Government Printing Office: Actions to Strengthen and Sustain GPO's Transformation
Published: 2004-06-30T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: The transformation of the Government Printing Office (GPO) is under way. This report captures the results of our efforts over the past year to assess and help strengthen GPO's transformation and strategic planning efforts. It is the final part of GAO's response to both a mandate requiring GAO to examine the current state of printing and dissemination of public government information and a congressional request that we conduct a general management review of GPO focusing on that GPO's transformation and management.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: Federal government printing and dissemination are changing due to the underlying changes to the technological environment. The Public Printer and his leadership team understand the effects of this technological change on GPO and have begun an ambitious effort to transform GPO and reexamine its mission. Federal agencies are publishing more documents directly to the Web and are doing more of their printing and dissemination of information without using GPO services. At the same time, the public is obtaining government information from government Web sites such as GPO Access rather than purchasing paper copies. As a result, GPO has seen declines in its printing volumes, printing revenues, and document sales. To assist in the transformation process under way at GPO, GAO convened a panel of printing and information dissemination experts, who developed a series of options for GPO to consider in its strategic planning. The panel suggested that GPO (1) develop a business plan to focus its mission on information dissemination as its primary goal, rather than printing; (2) demonstrate to its customers the value it can provide; (3) improve and extend partnerships with agencies to help establish itself as an information disseminator; and (4) ensure that its internal operations are adequate for efficient and effective management of core business functions and for service to its customers. GPO can also use other key practices that GAO identified to help agencies successfully transform, such as involving employees to obtain their ideas and gain their ownership for the transformation. GPO fully applied one of these practices, related to ensuring that top management drives the transformation, and has partially implemented each of the remaining eight practices. To fully implement the remaining practices, GPO needs to take actions including establishing its mission and strategic goals and developing a documented plan for its transformation. GPO has taken some initial steps to adopt the best practices of other public and private sector organizations, most notably with respect to human capital management. GPO is actively implementing the recommendations GAO made in October 2003. For example, GPO reorganized the human capital office into customer-focused teams devoted to meeting the human capital needs of GPO's operating units. Continued leadership attention is needed to build on the initial progress made in information technology and financial management. For example, GPO should implement an information technology investment management process to help management choose, monitor, and evaluate projects, and GPO should train its line managers to effectively use financial data.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: The transformation of the Government Printing Office (GPO) has begun.  The trend towards producing government documents through electronic  publishing technology and providing public government documents  through the Internet has affected all of GPO's programs, reducing the  production, procurement, and sales of printed products. These have  historically provided GPO with a vital source of revenue to supplement its  annual appropriation. GPO is making operational and cultural changes to  help ensure that it stays relevant and efficient, and that it meets its  customers’ needs.
This report encompasses our body of work on GPO from the past year and  responds to both (1) a mandate from the Senate Committee on  Appropriations, included in Senate Report 107-209, to examine the current  state of printing and dissemination of federal government information and  provide strategic options for GPO to enhance the efficiency, economy, and  effectiveness of its printing and dissemination operations and (2) your  request that we conduct a general management review of GPO to focus on  GPO’s efforts to transform. The Subcommittee requested that the general  management review be done in conjunction with the committee’s  mandated review. We have issued several products in response to and  based on the legislative mandate and request, including briefings on the  current printing and dissemination operations at GPO, the results of a  panel discussion on the future role of GPO and a survey of executive  branch agencies’ use of GPO services, and selected approaches for  workforce restructuring at GPO. We have also issued a report containing  recommendations to assist GPO’s transformation through strategic human  capital management efforts and a congressional testimony outlining  technological changes affecting GPO’s mission.
This report summarizes and, as appropriate, expands upon and updates our  earlier work. First, in response to the Senate Committee’s mandate, we  describe the current state of printing and dissemination of federal  government information, which is based on a survey of GPO’s executive  branch customers and a panel of experts who discussed (1) trends in  printing, publishing, and dissemination and (2) the future role of GPO.  Second, our general management review focused on actions GPO’s  leadership has taken and can take to transform itself and develop a  strategic plan, and how GPO can work towards building a world-class  organization.
In completing the general management review, we used as the analytical  framework for collecting data and reviewing GPO’s transformational  efforts the key practices and implementation steps for mergers and  organizational transformations that we had previously developed.
We performed our work from March 2003 through June 2004. During this  time we worked cooperatively with GPO leaders, meeting regularly with  them about the progress of their transformation initiatives and providing  them with information that they plan to use to develop GPO’s strategic plan  and strengthen management. For the general management review  examining GPO’s transformational efforts, we followed generally accepted  government auditing standards. Because the nature of the work in  response to the mandate was future oriented and focused on technological  developments, not organizational management, we determined that it could  not be considered an audit subject to generally accepted government  auditing standards. However, in our approach to the work, we followed  appropriate quality control procedures consistent with the generally  accepted standards. For additional information on our scope and  methodology, see appendix I.
subsections: section_title: Background
paragraphs: GPO’s mission includes both printing government documents and  disseminating them to the public. Under the public printing and documents  statutes of Title 44 of the U.S. Code, GPO’s mission is to fulfill the printing  needs of the federal government and to distribute those printed products to  the public. All printing for the Congress, the executive branch, and the  judiciary—except for the Supreme Court—is to be done or contracted by  GPO except for authorized exemptions. The Superintendent of  Documents, who heads GPO’s Information Dissemination division,  disseminates these government products to the public through a system of  nearly 1,300 depository libraries nationwide (the Federal Depository  Library Program), GPO’s Web site (GPO Access), telephone and fax  ordering, an on-line ordering site, and its bookstore in Washington, D.C.  The Superintendent of Documents is also responsible for classification and  bibliographic control of tangible and electronic government publications.
