002); Performance-Based Organizations: Lessons Learned 

From the British Next Steps Initiative, GAO/T-GGD-97-151 (Washington, D.C: July 8, 1997); 

and Performance-Based Organizations: Issues for the Saint Lawrence Seaway 

Development Corporation Proposal, GAO/GGD-97-74 (Washington, D.C: May 15, 1997).
Page 10 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

on performance; measurable goals to be outlined in a 5-year performance 

plan and reported annually; a performance management system to include 

individual and organizational goals for managers and employees; an annual 

performance agreement for the Under Secretary, senior managers, and 

staff; an oversight board to facilitate communication and collaboration; and 

public reporting requirements to build citizen confidence.

TSA will be 1 of over 20 originating agencies or their components with 

differing missions, cultures, systems, and procedures that are to move into 

DHS. The newly created DHS is the most recent manifestation of the 

continuing consideration of how best to restructure government to respond 

to the challenges of the 21st century. At a GAO-sponsored forum on mergers 

and transformation, participants observed that people and cultural issues 

are at the center of successful mergers and transformations. 9 The 

importance of these issues should not be avoided, but aggressively 

addressed at the outset and throughout the process.

TSA Actions and Plans 

to Implement Selected 

Results-Oriented 

Practices 

Within its first year of existence, TSA has made an impressive start in 

implementing practices that can create a results-oriented organizational 

culture and help TSA as it begins to take responsibility for the security of 

the maritime and surface modes of transportation. These practices include 

• leadership commitment to creating a high-performing organization,

• strategic planning to establish results-oriented goals and measures,

• performance management to promote accountability for results,

• collaboration and communication to achieve national outcomes, and

• public reporting and customer service to build citizen confidence.

TSA’s actions and plans to implement the results-oriented practices 

required in ATSA and recommended next steps that can help TSA build a 

results-oriented culture are described on the following pages.

9

GAO-03-293SP.
Page 11 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

Leadership Commitment to 

Creating a High-Performing 

Organization 

A critical element and the foundation of TSA’s successful implementation 

of results-oriented practices will be the demonstrated and sustained 

commitment of its top leaders. Ultimately, successful organizations 

understand that they must often change their culture to successfully 

transform themselves, and that such a change starts with top leadership. 

Top leadership involvement is essential to overcoming an organization’s 

natural resistance to change, marshalling the resources needed in many 

cases to improve management, and building and maintaining the 

organizationwide commitment to new ways of doing business. At a recent 

GAO-sponsored roundtable, we reported on the necessity to elevate 

attention, integrate various efforts, and institutionalize accountability to 

lead efforts to fundamentally transform an agency and address key 

management functions at the highest appropriate level in the 

organization.10 At TSA, the leadership faces a daunting challenge to create 

this results-oriented culture. From the outset, this challenge was 

exacerbated by the change in TSA’s head position, the Under Secretary of 

Transportation for Security, just 8 months after the organization was 

established. TSA has continually stated its commitment to becoming a 

high-performing organization, and has reinforced that commitment in its 

performance agreements for TSA executives.

TSA leadership has expressed its commitment to creating a resultsoriented organizational culture. Specifically, in its 180-day action plan 

report to the Congress outlining goals and milestones for defining 

acceptable levels of performance in aviation security, TSA stated that it is 

committed to “being a leading-edge, performance-based organization—an 

organization whose operative culture establishes performance 

expectations that support the mission, drives those expectations into 

organizational and individual performance plans, and collects objective 

data to assess its performance.” 

10U.S. General Accounting Office, Highlights of a GAO Roundtable: The Chief Operating 

Officer Concept: A Potential Strategy To Address Federal Governance Challenges, GAO-03-

192SP (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 4, 2002).
Page 12 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

TSA leadership also plans to use the Baldrige performance excellence 

criteria as a management tool to promote an awareness of quality and 

performance in TSA.11 These criteria are: leadership, strategic planning, 

customer and market focus, information and analysis, human resource 

focus, process management, and business results. TSA leadership hired a 

former Baldrige award application examiner to be TSA’s Chief Quality 

Officer and to head the Office of Quality Performance. According to TSA 

officials, the Office of Quality Performance will serve as internal 

consultants to TSA management to help them use the Baldrige criteria as a 

tool to create a culture focused on performance. 

To hold TSA’s leadership accountable for achieving results, ATSA requires 

TSA to establish a performance agreement between the Under Secretary 

and the Secretary of DOT that includes organizational and individual 

performance goals. A TSA official told us that as of November 2002, no 

performance agreement had been finalized for the Under Secretary since 

the current Under Secretary has been acting in the position.12 During times 

of transition, high-performing organizations recognize that performance 

agreements can reinforce accountability for organizational goals.13 To this 

end, when TSA moves into its new parent department, DHS, TSA can use 

performance agreements to maintain a consistent focus on its goals. ATSA 

also allows for the Under Secretary to receive a bonus for any calendar 

year up to 30 percent of the annual rate of pay, based on a performance 

evaluation. However, TSA’s interim performance management system does 

not specifically address performance bonuses for the head of TSA. 

In addition, ATSA requires TSA to establish performance agreements 

between TSA’s Under Secretary and his or her executives that set 

organizational and individual performance goals. TSA has created a 

standardized performance agreement for TSA executives as a part of its 

interim performance management system. TSA’s executive agreements 

11The Baldrige performance excellence criteria are used as the basis of the Baldrige Award, 

which is given by the President of the United States to organizations that are judged to be 

outstanding in seven criteria. The Congress established the award program to recognize 

organizations for their achievements in quality and performance and to raise awareness 

about the importance of quality and performance as a competitive edge.

12The acting Under Secretary of Transportation for Security was sworn in on November 25, 

2002.

13U.S. General Accounting Office, Managing for Results: Emerging Benefits From Selected 

Agencies’ Use of Performance Agreements, GAO-01-115 (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 30, 2000).
Page 13 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

include both organizational and individual goals, as shown in figure 1. For 

example, each executive performance agreement includes an 

organizational goal such as to maintain the nation’s air security and ensure 

an emphasis on customer satisfaction. The agreement also includes 

individual goals, such as to meet or exceed requirements for satisfactory 

performance and to demonstrate commitment to civil rights. In addition, 

the agreement includes competencies, such as to provide leadership in 

setting the workforce’s expected performance levels and ensure that the 

executive’s work unit contributes to the accomplishment of TSA’s mission. 

TSA can strengthen these performance agreements by setting explicit 

targets that are directly linked to organizational goals. 
Page 14 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

Figure 1: Standardized Performance Agreement for TSA Executives

Source: TSA.

Employee Name: Position: Executive Organization:

Performance Period:

From: To:

Social Security Number:

As a Transportation Security Administration executive, I will work diligently to achieve the following organizational and individual goals:

Organizational Goal(s): TSA will improve and maintain the security of American air travel by effectively deterring or preventing successful

terrorist (or other) incidents on airlines and at airports, with minimal disruption to transportation and complete service

to travelers.

While maintaining the nation’s air security, TSA employees will ensure an emphasis on customer satisfaction.

During the first year of TSA, make substantial contributions toward the successful creation of the Administration and

the accomplishment of organizational goals, i.e., federalize aviation security; improve security; and customer

satisfaction.

