This rigid approach was nominally intended to provide quality service, but it did not because it failed to respond to customers' evolving needs. Last September, President Clinton signed a customer service executive order that creates an entirely new relationship between the Federal Government and it's customers. For example the Miami Customs Service Office has set standards for clearing shipments into the United States. It made major shippers, like American Airlines, partners in its enforcement strategy. It showed shippers how to conduct self- enforcement.
Customs now focuses on high risk targets and spot checks others.
As a result, passengers are no longer inconvenienced by delays and cargo moves quickly through the port. In the old way, federal executives were expected to communicate one level up and one level down. In the new way, federal executives will need to communicate through every layer in their agencies. As organizations added layers and work became more specialized, the old communications channels became ineffective. Executives became disconnected from front line workers.