Printing and related services. In providing printing and binding services  to the government, GPO generally dedicates its in-house printing  equipment to congressional printing, contracting out most printing for the  executive branch. Table 2 shows the costs of these services in fiscal year  2003, as well as the source of these printing services.
Documents printed for the Congress include the Congressional Record,  hearing transcripts, bills, resolutions, amendments, and committee reports,  among other things. GPO also provides publishing support staff to the  Congress. These support staff mainly perform print preparation activities,  such as typing, scanning, proofreading, and preparation of electronic data  for transmission to GPO.
GPO generally provides printing services to federal agencies through an  acquisition program that relies on the commercial sector by passing the  contractors’ costs on to its government customers. Prequalified businesses,  small to large in size, compete for printing jobs that GPO printing experts  oversee to ensure that the contractors meet customer requirements for  quality. For this service, GPO attaches a 7 percent surcharge that GPO  officials have stated was established partly by what the market will bear  and partly by what is needed to cover GPO expenses. GPO procures about  83 percent of printing for federal agencies from private contractors and  does the remaining 17 percent at its own plant facilities. Most of the  procured printing jobs (85 percent for the period from June 2002 to May  2003) were for under $2,500 each.
Besides printing, GPO provides a range of services to agencies including,  for example, CD-ROM development and production, archiving/storage,  converting products to electronic format, Web hosting, and Web page  design and development.
Dissemination of government information. The Superintendent of  Documents is responsible for the acquisition, classification, dissemination,  and bibliographic control of tangible and electronic government  publications. Regardless of the printing source, Title 44 requires that  federal agencies make all their publications available to the Superintendent  of Documents for cataloging and distribution.
The Superintendent of Documents manages a number of programs related  to distribution, including the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP),  which provides copies of government publications to libraries across the  country for public use. Generally, documents distributed to the libraries  are those that contain information on U.S. government activities or are  important reference publications. GPO evaluates documents to determine  whether they should be disseminated to the depository libraries. When  documents are printed through GPO, it evaluates them at the time of  printing; if documents are not printed through GPO, agencies are to notify  GPO of these documents, so that it can evaluate them and arrange to  receive any copies needed for distribution. A relatively small percentage of  the items printed through GPO for the executive branch are designated as  depository items.
Another distribution program under the Superintendent of Documents is  the Sales of Publications Program, which purchases, warehouses, sells, and  distributes government documents. Publications are sold by mail,  telephone, and fax; through GPO’s on-line bookstore; and at its bookstore  in Washington, D.C. In addition, GPO provides electronic copies of the  Congressional Record and other documents to the Congress, the public,  and the depository libraries in accordance with the Government Printing  Office Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act of 1993.
The Superintendent of Documents is also responsible for GPO’s Web site,  GPO Access, which is one mechanism for electronic dissemination of  government documents to the public through links to over 268,000  individual titles on GPO’s servers and other federal Web sites. More than 2  billion documents have been retrieved by the public from GPO Access  since August 1994; almost 372 million downloads of government  information from GPO Access were made in fiscal year 2002 alone. About  two-thirds of new FDLP titles are available online.
subsections: section_title: GPO Is Funded by Appropriations and by a Revolving Fund
paragraphs: GPO receives funding from two appropriations: (1) the Congressional  Printing and Binding Appropriation, which is used for in-house printing of  congressional activities and (2) the Salaries and Expenses Appropriation,  which is used for certain Superintendent of Documents activities.
In addition to these appropriations, GPO has a business-oriented revolving  fund, which is used to fund its procured printing, document sales, and  other operations. The revolving fund was designed to financially “break  even” by recovering costs through rates, prices, and other charges to  customers for goods and services provided by GPO. The revolving fund is  supported by the 7 percent service charge levied on agency customers of  GPO-procured printing services and also receives funds from sales of  publications to the general public.
section_title: Trends in Printing and Information Dissemination
paragraphs: Current printing industry trends show that the total volume of printed  material has been declining for the past few years, and this trend is  expected to continue. A major factor in this declining volume is the use of  electronic media options. The move to electronic dissemination is the  latest phase in the electronic publishing revolution that has transformed  the printing industry in recent decades. This revolution was driven by the  development of increasingly sophisticated electronic publishing (“desktop  publishing”) software, run on personal computers, that allows users to  design documents including both images and text, and the parallel  development of electronic laser printer/copier technology with capabilities  that approach those of high-end presses. These tools allow users to  produce documents that formerly would have required professional  printing expertise and large printing systems.
These technologies have brought major economic and industrial changes to  the printing industry. As electronic publishing software becomes  increasingly sophisticated, user-friendly, and reliable, it approaches the  ideal of the print customer being able to produce files that can be  reproduced on the press with little or no intervention by printing  professionals. As the printing process is simplified, the customer can take  responsibility for more of the work. Thus, the technologies diminish the  value that printing organizations such as GPO add to the printing process,  particularly for simpler printing jobs. Nonetheless, professional expertise  remains critical for many aspects of printing, and for many print jobs it is  still not possible to bypass the printing professional altogether.