Supplemental Goal(s): (The supervisor may include additional organizational goal(s) here.)

Individual Goal(s): My organization will continuously set the standard for excellence in transportation security through its people,

processes, and technologies.

I will meet or exceed all requirements for Satisfactory Performance.

I will demonstrate through actions, words and leadership, my commitment to civil rights at TSA.

(Add at least one program goal.)

I also agree to meet or exceed the following level of performance:

Standard for Satisfactory

Performance:

I will:

 Exercise leadership and motivate managers to incorporate vision, and strategic planning that integrates key

national and program goals and priorities.

 Provide leadership in setting the work force’s expected performance levels, guiding other towards goal

accomplishment, and effectively using the performance management system.

 Make timely and effective decisions and produce results through strategic planning and the implementation and

evaluation of programs and polices.

 Acquire and administer resources effectively. Identify and plan for a cost-effective mix of financial, human and

material resources to achieve program accomplishments. Apply merit principles and promote equality and

diversity in all aspects of human resource management.

 Effectively represent the organization internally and externally. Establish and maintain working relationships,

facilitate the exchange of ideas, coordinate internal program matters, develop and enhance alliances and gain

cooperation to accomplish goals.

 Ensure that my work unit contributes to the accomplishment of TSA’s mission and vision; and that members of

my work unit conduct themselves in a way that supports TSA’s values.

Supplemental Standard(s): (The supervisor may include additional standard(s) here.)

Performance Agreement Initiation: Executive signature and date:

Supervisor signature and date:

Mid-Cycle Review: Executive signature and date:

Supervisor signature and date:

Performance Assessment at the end of the appraisal period (supervisor

should circle yes or no):

The employee met or exceeded the standard for satisfactory

performance: Yes No

Executive signature and date: Supervisor signature and date:
Page 15 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

Governmentwide, to help hold senior executives accountable for 

organizational results, federal agencies are to establish performance 

management systems that (1) hold senior executives accountable for their 

individual and organizational performance by linking performance 

management with the results-oriented goals of the Government 

Performance and Results Act (GPRA); (2) evaluate senior executive 

performance using measures that balance organizational results with 

customer satisfaction, employee perspectives, and any other measures 

agencies decide are appropriate; and (3) use performance results as a basis 

for pay, awards, and other personnel decisions. We have found that 

progress is needed in explicitly linking senior executive expectations for 

performance to results-oriented organizational goals and greater emphasis 

should be placed in fostering the necessary collaboration both within and 

across organizational boundaries to achieve results.14 Furthermore, a 

specific performance expectation to lead and facilitate change could be a 

critical element as agencies transform themselves to succeed in an 

environment that is more results oriented, less hierarchical, and more 

integrated.

Recommended Next Steps Establish a performance agreement for the Under Secretary of 

Transportation for Security that articulates how bonuses will be 

tied to performance. To hold the Under Secretary accountable for 

achieving results, DOT, or the new parent department DHS, should create a 

performance agreement for the Under Secretary that includes 

organizational and individual goals and also articulates how bonuses for 

the Under Secretary will be tied to his performance in achieving the goals 

in the performance agreement.

Add expectations in performance agreements for top leadership to 

foster the culture of a high-performing organization. Successful 

organizations understand that top leadership performance and 

accountability are critical to their success and to the success of the federal 

government’s transformation. TSA can strengthen its current performance 

agreements for top leadership, including the Under Secretary and senior 

executives, by adding performance expectations that 

• establish explicit targets directly linked to organizational goals,

14U.S. General Accounting Office, Results-Oriented Cultures: Using Balanced Expectations 

to Manage Senior Executive Performance, GAO-02-966 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 27, 2002).
Page 16 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

• foster the necessary collaboration within and across organizational 

boundaries to achieve results, and

• demonstrate commitment to lead and facilitate change.

Strategic Planning to 

Establish Results-Oriented 

Goals and Measures 

Strategic planning is a continuous, dynamic, and inclusive process that 

provides the foundation for the fundamental results the organization seeks 

to achieve. ATSA’s requirements for TSA are consistent with the resultsoriented planning and reporting principles embodied in GPRA. GPRA 

provides a strategic planning and management framework intended to 

improve federal performance and hold agencies accountable for achieving 

results. Effective implementation of this framework requires agencies to 

clearly establish results-oriented performance goals in strategic and annual 

performance plans for which they will be held accountable, measure 

progress towards those goals, determine the strategies and resources to 

effectively accomplish the goals, use performance information to make the 

programmatic decisions necessary to improve performance, and formally 

communicate results in performance reports. Specifically, ATSA requires 

TSA to submit to the Congress a 5-year performance plan and an annual 

performance report, but does not specify when these documents are to be 

submitted to the Congress.

TSA has taken the first steps to establishing the performance planning and 

reporting framework consistent with GPRA. The starting point for the 

framework envisioned under GPRA is the strategic plan that describes an 

organization’s mission, outcome-oriented strategic goals, strategies to 

achieve these goals, and key factors beyond the agency’s control that could 

impact the goals’ achievement, among other things. According to TSA 

officials, TSA is currently developing its strategic plan. TSA has, however, 

made components of its plan public. TSA has articulated its mission, vision, 

and values. TSA’s mission is to protect the nation’s transportation systems 

to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce. TSA’s vision is 

to continuously set the standard for excellence in transportation security 

through people, processes, and technologies and its values are integrity, 

innovation, courtesy and respect, competence, customer focus, dedication, 

diversity, and teamwork. In addition, TSA has set an overall strategic goal: 

to prevent intentional harm or disruption to the transportation system by 

terrorists or other persons intending to cause harm. To support this 

strategic goal, TSA has defined three performance goals:

• meeting the ATSA mandates to federalize transportation security,
Page 17 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

• maintaining and improving aviation security, and

• servicing TSA customers.

To demonstrate its progress toward meeting its performance goals, TSA 

established an initial set of 32 performance measures. For example, TSA’s 

primary performance measures for its performance goal to maintain and 

improve aviation security are the percentage of bags screened by 

explosives detection systems and the percentage of trained screeners. 

Other measures to complement these primary measures include the 

percentage of explosives detection systems deployed, the percentage of 

screeners with 60 hours of on-the-job training completed, and the 

percentage of screeners compliant with training standards. TSA plans to 

develop more outcome-oriented goals and measures in fiscal year 2003 and 

is in the process of finalizing strategies to achieve its goals.

To report on its progress in meeting its performance goals and measures, 

TSA has begun to build the capacity to gather and use organizational 

performance information. TSA has installed an automated performance 

management information system, which became operational in April 2002 

and is designed to collect and report data on TSA’s performance measures. 

Data will be collected from federal security directors, security screener 

supervisors, and headquarters officials and reported through Web-based 

reports designed for internal decision making and external reporting. 

According to TSA officials, the system will be expanded to include goals 

and measures related to all modes of transportation in upcoming fiscal 

years. As required by ATSA, TSA reported on November 19, 2002, that it 

submitted its first annual performance report.