The advent of the Internet permits the instantaneous distribution of the  electronic documents produced by the new publishing processes, breaking  the link between printing and dissemination. With the increasing use of the  Web, the electronic dissemination of information becomes not only  practical, but also more economical than dissemination on paper.
As a result, many organizations are changing from a print to an electronic  focus. In the early stages of the electronic publishing revolution,  organizations tended to prepare a document for printing and then convert  the print layout to electronic form—in other words, focusing on printing  rather than dissemination. Increasingly, however, organizations are  changing their focus to providing information—not necessarily on paper.  Today an organization may employ computers to generate both plates used  for printing as well as electronic files for dissemination. Tomorrow, the  organization may create only an electronic representation of the  information, which can be disseminated through various media, such as  Web sites. A printed version would be produced only upon request.
section_title: Government Printing and Dissemination Changes Are Forcing GPO’s Transformation
paragraphs: As in private industry, printing and dissemination in the federal government  are being heavily affected by the changing technological environment. This  new environment presents both financial and management challenges to  GPO. Just as the volume of material provided to private firms for printing  has decreased over the past few years, so has the volume of material that  federal agencies provide to GPO for printing. In addition, federal agencies  are publishing more items directly to the Web—without creating paper  documents at all—and are able to print and disseminate information  without using GPO services. Similarly, individuals are downloading  documents from government Web sites, such as GPO Access, rather than  purchasing paper copies of government documents, thus reducing  document sales. As a result, GPO’s financial condition has deteriorated,  and the relationship between GPO and its federal agency customers has  changed.
subsections: section_title: Changes in Government Printing and Dissemination Result in Reduced Revenues
paragraphs: The reduction in the demand for procured printing and for printed  government documents has resulted in reduced revenues to GPO. These  diminished revenues, combined with steady expenses and management’s  use of retained earnings for GPO-wide needs, have totally depleted the  retained earnings from revolving fund activities. These retained earnings  have gone from a surplus of $100 million in fiscal year 1998 to a deficit of  $19 million in fiscal year 2003. Figure 1 shows the declining trend in  retained earnings.
Specifically, most of the reductions to revenues for GPO’s revolving fund  activities are from two sources: (1) losses to the sales of publications  operations and (2) adjustments to actuarial calculations of future  liabilities for GPO’s workforce compensation. Additional reductions to  retained earnings resulted from GPO’s procured printing operations and  regional printing. (See fig. 2.) Also, retained earnings were used to provide  the Retirement Separation Incentive Program for reductions to GPO’s  workforce.
Losses to the sales program account for the largest reductions to GPO’s  retained earnings. The sales program has had a net loss of $77 million over  the past 5 years, $20 million in fiscal year 2003 alone. According to GPO,  these losses are due to a downward trend in customer demand for printed  publications that has significantly reduced document sales revenues. For  example, according to the Superintendent of Documents, GPO sold 35,000  subscriptions to the Federal Register 10 years ago and now sells 2,500; at  the same time, over 4 million Federal Register documents are downloaded each month from GPO Access. The Superintendent also reported that the  overall volume of sales has dropped from 24.3 million copies sold in fiscal  year 1993 to 4.4 million copies sold in fiscal year 2002. As a result, revenues  have not covered expenses, and the sales program has sustained significant  annual operating losses. (See fig. 3.)
By comparison, the losses from GPO’s procured printing business are less  significant: $15.8 million over the last 5 years. According to GPO, its federal  agency print jobs at one time generated close to $1 billion a year. In fiscal  year 2003, the amount was just over half that—$570 million.
section_title: Changes in Printing and Dissemination Affect How Federal Agencies Use GPO Services
paragraphs: These changes in federal printing and dissemination are also creating  challenges for GPO’s long-standing structure for centralized printing and  dissemination. As mentioned earlier, agencies are to notify GPO of  published documents (if they used other printing sources), which allows  GPO to review agency documents to determine whether the documents  should be disseminated to the depository libraries. If they should be, GPO  can then add a rider to the agency’s print contract to obtain the number of  copies that it needs for dissemination. However, if agencies do not notify  GPO of their intent to print, these documents become “fugitive documents”  and may not be available to the public through the depository library  program.
In responding to our surveys, executive branch agencies reported that they  are producing a significant portion of their total printing volume internally,  generally on desktop publishing and reproduction equipment instead of  large-scale printing equipment. In addition, while most agencies (16 of 21)  reported that they have established procedures to ensure that documents  that should be disseminated through the libraries are forwarded to GPO, 5  of 21 did not have such procedures, thus potentially adding to the fugitive  document problem.
Responding agencies also reported that although currently more  government documents are still being printed than are being published  electronically, more and more documents are being published directly to  the Web, and their numbers are expected to grow in the future. Most  agencies reported that documents published directly to the Web were not  of the type that is required to be sent to GPO for dissemination. However, a  GPO official, in commenting on this, said that unless there is a specific  reason why a document should not be disseminated to the public, such as if  it is classified or of administrative interest only, GPO should have the  opportunity to evaluate whether that document is suitable for  dissemination through its depository library system.
Of the five agencies that did publish eligible documents electronically, only  one said that it had submitted these documents to GPO. As electronic  publishing continues to grow, such conditions may contribute further to the  fugitive document problem.
section_title: Change in Printing and Dissemination Affect Relationship between GPO and Executive Branch Customers
paragraphs: The ongoing agency shift toward electronic publishing is also creating  challenges for GPO’s existing relationships with its executive branch  customers. In responding to our surveys, executive branch agencies  expressed overall satisfaction with GPO’s products and services and  expressed a desire to continue to use these services for at least part of their  publishing needs. However, these agencies reported a few areas in which  GPO could improve—for example, in the presentation of new products and  services. (We provide further results from our surveys on agency  satisfaction in app. III.)
Further, some agencies indicated that they were less familiar with and less  likely to use GPO’s electronic products and services. As shown in table 3,  these agencies were hardly or not at all familiar with services such as Web  page design and development (8 of 28), Web hosting services (8 of 29), and  electronic publishing services (5 of 28). As a consequence, these agencies  were also less likely to use these services. With the expected growth in  electronic publishing and other services, making customer agencies fully  aware of GPO’s capabilities in these areas is important. Table 3 provides  agency responses on their familiarity with various GPO products and  services.
A few of the responding agencies reported less than satisfied ratings for  some GPO products and services. Among these services were financial  management services (7 of 23) and Web page design/development (3 of 10).  Agencies also reported not using some GPO products and services,  including Web hosting and Web page design/development services (18 of  28), converting products to electronic format (11 of 28), and electronic  publishing services (9 of 28). Table 4 shows the results of our survey on  agency satisfaction with GPO services, which includes agencies’ reports of  products and services that they do not use.
section_title: GPO Is Taking Action to Address Challenges
paragraphs: GPO officials agreed with our assessment of the impact of technological  change and said they are taking action to make GPO a more customer- focused organization. According to these officials, GPO is  taking a new direction with its Office of Sales and Marketing, including  hiring an outside expert and establishing nine national account  managers, who spend most of their time in the field building  relationships with key customers, analyzing their business processes,  identifying current and future needs, and offering solutions;  working with its largest agency customer, the Department of Defense, to  determine how to work more closely with large in-house printing  operations;  evaluating recommendations received from the Depository Library  Council; and  continuing to implement a Demonstration Print Procurement Project,  jointly announced with the Office of Management and Budget on June 6,  2003.
The Demonstration Print Procurement Project is to provide a Web-based  system that will be a one-stop, integrated print ordering and invoicing  system. The system is to allow agencies to order their own printing at  reduced rates, with the option of buying additional printing procurement  services from GPO. According to GPO, this project is also designed to  address many of the issues identified through our executive branch  surveys, particularly the depository library fugitive document problem.
subsections: section_title: Recommended Next Steps
paragraphs: Although executive branch agencies generally expressed satisfaction with  GPO products and services, their survey responses indicate some areas for  improvement. Accordingly, we recommend that the Public Printer   work with executive branch agencies to examine the nature of their in- house printing and determine whether GPO could provide these  services more economically;  address the few areas in which executive branch agencies rated GPO’s  products, services, and performance as below average;  reexamine GPO’s marketing of electronic services to ensure that  agencies are aware of them; and  use the results of our surveys to work with agencies to establish  processes that will ensure that eligible documents (whether printed or  electronic) are forwarded to GPO for dissemination to the public, as  required by law.
section_title: Expert Panel Suggests Strategic Options for GPO’s Future Role
paragraphs: The Public Printer and his leadership team recognize the challenges that  they face in the very competitive printing and dissemination marketplace  and have embarked upon an ambitious effort to transform the agency. First  and foremost, the Public Printer agrees with the need to reexamine the  mission of the agency within the context of technological change that  underlies GPO’s current situation. To assist in that process, our expert  panel developed a series of options for GPO to consider in its planning.  Briefly, the panel suggested that GPO   develop a business plan to focus its mission on information  dissemination as its primary goal, rather than printing;  demonstrate to its customers—including agencies and the public—the  value it can provide;  improve and extend partnerships with agencies to help establish itself  as an information disseminator; and  ensure that its internal operations—including technology, how it  conducts business with its customers, management information  systems, and training—are adequate for efficient and effective  management of core business functions and for service to its customers.
We shared the results of the panel with GPO leadership, who commented  that the panel’s suggestions dovetail well with their own assessments.  These leaders stated that they are using the results of the panel as a key  part of the agency’s ongoing strategic planning process. The panel  members are listed in appendix IV.
section_title: Create a New Vision Focusing on Dissemination
paragraphs: In view of the changing federal government printing and dissemination  environment, the panel suggested that GPO first needs to create a new  vision of itself as a disseminator of information, and not only a printer of  documents. As one panel member put it, GPO should end up resembling a  bank of information rather than a mint that stamps paper.
As a first step in this new vision, according to the panel, GPO needs to  develop a business plan that emphasizes direct electronic dissemination  methods over distribution of paper documents. The panel identified several  elements that could be included in such a business plan:  Improving GPO Access. GPO Access should be upgraded, and particular  emphasis should be placed on improving the search capabilities.
Investigating methods to disseminate information directly. For  example, GPO could develop additional services to “push” data and  documents into the hands of those who need or want them. To become  more active in disseminating data, GPO could provide information to  public interest or advocacy groups that are interested in tracking  government information on certain subjects. These groups require  something like a news clipping service, and the panel suggested that this is  one way in which GPO could provide “value-added” service for which it  could collect fees.
Modernizing production processes. GPO should be moving toward  production processes that will allow it to prepare a document once for  distribution through various media (print or electronic). In the past, most  organizations have focused on printing paper documents that are then  turned into electronic ones. According to the panel members, the strategy  for the future is to publish electronically and print only when necessary.
Promote the federal use of metadata. GPO should support the use of  metadata—descriptive information about the data provided that is carried  along with the data—across the federal government as a requirement for  electronic publishing.