TSA has linked its aviation security performance goals to those of its parent 

department, DOT, to provide a clear, direct understanding of how the 

achievement of its performance goals will lead to the achievement of DOT’s 

strategic goal for homeland security, as shown in figure 2. Specifically, 

TSA’s performance goals to federalize and maintain and improve aviation 

security are intended to contribute to DOT’s performance goal to “reduce 

vulnerability to crime and terrorism and promote regional stability” and its 

strategic goal on homeland security, to “ensure the security of the 

transportation system for the movement of people and goods and support 

the National Security Strategy.” As TSA establishes its performance goals 

for other modes of transportation, it should continue to align its goals with 

DOT’s goals. When TSA moves to DHS, it will be necessary to maintain goal 

alignment with its new parent department.
Page 18 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

Figure 2: DOT and TSA Goal Alignment for Aviation Security

Homeland security - Ensure the security of the transportation system for the movement of people and goods, 

and support the National Security Strategy

Reduce passenger waiting time at screening 

checkpoints to no more than 10 minutes, 

95 percent of the time

Reduce vulnerability to crime and terrorism and promote regional stability

Federalize aviation 

security

Percentage of

trained 

screeners

Maintain and improve

aviation security

Percentage of

required staff

on board

Customer satisfaction

DOT strategic 

goal

DOT 

performance 

goal

DOT 

performance

goals for 

aviation

security

TSA 

performance

goals

TSA primary

performance

measures

TSA 

strategic 

goal

Prevent intentional harm or disruption to the transportation system by terrorists or other persons intending to cause harm

Average 

customer 

wait time

Ensure that no terrorist or other individual is successful in 

causing harm or significant disruption to the aviation system

Percentage of

airports that have

been rolled over

to federal authority

Percentage of

bags screened by

explosives 

detection systems

Percentage of

complaints per 

1,000 

passengers

Source: GAO analysis based on "FY 2003 DOT Performance Plan" and "TSA Initial Performance Measures and Their Definitions".
Page 19 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

GPRA requires agencies to consult with the Congress and solicit the views 

of other stakeholders as they develop their strategic plans.15 However, TSA 

has stated few plans to involve stakeholders in its strategic planning 

process. Such consultations provide an important opportunity for TSA and 

the Congress to work together to ensure that agency missions are focused, 

goal are specific and results oriented, and strategies and funding 

expectations are appropriate and reasonable. Results-oriented 

organizations also recognize that it is important to broaden stakeholder 

involvement to create a basic understanding among stakeholders of 

competing goals. As TSA works to meet its goals, it will continue to face 

ongoing challenges to balance aviation security against customer service. 

While TSA needs to screen passengers and baggage carefully to meet its 

goal to maintain the security of the aviation system, it must efficiently 

move customers and their baggage through the aviation system to minimize 

passenger inconvenience to encourage them to continue using air 

transportation.

Recommended Next Steps Establish security performance goals and measures for all modes 

of transportation as part of a strategic planning process that 

involves stakeholders. Stakeholder involvement, and specifically 

congressional consultation, is particularly important for TSA in its strategic 

planning process given the importance of its mission and the necessity to 

establish additional goals to address other modes of transportation. In 

addition, TSA operates in a complex political environment where there will 

be the ongoing need to balance the sometimes conflicting goals of security 

and customer service. 

We identified approaches that can enhance the usefulness of consultations 

between TSA and the Congress that can also apply to consultations with 

external stakeholders.16 Among the approaches are the following.

• Engage the right people. Including people who are knowledgeable about 

the topic at hand, such as TSA officials who are knowledgeable about 

particular transportation modes and specific programs, is important 

when consulting with the Congress and other stakeholders. 

15U.S. General Accounting Office, Agencies’ Strategic Plans Under GPRA: Key Questions to 

Facilitate Congressional Review, GAO/GGD-10.1.16 (Washington, D.C.: May 1997).

16U.S. General Accounting Office, Managing for Results: Enhancing the Usefulness of 

GPRA Consultations Between the Executive Branch and Congress, GAO/T-GGD-97-56

(Washington, D.C.: Mar. 10, 1997).
Page 20 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

• Address differing views. Stakeholders may have differing views on what 

they believe the level of detail discussed during consultation meetings 

should be. For example, participants may want to engage in discussion 

that goes beyond TSA’s mission to the appropriate balance between 

enforcing security and servicing passengers. 

• Establish a consultation process that is iterative. All parties involved in 

transportation security recognize that the consultation process should 

be continuous and they should meet as many times as both sides feel are 

necessary to reach a reasonable consensus on TSA’s strategic and 

performance goals to address transportation security.

Apply practices that have been shown to provide useful 

information in agency performance plans. Results-oriented 

organizations focus on the process of performance planning rather than the 

planning documents themselves. GPRA was intended, in part, to improve 

congressional decision making by giving the Congress comprehensive and 

reliable information on the extent to which federal programs are fulfilling 

their statutory intent. We have identified practices that TSA can apply to 

ensure the usefulness of its required 5-year performance plan to TSA 

managers, the Congress, and other decision makers and interested 

parties.17 Table 2 outlines these practices.

17U.S. General Accounting Office, Agency Performance Plans: Examples of Practices That 

Can Improve Usefulness to Decisionmakers, GAO/GGD/AIMD-99-69 (Washington, D.C.: 

Feb. 26, 1999) and Agencies’ Annual Performance Plans Under the Results Act: An 

Assessment Guide to Facilitate Congressional Decisionmaking, GAO/GGD/AIMD-10.1.18 

(Washington, D.C.: February 1998).
Page 21 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

Table 2: Summary of Opportunities to Help Ensure Useful Annual Plans and Applied Practices

Source: GAO/GGD/AIMD-99-69.

Opportunities to help ensure 

useful annual plans Applied practices

Articulate a results orientation. 1. Create a set of performance goals and measures that addresses important dimensions of 

program performance and balances competing priorities.

2. Use intermediate goals and measures to show progress or contribution to intended results.

3. Include explanatory information on the goals and measures.

4. Develop performance goals to address mission-critical management problems.

5. Show baseline and trend data for past performance.

6. Identify projected target levels of performance for multiyear goals.

7. Link the goals of component organizations to departmental strategic goals.

Coordinate cross-cutting programs. 8. Identify programs that contribute to the same or similar results.

9. Set complementary performance goals to show how differing program strategies are mutually 

reinforcing and establish common or complementary performance measures, as appropriate.

10. Describe—briefly or refer to a separate document—planned coordination strategies.

Show how strategies will be used to 

achieve goals.

11. Link strategies and programs to specific performance goals and describe how they will 

contribute to the achievement of those goals.

12. Describe strategies to leverage or mitigate the effects of external factors on the 

accomplishment of performance goals.

13. Discuss strategies to resolve mission-critical management problems.

14. Discuss—briefly or refer to a separate document—plans to ensure that mission-critical 

processes and information systems function properly and are secure.

Show performance consequences 

of budget and other resource 

decisions.

15. Show how budgetary resources relate to the achievement of performance goals.

16. Discuss—briefly and refer to the agency capital plan—how proposed capital assets 

(specifically information technology investments) will contribute to achieving performance 

goals.

17. Discuss—briefly or refer to a separate plan—how the agency will use its human capital.

Build the capacity to gather and use 

performance information.

18. Identify internal and external sources for data.

19. Describe efforts to verify and validate performance data.

20. Identity actions to compensate for unavailable or low-quality data.

21. Discuss implications of data limitations for assessing performance.
Page 22 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

Performance Management 

to Promote Accountability 

for Results

TSA has an opportunity to use its individual performance management 

system as a strategic tool to drive internal change and achieve external 

results. TSA, as a new organization, has a critical challenge in 

(1) integrating potentially more than 60,000 employees into a new 

organization, (2) creating a common culture, and (3) achieving its security, 

customer satisfaction, and related performance goals in an effective, 

efficient, and economical manner. The individual performance 

management system can be an essential tool in meeting all three of the 

above. To help agency leaders manage their people and integrate human 

capital considerations into daily decision making and the program results 

they seek to achieve, we developed a strategic human capital model.18 The 

model highlights the kinds of thinking that agencies should apply, as well as 

some of the steps they can take, to make progress in managing human 

capital strategically. In our model, we identify two critical success factors 

that can assist organizations in creating results-oriented cultures: (1) a “line 

of sight” showing how unit and individual performance link to 

organizational goals and (2) the inclusiveness of employees. TSA can apply 

these factors to its performance management system to help create a 

results-oriented culture.

ATSA requires TSA to establish a performance management system that is 

to strengthen the organization’s effectiveness by providing for the 

establishment of goals for managers, employees, and the organization that 

are consistent with the agency’s performance plan. TSA used the Federal 

Aviation Administration’s system until it established its own system in July 

2002, when TSA leadership approved an interim employee performance 

management system. The interim system is to remain in place until a 

permanent system is created and implemented. As of November 2002, TSA 

had not established a time frame for implementing its permanent 

performance management system.

TSA’s interim system provides specific requirements for planning individual 

performance, monitoring that performance, determining employee 

development needs, appraising performance, and recognizing and 

rewarding performance, as shown in figure 3. For example, at the 

beginning of the appraisal cycle, employees’ expectations are to be 

established using a performance agreement; throughout the cycle 

18U.S. General Accounting Office, A Model of Strategic Human Capital Management, GAO02-373SP (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 15, 2002).
Page 23 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

supervisors are to monitor performance; halfway through the performance 

cycle supervisors are to provide feedback to employees and identify 

employee development needs; and at the end of the cycle, supervisors are 

to appraise performance at two levels: fully satisfactory and unacceptable. 

Employees may then receive a bonus or other incentive if their 

performance is at the fully satisfactory level. TSA’s first appraisal cycle 

ended November 15, 2002. 

Figure 3: TSA’s Interim Performance Management System

In addition, ATSA requires that TSA’s performance agreements for its 

employees include individual and organizational goals. These performance 

agreements can help TSA align individual and organizational goals and 

Recognizing and

rewarding performance

Employees may receive a bonus or other

incentive if they have demonstrated

performance at the fully satisfactory level.

Supervisors must provide justification for

awards.

Planning performance

Employees are to receive a performance

agreement establishing their performance

expectations within 30 days of the employees'

start date.

Monitoring performance

Employees are to receive feedback halfway 

through the performance cycle and at the end

of the performance cycle. 

Appraising performance

Employees' performance is to be appraised

against the goals described in their

performance agreements. The appraisal

includes two levels: (1) fully satisfactory

and (2) unacceptable.

Developing performance

Supervisors are to work with employees to

identify developmental needs and opportunities

such as on-the-job training, formal training, or

mentoring.

Source: TSA.
Page 24 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

establish the line of sight that helps create a results-oriented culture. TSA 

has created standardized performance agreements for groups of employees 

including transportation security screeners, supervisory transportation 

security screeners, supervisors, and executives. These performance 

agreements include a consistent set of organizational goals, individual 

goals, and standards for satisfactory performance. Supervisors may 

customize performance agreements for the individual job by adding 

additional organizational and individual goals and standards of 

performance. For example, the standardized performance agreement for 

security screeners includes two organizational goals: (1) to improve and 

maintain the security of American air travel by effectively deterring or 

preventing successful terrorist (or other) incidents on aircraft and at 

airports, with minimal disruption to transportation and complete service to 

travelers and (2) to ensure an emphasis on customer satisfaction while 

maintaining the nation’s air security. In addition, the standardized 

performance agreement for security screeners includes an individual goal 

to consistently meet or exceed the basic proficiency requirements by:

• vigilantly carrying out duties with utmost attention to tasks that will 

prevent security threats,

• demonstrating the highest levels of courtesy to travelers and working to 

maximize their levels of satisfaction with TSA services,

• working as an effective team member at assigned post to ensure that 

security violations do not get past the team,

• contributing to the accomplishment of TSA’s mission and vision, 

• behaving in a way that supports TSA’s values, and

• demonstrating the highest level of concern for the civil rights of 

coworkers and the traveling public.

Finally, the agreement includes standards for satisfactory performance for 

security screeners. Standards include (1) completing all required training 

successfully and as scheduled, performing satisfactorily on required 

proficiency reviews, and passing operational testing satisfactorily and 

(2) performing security functions in an effective and timely manner in 

accordance with TSA prescribed guidelines. 
Page 25 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

As described in our strategic human capital model, in addition to and 

concurrent with the first critical success factor of creating a line of sight 

showing how unit and individual performance link to organizational goals, 

successful organizations involve employees to build results-oriented 

cultures. This critical success factor is especially timely for TSA as it 

transitions from its interim performance management system and finalizes 

its permanent system. Particularly when developing a new results-oriented 

performance management system, leading organizations have found that 

actively involving employees can build confidence and belief in the system. 

We reported that when reforming their performance management systems, 

agencies in other countries consulted a wide range of stakeholders early in 

the process, obtained feedback directly from employees, and engaged 

employee unions or associations.19

Recommended Next Steps Build on the current performance agreements to achieve 

additional benefits. Successful organizations design and implement 

performance management systems that align individual employee 

performance expectations with agency goals so that individuals understand 

the connections between their daily activities and their organization’s 

success. While TSA has created standardized performance agreements for 

groups of employees as a part of its interim performance management 

system, it can also use its performance agreements to achieve benefits by 

doing the following.20

• Strengthen alignment of results-oriented goals with daily operations.

Performance agreements can define accountability for specific goals 

and help align daily operations with agencies’ results-oriented 

programmatic goals. As TSA continues to develop and gain experience 

with performance agreements, TSA should ensure an explicit link exists 

between individual performance expectations and organizational goals 

for all employees. For example, while TSA lists certain competencies for 

individuals that are related to organizational goals such as 

demonstrating the highest level of courtesy to travelers, the next step is 

to set individual targets to meet the organizational goals.

19U.S. General Accounting Office, Results-Oriented Cultures: Insights for U.S. Agencies 

from Other Countries’ Performance Management Initiatives, GAO-02-862 (Washington, 

D.C.: Aug. 2, 2002).

20GAO-01-115.
Page 26 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

• Foster collaboration across organizational boundaries. Performance 

agreements can encourage employees to work across traditional 

organizational boundaries or “silos” by focusing on the achievement of 

organizationwide goals. For example, as TSA continues to assume 

responsibility for security in all modes of transportation, TSA can use 

employee performance agreements to set expectations that encourage 

employees to work collaboratively to achieve cross-cutting 

transportation security goals. 