Providing increased support to the depository libraries. According to  the panel, the depository libraries will continue to play an important role in  providing access to electronically disseminated government information— through GPO Access and other tools—to that portion of the public that  does not have access to the Internet. To support this role, GPO will have to  ensure that the depository libraries receive training in electronic search  tools, especially in GPO Access.
GPO officials stated that its Office of Innovation and New Technologies,  established in early 2003, is leading an effort to transform GPO into an  agency “at the cutting edge of multichannel information dissemination.” A  major goal in this effort is to disseminate information while still addressing  the need “to electronically preserve, authenticate, and version the  documents of our democracy.” Also, GPO has established an Office of New  Business Development that is to develop new products and service ideas  that will result in increased revenues. GPO officials stated that they are  using the results of the panel discussion to categorize and prioritize their  initial compilation of ideas for new products and services and, in this  context, plan to assess how these ideas would improve operations and  revenue.
section_title: Demonstrate Value to Customers and the Public
paragraphs: The panel also agreed that, while GPO appears to provide value to agencies  because of its expertise in printing and dissemination, it is not clear that  agencies and the general public realize this. Therefore, GPO should focus  on demonstrating its value to federal agencies and to the public. According  to the panel, areas that GPO could emphasize include the following: Providing competitively priced printing that meets customer needs.  GPO should collect the data to show that it can, in fact, provide the “best  value” for the government print dollar. GPO should demonstrate its  capabilities by assisting agencies to select optimal alternatives for  obtaining their printing.
Providing expert assistance in electronic dissemination. Given GPO’s  major role in providing information dissemination, one panel member  suggested that GPO provide its expert advice on electronic Web site  dissemination to agencies. Once again, GPO could develop information that  demonstrates how it can add value in this area.
Disseminating government information to the public. GPO should  focus on demonstrating the usefulness of agencies’ sharing information  with GPO for public dissemination. In addition, the depository libraries and  GPO Access should be made better known to the public. GPO could  demonstrate its value to the public as a trusted source of authentic  government information.
GPO agreed that demonstrating its value is an important part of its new  customer service direction. GPO’s Office of Sales and Marketing is also  working to augment customer service, including hiring an outside expert  and establishing nine national account managers, as mentioned earlier.
section_title: Establish Partnerships with Collaborating and Customer Agencies
paragraphs: According to the panel, GPO should establish partnerships with other  agencies and enhance the partnerships it already has. These partnerships  can be used to assist GPO in establishing itself as a disseminator and  depository of information and to expand agencies’ use of GPO in this role.  Specifically, the panel suggested that GPO establish partnerships with the  other information dissemination and preservation agencies (such as the  National Library of Medicine, the Office of Scientific and Technical  Information, the Library of Congress, and the National Archives and  Records Administration) with which it has related responsibilities.  Through ongoing dialogue with these agencies, GPO will be able to  (1) coordinate standards and best practices for digitizing documents and  (2) work with agencies to archive documents in order to keep them  permanently available to the public. GPO could be successfully marketed  as the source of government information for public use.
In addition, the panel suggested that GPO improve and expand its  partnerships with other agencies. Most agencies consider GPO a resource  for printing documents; however, it now has the capability to assist in the  collection and dissemination of electronic information.
GPO agreed that partnerships with other agencies, particularly the  information dissemination agencies, would be a key item in its  transformation. GPO has made efforts to join various working groups  within the government working on information dissemination issues. Most  recently, the Public Printer has been added to the oversight committee of  the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program  (NDIIPP), a national cooperative effort to archive and preserve digital  information, led by the Library of Congress.
Improve Internal Operations The panel suggested that GPO would need to improve its internal  operations to be successful in the very competitive printing and  dissemination marketplace. Panel members suggested that GPO consider  the following strategies.
Emphasize the use of technology to address future needs. The panel  members suggested that GPO hire a chief technical officer (in addition to  its chief information officer), who would focus on bringing in new printing  and dissemination technologies while maintaining older technologies.
Improve how it conducts business with its customers. An electronic  means for submitting printing requests would streamline the printing  process for GPO customers. One panel member noted that when his  organization started an electronic submission system for manuscripts, the  number of requests it received increased dramatically because such  systems made it easier for the user. (GPO’s demonstration project,  currently being piloted at the Department of Labor, includes use of a Web- based tool for submitting printing requests.)
Improving management information systems. GPO should overhaul its  outdated management information systems and acquire new ones that can  provide management with the information it needs to effectively monitor  operations and to make good business decisions.
Enhance employee training. GPO’s transformation should include  significant improvements to employee training. GPO customer service  employees should have the knowledge they need to effectively assist  customers not only in printing publications and creating electronic  documents, but also in advising customers on the best form of  dissemination (paper or electronic) for their jobs.