• Enhance opportunities to discuss and routinely use performance 

information to make program improvements. Performance agreements 

can facilitate communication about organizational performance and 

pinpoint opportunities to improve performance. TSA’s performance 

management process offers several opportunities to discuss an 

individual’s performance and how that individual can contribute to 

TSA’s goals when meeting to set performance expectations, reviewing 

midyear progress, and assessing performance at year-end. These formal 

expectation, feedback, and assessment sessions are important to clarify 

responsibility and accountability. As a next step, TSA can ensure that it 

uses its performance agreements as a critical component of its 

performance management process to have on-going, two-way 

consultations between employees and their supervisors. In other words, 

strategic performance management—a performance management 

system that is tied to organizational goals—is not just a once- or twice-ayear formal occurrence, but rather is ongoing and routine. 

• Provide a results-oriented basis for individual accountability.

Performance agreements can serve as the basis for performance 

evaluations. An assessment of performance against the performance 

agreement can provide TSA and its employees the data needed to better 

achieve organizational goals.

• Maintain continuity of program goals during transitions. Performance 

agreements help to maintain a consistent focus on a set of broad 

programmatic priorities during changes in leadership and organization. 

TSA can use its process for developing performance agreements as a 

tool to communicate priorities and instill those priorities throughout the 

organization during periods of transition.
Page 27 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

Ensure the permanent performance management system makes 

meaningful distinctions in performance. In addition to providing 

candid and constructive feedback to help individual employees maximize 

their potential in understanding and realizing goals and objectives of the 

agency, an effective performance management system provides 

management with the objective and fact-based information it needs to 

reward top performers and the necessary information and documentation 

to deal with poor performers. Under TSA’s interim performance 

management system, employee performance is appraised at only two 

levels—fully satisfactory and unacceptable. We have observed that such a 

pass/fail system does not provide enough meaningful information and 

dispersion in ratings to recognize and reward top performers, help 

everyone attain their maximum potential, and deal with poor performers.21

As a next step, TSA should consider appraisal systems with more than two 

standards of performance. By using its performance agreements as the 

basis in making distinctions in performance, TSA can have objective and 

fact-based information and the documentation necessary to have an 

effective performance management system. 

Involve employees in developing its permanent performance 

management system. TSA has the opportunity to create a culture that 

values the importance of employees to help TSA achieve its goals. 

Employee involvement improves the quality of the system by providing a 

front line perspective and helping to create organizationwide 

understanding and ownership. In addition, even after TSA develops its 

permanent performance management system, involving employees in the 

process can help employees perceive that the system is fair.

We have identified practices that organizations can apply to further involve 

employees.22 The practices TSA can adopt to promote inclusiveness and 

encourage employee ownership for the permanent performance 

management system include the following.

• Seek employee input. Leading organizations not only provide 

information to employees but also commonly seek their employees’ 

input on a periodic basis and explicitly address and use that input to 

21U.S. General Accounting Office, FBI Reorganization: Initial Steps Encouraging but 

Broad Transformation Needed, GAO-02-865T (Washington, D.C.: June 21, 2002).

22U.S. General Accounting Office, Human Capital: Practices That Empowered and 

Involved Employees, GAO-01-1070 (Washington D.C.: Sept. 14, 2001).
Page 28 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

adjust their human capital practices. As TSA matures as an organization 

it can collect feedback using employee satisfaction surveys, focus 

groups, employee advisory councils, and/or employee task forces. 

• Involve employees in planning and sharing performance information.

Involving employees in the planning process to develop agency goals 

helps to increase employees’ understanding and acceptance of them and 

improve motivation and morale. For TSA, employees’ understanding 

and acceptance of its goals is particularly important because they are to 

be held accountable for achieving the goals set out in their performance 

agreements.

Collaboration and 

Communication to Achieve 

National Outcomes

Virtually all of the results that the federal government strives to achieve 

require the concerted and coordinated efforts of two or more agencies. 

Thus, similar to virtually all federal agencies, TSA must collaborate and 

communicate with stakeholders within and outside the government to 

achieve meaningful results, and participate in matrixed relationships—or 

networks of governmental, private sector, and nongovernmental 

organizations working together—to achieve its goals. This collaboration 

and communication will be even more important given the complex nature 

of national security-related goals. 

ATSA requires TSA to collaborate and communicate with organizations 

across the government and in the private sector to accomplish its mission. 

For example, ATSA requires TSA to do the following.

• Work with the Federal Aviation Administration to establish procedures 

for notifying its Administrator and others of the identity of individuals 

known to pose, or suspected of posing, a risk of air piracy or terrorism 

or a threat to airline or passenger safety. 

• Enter into memorandums of understanding with federal agencies or 

other entities to share or otherwise cross-check data on individuals 

identified on federal agency databases who may pose a risk to 

transportation or national security. 

• Coordinate with federal agencies and air carriers to require air carriers 

to use information from government agencies to identify individuals on 

passenger lists who may be a threat to civil aviation or national security; 

and if such an individual is identified, notify appropriate law 
Page 29 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

enforcement agencies, prevent the individual from boarding an aircraft, 

or take other appropriate action with respect to that individual. 

TSA has established a number of offices to collaborate and communicate 

with external stakeholders.

• The Office of Security Regulation and Policy is to coordinate with TSA’s 

offices and stakeholders on policy, rulemaking, and customer service 

issues. 

• The Office of Communications and Public Information is to serve as an 

advisor to senior leadership on the public impacts of major policy 

decisions, internal audience concerns, and community reaction to and 

civilian news media interest in TSA missions and functions. 

• The Office of Law Enforcement and Security Liaison is to serve as the 

national level liaison with federal, state, and local law enforcement and 

the international community and is to administer TSA’s Freedom of 

Information Act requirement, which allows the public to request 

information about TSA policies, procedures, operations, and decisions, 

among other things and TSA’s Privacy Act requirement, which allows the 

public to request any records that the government has about the 

individual making the request.

• The Office of Legislative Affairs is to be responsible for working and 

communicating with the Congress. 

TSA has experienced some challenges with collaboration and 

communication. According to TSA officials, TSA is still defining and 

clarifying the specific roles and responsibilities of the offices that are to 

communicate with stakeholders. As of December 2002, TSA did not have 

written guidance to provide information about TSA communication roles 

and responsibilities to other TSA employees or to external stakeholders. In 

addition, the Under Secretary testified that there were some problems with 

reaching stakeholders in the past, specifically the airlines and airports.23

The Under Secretary recognized that collaboration with these and other 

stakeholders is important to ensure aviation security and made a personal 

commitment that TSA will make a concerted effort to communicate better 

23Testimony of Admiral James Loy, Acting Under Secretary of Transportation for Security 

before the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, U.S. Senate on July 25, 2002.
Page 30 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

with stakeholders. In September 2002, we briefed the staff of the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, U.S. House of 

Representatives, that some officials at selected airports told us that they 

had not received clear and comprehensive guidance from TSA on issues 

concerning the feasibility of meeting the baggage screening deadline. 