GPO agreed that its internal operations need improvement. Among its  actions to address the adequacy of its internal functions, GPO has hired a  chief technical officer. The chief technical officer serves as a codirector of  the Innovation and New Technology Office and provides principal guidance  in the creation and development of technology designed to accelerate the  transformation of GPO into a 21st century information organization using  state of the art solutions to provide the highest quality government  information services to the nation.
section_title: GPO Has Made the Case for Change, but Actions to Advance Transformation Needed
paragraphs: Large-scale change management initiatives, such as organizational  transformations, are not simple endeavors and require the concentrated  efforts of both leadership and employees to realize intended synergies and  to accomplish new organizational goals. We have identified a number of  key practices and related implementation steps that have consistently been  found at the center of successful transformations. Collectively, these key  practices and implementation steps can help agencies transform their  cultures so that they have the capacity to fulfill their promises, meet  current and emerging needs, maximize their performance, and ensure  accountability. GPO has applied some key practices as part of its  transformation effort, such as involving top leadership and strategically  communicating with employees and other stakeholders. However, it has  not fully applied key practices that emphasize planning and goal setting.  For example, GPO has not developed a plan for its transformation that  would include goals and strategies to achieve its goals. Such a plan is  important to pinpoint performance shortfalls and gaps and suggest  midcourse corrections.
subsections: section_title: GPO’s Leadership Has Clearly Articulated the Need to Transform and Taken Steps to Ensure the Continued Delivery of Services
paragraphs: Because transformation of an organization entails fundamental change,  strong and inspirational leadership is indispensable. Our work has found  that leadership articulating a succinct and compelling reason for change  helps employees, customers, and stakeholders understand the expected  outcomes of the transformation and engenders not only their cooperation,  but also their ownership of these outcomes. In addition, to ensure that the  productivity and effectiveness of the organization do not decline,  leadership must also balance the continued delivery of services with  transformation activities.
Ensure top leadership drives the  transformation.
Define and articulate a succinct and compelling  reason for change.
Balance continued delivery of services with  transformation activities.
On several occasions and to different audiences, the Public Printer has  reiterated the need for GPO to move from the 19th century to the 21st  century. The Public Printer bases his case for change on three interrelated  points that are consistent with our findings discussed above:  GPO’s printing business and customer base has decreased significantly  in recent years due to the government’s and public’s increased use of  and reliance on electronic documents, necessitating GPO to establish  itself as the leading organization within the federal government for  dealing with the collection, authentication, and preservation of  government documents—rather than a traditional printing operation.
GPO has failed to update its technological abilities to keep pace with  changes in the information dissemination environment, and as a result  must update its technology to address the needs of today’s customers  and information users and stay alert to future trends and changing  needs.
GPO’s retained earnings, which were normally available to fund  technological investment, are virtually depleted, requiring GPO to  change the way in which it does business to ensure that it can reverse  the trend of financial losses.
GPO’s precarious financial condition makes it essential that its leaders  effectively balance transformation efforts with the continued delivery of  services. The Public Printer created and filled eight top leadership  positions. The creation of these positions recognized that the demands of  transforming while managing an ongoing operation can strain leadership,  as well as the importance of organizational structure as a key factor  affecting an agency’s management control environment. These positions,  which had no counterpart in GPO’s former organization, can help ensure  that GPO balances its transformation efforts with its day-to-day operations.  For example, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) focuses primarily on day- to-day activities, the Chief of Staff focuses on strategic planning, and the  Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO), CIO, and CFO address both types of  activities within their respective functional areas. (See fig. 4.)
section_title: GPO Has Set Interim Goals for Its Operating Units While It Works on a Strategic Plan
paragraphs: The mission and strategic goals of a transformed organization must  become the focus of the transformation, define the culture, and serve as the  vehicle for employees to unite and rally around. In successful  transformation efforts, developing, communicating, and constantly  reinforcing the mission and strategic goals give employees, customers, and  stakeholders a sense of what the organization intends to accomplish, as  well as helping employees determine how their positions fit in with the new  organization and what they need to do differently to help the new  organization achieve success. Adopting leading practices for results- oriented strategic planning and reporting, including those mandated for  executive agencies in the Government Performance and Results Act  (GPRA), can help focus transformation efforts. While GPO is not required  to follow GPRA, the act can provide a relevant framework for GPO to  follow in developing its strategic plan. GPRA requires that strategic plans  include several elements, including a mission statement, goals and  objectives, and approaches or strategies to achieve goals and objectives.  The framework can help an agency meet management control standards by  enabling top management review of actual performance against planned  performance.
Establish a coherent mission and  integrated strategic goals to guide  the transformation.
Adopt leading practices for results-oriented strategic  planning and reporting.
GPO is establishing a mission and strategic goals. Its overall approach is to  consider the information gathered in the past year on GPO’s current  environment—including the results of our work—and develop its strategic  plan by the summer of 2004. Specific responsibilities for drafting a strategic  plan have been placed with the Chief of Staff, who, beginning in April 2004,  held biweekly meetings with the Public Printer to discuss the direction for  the strategic plan. These meetings were meant to provide the Chief of  Staff with updates on the Public Printer’s vision, which, according to a GPO  official, is being developed as he meets with stakeholders and industry  leaders.
Over the past year, the Public Printer has spoken with employees,  stakeholders, and the Congress to help focus and refine a vision for GPO’s  future. On April 28, 2004, the Public Printer made his most clear and direct  statement of his vision for GPO thus far, stating that GPO has “begun to  develop a new vision for the GPO: an agency whose primary mission will be  to capture digitally, organize, maintain, authenticate, distribute, and  provide permanent public access to the information products and services  of the federal government.” GPO’s strategic plan has the potential to unite  employees around the new mission and determine what they need to do to  help GPO transform and achieve success in the new environment.