TSA officials that we spoke to are aware of the importance of collaboration 

and communication across the government. According to TSA officials, the 

primary tools TSA will use to formally collaborate with governmental 

entities are memorandums of agreement and memorandums of 

understanding. They are developing memorandums of agreement with the 

other modal administrations within DOT. TSA officials told us that they 

also plan to develop memorandums of agreement and memorandums of 

understanding with local law enforcement agencies, the Department of 

Defense, the Department of State, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Emergency Management 

Agency, and the Customs Service, among others. They told us that the 

purposes of the memorandums are to delineate clear lines of authority and 

responsibility between parties; improve services to DOT’s modal 

administrations, other federal, state, and local agencies, nongovernmental 

stakeholders, and the American public; and achieve national performance 

security goals, among other purposes. TSA plans to complete the 

memorandums no later than March 1, 2003. 

As an additional mechanism to facilitate collaboration and communication, 

ATSA established the Transportation Security Oversight Board. According 

to ATSA, the Board, which must meet at least every 3 months, should 

consist of cabinet heads; directors; high-ranking officials and/or their 

designees from DOT, the Department of Defense, the Department of 

Justice, the Department of the Treasury, and the Central Intelligence 

Agency; and presidentially appointed representatives from the National 

Security Council and the Office of Homeland Security. The Secretary of 

Transportation is to be the chairperson of the Board.24 The Board’s 

responsibilities include, among other things, reviewing transportation 

plans; facilitating the coordination of intelligence, security, and law 

enforcement activities affecting transportation; and facilitating the sharing 

24The Homeland Security Act of 2002 reestablishes the Board within DHS, replaces the 

representative from the Office of Homeland Security with the Secretary of Homeland 

Security or the Secretary’s designee, and designates the chairperson of the Board as the 

Secretary of Homeland Security. 
Page 31 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

of intelligence, security, and law enforcement information affecting 

transportation. The Board, established within DOT, met twice in 2002. TSA 

officials noted that the Board is an excellent mechanism to share 

information with national security agencies across government and has 

helped focus the national security community on the threats to the 

transportation system, which TSA believes is a critical element of meeting 

the mandates in ATSA. 

Recommended Next Steps Define more clearly the collaboration and communication roles 

and responsibilities of TSA’s various offices. To help ensure 

collaboration and communication with stakeholders are consistent and 

mutually reinforcing, TSA should more fully define and clarify the 

collaboration and communication responsibilities of the many offices that 

interact with its stakeholders. TSA should ensure both internal TSA staff 

and external stakeholders can identify who is responsible for collaboration 

and communication at TSA. 

Formalize roles and responsibilities among governmental entities 

for transportation security. Finalizing memorandums of agreement and 

memorandums of understanding with the other modal administrations 

within DOT as well as other government agencies as appropriate can help 

TSA successfully manage the necessary matrixed relationships to achieve 

security in all modes of transportation. For example, agreements between 

TSA and the modal administrations can address such issues as separating 

responsibilities for standards and regulations, funding, coordinating with 

customers, and implementing future security initiatives. Although the 

memorandums may change when TSA moves to DHS, TSA should continue 

to make progress to formalize its roles and responsibilities until the 

transition takes place. 

Public Reporting and 

Customer Service to Build 

Citizen Confidence

Federal agencies can promote greater transparency of government by 

publicizing what they intend to achieve and by being held accountable for 

achieving those results. Such transparency can improve the confidence of 

the American people in the capabilities of the federal government. 

Improving public confidence is especially critical for TSA as it works to 

achieve its goals of improving transportation security. 

ATSA required TSA to issue specific reports to the Congress on its activities 

and progress in establishing and meeting its goals. Specifically, ATSA 

required TSA to provide to the Congress, within 180 days of enactment of 

the legislation, an action plan with goals and milestones that was to outline 
Page 32 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

how acceptable levels of performance for aviation security will be 

achieved. In accordance with the time frames outlined in ATSA, TSA 

submitted the action plan to the Congress on May 19, 2002, and has made 

this report available to the public on its Web site. The action plan, entitled 

“Performance Targets and Action Plan, 180 Day Report to Congress,” made 

public TSA’s strategic and performance goals, TSA’s performance measures, 

and the performance measurement information system. 

ATSA also required two progress reports within 6 months of the enactment 

of the legislation. TSA released these reports within the established time 

frame. The first progress report was to describe TSA’s progress to date on 

the evaluation and implementation of actions listed in the legislation. TSA 

submitted this progress report, entitled “Report to Congress on Enhanced 

Security Measures,” on May 19, 2002, and made the report available to the 

public on its Web site. Some of the actions TSA reported it was evaluating 

include the following.

• Establish a uniform system of identification for all state and local law 

enforcement personnel for use in obtaining permission to carry 

weapons in aircraft cabins and in obtaining access to a secured area of 

an airport. 

• Establish requirements to implement trusted passenger programs and 

use available technologies to expedite the security screening of 

passengers who participate in such programs.

• Provide for the use of technologies to enable the private and secure 

communication of threats to aid in the screening of passengers and 

other individuals on airport property who are identified on any state or 

federal security-related database for the purpose of having an integrated 

response of various authorized airport security forces.

The second progress report was to describe the deployment of passenger 

and baggage screening systems. TSA submitted this report on May 18, 2002, 

and has made nonsensitive portions of the report available on its Web site. 

The report, entitled “Deployment of Screening Systems Strategy & 

Progress,” provided the Congress with TSA’s progress on and strategy for 

meeting the mandated deadlines to deploy federal screeners at security 

checkpoints at 429 airports and to have systems in place for screening 

every piece of checked baggage for explosives. For example, TSA reported 

that at that time it had identified security screener standards; selected 

private contractors to recruit, assess, and train security screeners; 
Page 33 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

developed a preliminary plan for deploying federal screeners to the 

airports; developed an initial screening checkpoint design; and reviewed 

available and emerging explosives detection technology. The report did not 

include all of the information required in ATSA. For example, ATSA 

required specific information such as the dates of installation of each 

system to screen all checked baggage for explosives and the date each 

system is operational. 

Since TSA has issued the statutorily required action plan and progress 

reports, it has continued to publicly report on its progress. Specifically, 

TSA created a Web site that provides information for customers and the 

public, including updates on its progress toward meeting the deadlines in 

ATSA; speeches, statements, and testimonies by TSA and DOT leadership; 

information on aviation security technology such as explosives detection 

systems; fact sheets on TSA contractors; frequently asked questions related 

to TSA’s policies and procedures; information for the traveling public; and 

information on employment opportunities with TSA. For example, a private 

citizen could find out when TSA would be hiring security screeners at her 

or his local airport, how to apply for a position with TSA, and what objects 

are prohibited and permitted to be carried onto an airplane.25

In addition, TSA created an Office of Communications and Public 

Information. The purpose of this office is to provide information to the 

general public concerning TSA, its people, programs, policies, and events. 

To facilitate this mission, the Office of Communications and Public 

Information maintains a call center to receive and respond to inquiries 

from the public. This office also performs a variety of other functions. For 

example, the office develops statements, position papers, policy releases, 

media alerts, and marketing plans to inform and educate the public. 

TSA has taken several actions that are intended to focus on customer 

satisfaction and be responsive to customer concerns in delivering critical 

and sensitive services. TSA established an ombudsman position to, among 

other things, serve external customers. Specifically, TSA’s ombudsman is 

responsible for recommending and influencing systemic change where 

necessary to improve TSA operations and customer service. As of 

November 2002, TSA is recruiting to fill this position. We have reported that 

through the impartial and independent investigation of citizens’ 

complaints, federal ombudsmen help agencies be more responsive to the 

25See www.tsa.gov. 
Page 34 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

public, including people who believe their concerns have not been dealt 

with fairly or fully through normal channels. 26 Ombudsmen may 

recommend ways to resolve individual complaints or more systematic 

problems, and may help to informally resolve disagreements between the 

agency and the public. 