Although GPO has not fully developed its mission and strategic goals,  GPO’s leadership has started to change GPO’s culture by setting interim  goals for major operating units. Managers told us that in the past, GPO’s  culture was to not set goals in order to avoid being held accountable for  results. More specifically, GPO did not set or track any organizational goals  and, therefore, did not develop the capacity to measure performance. The  COO began to change GPO’s culture by leading an initiative in October 2003  to develop goals for its operating units and told us that it was important to  begin to focus managers’ attention on priority issues and hold them  accountable for progress. He said he viewed the interim goals as a  necessary step to prepare GPO managers to operate in a results-oriented  environment after GPO’s strategic plan is completed.
The COO met with the heads of each business unit to develop goals that  they thought would be consistent with GPO’s yet-to-be-developed strategic  mission based on discussions with the Public Printer. Once the goals were  developed, the COO and business unit managers identified areas where  some interdependence with other managers’ goals might exist. Each  manager is responsible for achieving between 6 and 11 goals that are  specific to his or her business unit, and 6 additional goals that are common  across GPO. The common goals are as follows:   offer training opportunities to all employees in necessary job skills;  establish baseline information on customer satisfaction;  resolve all reportable conditions from financial audits;  establish a line of communication through regular meetings to   complete second-level reorganizations; and   establish adequate off-site backup to enable continuity of essential  operations.
GPO’s efforts to set goals are a significant step toward strengthening  communication and accountability; however, many of the goals do not  emphasize outcomes. For example, one of the goals for both the Customer  Services and Information Dissemination divisions is to implement the  Office of Management and Budget (OMB) compact demonstration  program. While this demonstrates that GPO has incorporated cross- cutting goals between its operating units, this goal is a statement of a task  to be accomplished rather than an outcome to be achieved.
While goals are important for establishing accountability, so too are  measures, because they allow leaders to perform their management control  responsibilities for monitoring performance and ensuring resolution of  identified performance gaps. GPO’s COO has stated that he would like to  strengthen performance measurement as GPO sets its goals for fiscal year  2005. To this end, GPO has the opportunity to learn from the practices of  leading organizations that implemented results-oriented management.  Among other things, such leading organizations generally developed  measures that were tied to program goals, demonstrated the degree to  which the desired results were achieved, and were limited to the vital few  that were considered essential to producing data for decision making.
subsections: section_title: Recommended Next Steps
paragraphs: Consistent with the efforts under way, the Public Printer should ensure that  GPO’s strategic planning process includes development of  a comprehensive agency mission statement to define the basic purpose   agencywide long-term goals and objectives to explain what results are  expected from the agency’s main functions and when to expect those  results;  approaches or strategies to achieve goals and objectives to align GPO’s  activities, core processes, and resources to support achievement of  GPO’s strategic goals and mission;  a description of the relationship between the long-term and annual goals  to show expected progress;  an identification of key external factors to help determine what actions  will be needed to meet the goals; and  a description of program evaluations used to establish or revise  strategic goals, and a schedule for future program evaluations.
The Public Printer should reinforce a focus on results by continuing efforts  to set goals, measure performance, and hold managers accountable by  adopting leading practices of organizations that have been successful in  measuring their performance. First, the measures that GPO develops  should be  tied to program goals and demonstrate the degree to which the desired   limited to the vital few that are considered essential to producing data   responsive to multiple priorities, and   responsibility-linked to establish accountability for results.
Second, GPO leadership needs to recognize the cost and effort involved in  gathering and analyzing performance data and make sure that the data it  collects are sufficiently complete, accurate, and consistent to be useful in  decision making.
section_title: GPO Can Strengthen Its Transformation by Focusing on a Key Set of Principles and Priorities
paragraphs: Principles are the core values of the new organization; like the mission and  strategic goals, they can serve as an anchor that remains valid and enduring  while organizations, personnel, programs, and processes may change. Core  values define the attributes that are intrinsically important to what the new  organization does and how it will do it. They represent the institutional  beliefs and boundaries that are essential to building a new culture for the  organization.
Focus on a key set of principles  and priorities at the outset of the  transformation.
Embed core values in every aspect of the  organization to reinforce the new culture.
GPO leadership has not adopted a set of agencywide core values to help  unify GPO to achieve its transformation, but has created a task team under  the direction of the Deputy Chief of Staff to develop them. Although the  core values have yet to be developed, they are referenced in draft  performance agreements for its senior managers.
The experience of a GPO unit demonstrates the benefits of having core  values. According to the Director of the Pueblo Document Distribution  Center, core values were developed in 1998 that helped change the center’s  culture and focus employees on improving the center’s performance. The  employees at Pueblo had a series of meetings to develop and agree on the  core values, thereby taking ownership of them and reinforcing employees’  understanding that they were responsible for the success of the Pueblo  facility. Figure 5 shows a banner detailing these core values that hangs  prominently in the facility.
Employees said that the banner is a constant reminder that their individual  and organizational success is dependent on how well they employ the core  values as they serve their customers. The Pueblo Document Distribution  Center Director said that establishing core values has helped employees  take ownership for improving customer service, as measured by the  center’s per order error rate. He said that the employees understand the  importance of these core values because most of their work is done on a  reimbursable basis for other federal agency customers, the center’s  primary source of funding. Efforts to improve customer service are  consistent with the recommendation made by the panel of printing and  information dissemination experts we convened.
subsections: section_title: Recommended Next Steps
paragraphs: articulate to all employees how the core values can guide GPO’s  transformation and serve to anchor GPO’s transformation efforts and  ensure core values developed by units within GPO are consistent with  GPO’s agencywide core values.
section_title: GPO Does Not Have a Transformation Plan, but Has Taken Steps to Demonstrate Progress
paragraphs: Because a transformation is a substantial commitment that could take  years to complete, it must be carefully and closely managed. As a result, it  is essential to establish and track implementation goals and establish a  timeline to pinpoint performance shortfalls and gaps and suggest  midcourse corrections. Further, research suggests that failure to  adequately address—and often even consider—a wide variety of people  and cultural issues is at the heart of unsuccessful transformations. Thus,  people and cultural issues must be monitored from day one of a  transformation.