In addition, TSA is tracking performance on its customer service. For 

example, TSA’s primary performance measure for customer satisfaction is 

the average wait time and percentage of passenger complaints per 1,000 

passengers.27 Other measures to gauge customer satisfaction include the 

percentage of flights delayed due to security issues, the percentage of 

incidents/interventions per 1,000 passengers, the number of weapons 

seized per 1,000 passengers, and the number of seats delayed due to 

security issues, among others.

As part of its ongoing challenge to balance security against customer 

service, TSA is reviewing existing security procedures in order to eliminate 

those that do not enhance security or customer service. For example, the 

Under Secretary testified that TSA has recently eliminated two procedures 

to reduce customers’ “hassle factor” at airports. In August 2002, TSA 

allowed passengers to carry beverages in paper or foam polystyrene 

containers through walk-through metal detectors and prohibited screeners 

from asking passengers to drink or eat from any containers of food or liquid 

as a security clearance procedure. TSA also eliminated the requirement for 

the airlines to ask a series of security-related questions to customers at 

check-in. In addition, TSA recently lifted the existing rule that prohibits 

parking within 300 feet of airport terminals. TSA has replaced this rule with 

parking security measures specific to each airport and linked to the 

national threat level.

Lastly, TSA is also planning to create a customer satisfaction index (CSI) 

for aviation operations, which includes collecting customer information 

from national polls, passenger surveys at airports, the TSA call center, and 

customer feedback at airports. TSA intends to use data from the CSI to 

26U.S. General Accounting Office, Environmental Protection: Issues for Consideration in 

the Reorganization of EPA’s Ombudsman Function, GAO-02-859T (Washington, D.C.: 

June 25, 2002).

27TSA reports that, at airports where data are available, it met DOT’s performance goal that 

95 percent of passengers wait less than 10 minutes to pass through airport checkpoints 

through October 2002.
Page 35 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

improve performance. As a first step, TSA conducted 12 focus groups with 

air travelers to help it understand the aspects of customer experiences that 

influence satisfaction with and confidence in aviation security. TSA learned 

from the focus groups that:

• the federalization of aviation security significantly increased the 

confidence of passengers;

• key attributes that drive increased satisfaction and confidence include 

attentiveness of screeners, thoroughness of the screening process, 

professionalism of the workforce, and consistency of the process across 

airports;

• wait time was not a significant driver of satisfaction, and participants 

said they would be willing to wait longer if they thought it would make 

them more secure;

• the lack of checked baggage screening reduces confidence; and 

• secondary screening processes are a significant driver of reduced 

satisfaction.

The results of the focus groups will help TSA develop the passenger 

surveys to be used to collect data for the CSI. TSA intends to implement the 

CSI for aviation operations in 2003 and to expand the CSI to include other 

stakeholders, such as airport operators, air carriers, and customers of 

other modes of transportation.

Recommended Next Steps Fill the ombudsman position to facilitate responsiveness of TSA to 

the public. To ensure TSA is as responsive to the public as possible and is 

able to identify and resolve individual complaints and systematic problems, 

TSA should fill its ombudsman position as soon as high quality candidates 

can be identified. 

Continue to develop and implement mechanisms, such as the CSI, 

to gauge customer satisfaction and improve customer service. TSA 

has identified customer satisfaction as one of its three annual performance 

goals. By combining data on its service delivery from a number of sources, 

such as the CSI, TSA will be able obtain a robust picture of customer 

satisfaction, which can be used to improve performance. TSA should 

complete the planning and developing of the CSI and begin its 

implementation. 
Page 36 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

Concluding 

Observations

Never has a results-oriented focus been more critical than today, when the 

security of America’s citizens depends so directly and immediately on the 

results of many federal programs. TSA has faced immense challenges in its 

first year of existence to build the infrastructure of a large organization and 

meet mandated deadlines to federalize aviation security. As TSA begins to 

take responsibility for security in the maritime and surface modes of 

transportation, its current and future challenge is to build, sustain, and 

institutionalize the organizational capacity to help it achieve its current and 

future goals. As TSA moves into the newly created DHS, TSA has an 

opportunity to continue to foster a results-oriented culture. In this regard, 

TSA has started to put in place the foundation of this results-oriented 

culture through

• leadership commitment to creating a high-performing organization, 

• strategic planning to establish results-oriented goals and measures, 

• performance management to promote accountability for results,

• collaboration and communication to achieve national outcomes, and 

• public reporting and customer service to build citizen confidence. 

This foundation can serve TSA well in DHS and help TSA to focus on and 

achieve its mission to protect the nation’s transportation systems to ensure 

freedom of movement for people and commerce. 

Recommendations for 

Executive Action

We recommend that the Secretary of Transportation, in conjunction with 

the Under Secretary of Transportation for Security, continue TSA’s 

leadership commitment to creating a high-performing organization that 

includes next steps to establish a performance agreement for the Under 

Secretary that articulates how bonuses will be tied to performance and to 

add expectations in performance agreements for top leadership to foster 

the culture of a high-performing organization.
Page 37 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

We recommend that the Under Secretary of Transportation for Security 

take the next steps to continue to implement the following results-oriented 

practices.

• Strategic planning to establish results-oriented goals and measures that 

includes next steps to establish security performance goals and 

measures for all modes of transportation as part of a strategic planning 

process that involves stakeholders and to apply practices that have been 

shown to provide useful information in agency performance plans. 

• Performance management to promote accountability for results that 

includes next steps to build on the current performance agreements to 

achieve additional benefits, to ensure the permanent performance 

management system makes meaningful distinctions in performance, and 

to involve employees in developing its performance management 

system.

• Collaboration and communication to achieve national outcomes that 

includes next steps to define more clearly the collaboration and 

communication roles and responsibilities of TSA’s various offices and to 

formalize roles and responsibilities among governmental entities for 

transportation security. 

• Public reporting and customer service to build citizen confidence that 

includes next steps to fill the ombudsman position to facilitate 

responsiveness of TSA to the public and to continue to develop and 

implement mechanisms, such as the CSI, to gauge customer satisfaction 

and improve customer service. 

Agency Comments We provided drafts of this report in December 2002 to officials from DOT, 

including TSA, for their review and comment. TSA’s Director of Strategic 

Management and Analysis provided oral comments on behalf of DOT and 

TSA generally agreeing with the contents, findings, and recommendations 

of the draft report. TSA’s Director of Strategic Management and Analysis 

provided minor technical clarifications and we made those changes where 

appropriate. In addition, she provided updated information on TSA’s
Page 38 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

progress in its strategic planning, collaboration and communication, and 

customer service since the completion of our audit work. We added that 

information where appropriate. 

As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce its contents 

earlier, we plan no further distribution of this report for 30 days from the 

date of this letter. At that time, we will provide copies of this report to the 

Secretary of Transportation, the Under Secretary of Transportation for 

Security, the Director of the Office of Homeland Security, the Director of 

the Office of Personnel Management, and the Director of the Office of 

Management and Budget. We will also make copies available to others 

upon request. In addition, the report will be available at no charge on the 

GAO Web site at http://www.gao.gov.

If you have any questions concerning this report, please contact me or Lisa 

Shames on (202) 512-6806. Marti Tracy was a key contributor to this report.

J. Christopher Mihm

Director, Strategic Issues
Page 39 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

Appendix I

Objective, Scope, and Methodology AAppenednxidexiIs

The objective of our review was to describe the Transportation Security 

Administration’s (TSA) actions and plans for implementing the resultsoriented practices required in the Aviation and Transportation Security Act 

(ATSA) and recommend next steps for TSA to build a results-oriented 

organizational culture and to establish a positive control environment. To 

identify results-oriented practices and recommend next steps, we reviewed 

our models, guides, reports, and other products on strategic planning and 

performance measurement, strategic human capital management, 

transformation efforts, and other related areas. See related GAO products 

listed at the end of this report for a list of our products in these areas. We 

next analyzed ATSA in relation to our products to identify any resultsoriented practices that were statutorily required in the legislation. In 

addition, we reviewed TSA and Department of Transportation missions, 

performance goals and measures, performance agreements, policies and 

procedures, and organizational charts and other relevant documentation. 

To describe TSA’s status in implementing these results-oriented practices, 

we interviewed 25 officials from various TSA offices including strategic 

planning, human capital, training, budget, public affairs, and policy, among 

others. We also visited Baltimore-Washington International airport after it 

was transitioned to federal control to talk to front-line managers about 

their responsibilities and specifically their role in providing performance 

data to headquarters. We developed the recommended next steps by 

referring to our models, guides, reports, and other products on resultsoriented practices and identifying additional practices that were associated 

with and would further complement or support current TSA efforts. We 

performed our work from May through September 2002 in accordance with 

generally accepted government auditing standards. 
Page 40 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

Related GAO Products

The following list provides information on recent GAO products related to 

the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), transportation security, 

and the results-oriented practices discussed in this report. These and other 

GAO products can be found at www.gao.gov.

TSA and Transportation 

Security

Mass Transit: Federal Action Could Help Transit Agencies Address 

Security Challenges. GAO-03-263. Washington, D.C.: December 13, 2002.

Port Security: Nation Faces Formidable Challenges in Making New 

Initiatives Successful. GAO-02-993T. Washington, D.C.: August 5, 2002.

Aviation Security: Transportation Security Administration Faces 

Immediate and Long-Term Challenges. GAO-02-971T. Washington, D.C.: 

July 25, 2002.

Aviation Security: Information Concerning the Arming of Commercial 

Pilots. GAO-02-822R. Washington, D.C.: June 28, 2002.

Aviation Security: Deployment and Capabilities of Explosive Detection 

Equipment. GAO-02-713C. Washington, D.C.: June 20, 2002. (CLASSIFIED)

Leadership Commitment to 

Creating a High-Performing 

Organization 

Highlights of a GAO Forum: Mergers and Transformation: Lessons 

Learned for a Department of Homeland Security and Other Federal 

Agencies. GAO-03-293SP. Washington, D.C.: November 14, 2002.

Highlights of a GAO Roundtable: The Chief Operating Officer Concept: A 

Potential Strategy to Address Federal Governance Challenges. GAO-03-

192SP. Washington, D.C.: October 4, 2002.

Managing for Results: Using Strategic Human Capital Management to 

Drive Transformational Change. GAO-02-940T. Washington, D.C.: July 15, 

2002.

Managing for Results: Federal Managers’ Views Show Need for Ensuring 

Top Leadership Skills. GAO-01-127. Washington, D.C.: October 20, 2000.

Management Reform: Elements of Successful Improvement Initiatives.

GAO/T-GGD-00-26. Washington, D.C.: October 15, 1999.
Related GAO Products

Page 41 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

Strategic Planning to 

Establish Results-Oriented 

Goals and Measures

Performance Reporting: Few Agencies Reported on the Completeness and 

Reliability of Performance Data. GAO-02-372. Washington, D.C.: April 26, 

2002.

Agency Performance Plans: Examples of Practices That Can Improve 

Usefulness to Decisionmakers. GAO/GGD/AIMD-99-69. Washington, D.C.: 

February 26, 1999.

Agencies’ Annual Performance Plans Under the Results Act: An 

Assessment Guide to Facilitate Congressional Decisionmaking.

GAO/GGD/AIMD-10.1.18. Washington, D.C.: February 1998.

Managing For Results: Enhancing the Usefulness of GPRA Consultations 

Between the Executive Branch and Congress. GAO/T-GGD-97-56. 

Washington, D.C.: March 10, 1997.

Agencies’ Strategic Plans Under GPRA: Key Questions to Facilitate 

Congressional Review. GAO/GGD-10.1.16. Washington, D.C.: May 1997.

Executive Guide: Effectively Implementing the Government Performance 

and Results Act. GAO/GGD-96-118. Washington, D.C.: June 1996.

Performance Management 

to Promote Accountability 

for Results

Results-Oriented Cultures: Using Balanced Expectations to Manage 

Senior Executive Performance. GAO-02-966. Washington, D.C.: 

September 27, 2002.

Results-Oriented Cultures: Insights for U.S. Agencies from Other 

Countries’ Performance Management Initiatives. GAO-02-862. 

Washington, D.C.: August 2, 2002.

A Model of Strategic Human Capital Management. GAO-02-373SP. 

Washington, D.C.: March 15, 2002.

Human Capital: Practices That Empowered and Involved Employees. 

GAO-01-1070. Washington, D.C.: September 14, 2001.

Managing for Results: Emerging Benefits From Selected Agencies’ Use of 

Performance Agreements. GAO-01-115. Washington, D.C.: October 30, 

2000.
Related GAO Products

Page 42 GAO-03-190 TSA's Results-Oriented Practices

Human Capital: Using Incentives to Motivate and Reward High 

Performance. GAO/T-GGD-00-118. Washington, D.C.: May 2, 2000.

Collaboration and 

Communication to Achieve 

National Outcomes

Homeland Security: Effective Intergovernmental Coordination Is Key to 

Success. GAO-02-1011T. Washington, D.C: August 20, 2002.

Homeland Security: Intergovernmental Coordination and Partnership 

Will Be Critical to Success. GAO-02-900T. Washington, D.C.: July 2, 2002.

Managing for Results: Barriers to Interagency Coordination. GAO/GGD00-106. Washington, D.C.: March 29, 2000. 

Managing For Results: Using the Results Act to Address Mission 

Fragmentation and Program Overlap. GAO/AIMD-97-146. Washington, 

D.C.: August 29, 1997.

Public Reporting and 

Customer Service to Build 

Citizen Confidence

Managing for Results: Using GPRA to Assist Oversight and 

Decisionmaking. GAO-01-872T. Washington, D.C.: June 19, 2001.

Human Capital: The Role of Ombudsmen in Dispute Resolution. 

GAO-01-466. Washington, D.C.: April 13, 2001.

Managing for Results: The Statutory Framework for Performance-Based 

Management and Accountability. GAO/GGD/AIMD-98-52. Washington, 

D.C.: January 28, 1998.

(450146)
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