Set implementation goals and a  timeline to build momentum and  show progress from day one.
Make public implementation goals and timeline.  Seek and monitor employee attitudes and take  appropriate follow-up actions.
Identify cultural features of transforming  organizations.
Attract and retain key talent.  Establish an organizationwide knowledge and skills  inventory.
Make public implementation goals and timeline. GPO has not  established a transformation plan with specific time frames and goals for  which leadership would be held accountable. Although GPO leadership has  stated that a critical phase of its transformation is to develop a strategic  plan by the summer of 2004, other more specific goals and timelines for the  transformation, which could be linked to those being included in the  strategic plan, are under development.
GPO has the opportunity to ensure that its transformation remains on track  and is ultimately successful by applying project management principles.  Project management is a control mechanism that provides some assurance  that desired outcomes can be achieved. It involves establishing key goals,  tasks, time frames, and responsibilities that guide project accomplishment  and ensure accountability. GPO leaders have acknowledged general  weaknesses in GPO’s project management capabilities and have identified  this as a skills gap that is being addressed through training initiatives. By  enhancing project management skills at various levels of the organization  and applying project management principles to key efforts like the  transformation, GPO can have greater assurance that these efforts will  produce desired outcomes.
Seek and monitor employee attitudes and take appropriate follow- up actions. Because people are the drivers of any merger or  transformation, monitoring their attitudes is vital. Top leadership should  also take appropriate follow-up actions to avoid creating negative attitudes  that may translate into actions that could have a detrimental effect on the  transformation.
In February 2003, GPO leadership sought employee attitudes by  implementing an employee climate survey, an important first step to  establish a baseline on employee attitudes and concerns. After the survey  was completed, GPO leadership adopted recommendations to address  employee concerns. GPO will have the opportunity to take additional  follow-up actions based on a second employee survey it plans to administer  in the coming months. This survey has the potential to provide GPO  leadership with updated information on GPO employee attitudes and views  on GPO’s transformation.
Identify cultural features of transforming organizations. Because a  change of culture is at the heart of a successful transformation, it is  important for leadership to gain a better understanding of the  organization’s beliefs and values prior to, or early in, the transformation  process. By listening to GPO employees and customers, GPO management  determined that its culture was not sufficiently customer focused in dealing  with agencies’ printing needs. Instead, GPO relied on the requirement in  Title 44 that federal agencies use GPO for their printing needs and made  little effort to develop customer relationships and anticipate the needs of  its customers. As mentioned earlier, to foster a more customer-oriented  culture, GPO has created new positions, national account managers,  responsible for developing relationships with customer agencies. The  national account managers’ role is to develop relationships with agency  customers and provide them with information about the products and  services that GPO can offer to meet their information dissemination needs.
Similarly, GPO’s former CHCO spoke with GPO employees about their  views of the Human Capital Office and identified features of the office’s  culture that he is trying to change. The recent restructing of the Human  Capital Office is aimed at creating a culture that is more customer focused,  breaking down organizational barriers, and enhancing internal and external  communication. For example, the Human Capital Office has been  reorganized into teams dedicated to support GPO’s operating units. These  teams will be able to address the full range of human resources activities,  from hiring to retirement, as well as worker safety issues. According to  GPO, physically locating the human capital team members with the  business unit staff ensures that the operating units’ human resources needs  are more easily met, improves communication between the units and the  Human Capital Office, and allows for faster decision making.
Attract and retain key talent. Success is more likely when the best  people are selected for each position based on the competencies needed  for the new organization. To help ensure that GPO retained key talent  needed for GPO’s transformation, the Public Printer appointed experienced  GPO employees to fill the top management positions of Superintendent of  Documents, Managing Director of Customer Services, and Managing  Director of Plant Operations. (One of the three employees has over 40  years of experience at GPO.) According to the Public Printer, each of these  individuals is committed to helping GPO transform and successfully meet  the needs and demands of GPO's customers in the 21st century. In addition,  these appointments ensured that a vast amount of institutional knowledge  remained at GPO during the transformation and were meant to give other  current GPO employees a clear message that, while GPO is transforming  and changing the way it does business, there is a place for current GPO  employees at all levels of the new organization.
To ensure that GPO attracts the people it needs to successfully transform  and to obtain the next generation of technical skills needed to prepare GPO  for the challenges of the 21st century, the Public Printer has increased the  recruitment of outstanding college scholars. GPO has implemented a  recruiting initiative at universities and colleges that emphasize fields of  study that would benefit GPO in meeting its current and emerging needs.  For example, the initiative will target graduates in printing and graphic  communication; electrical, mechanical, and chemical engineering; and  business administration.
In response to a request from the General Counsel of GPO, we recently  provided an advance decision that GPO may use appropriated funds to  provide recruitment and relocation payments and retention allowances to  certain GPO employees, but suggested that it consult with the Joint  Committee on Printing before doing so. GPO is exploring these and other  strategies to enhance its ability to recruit and retain top talent with needed  skills and knowledge. We have reported that agencies have successfully  used human capital flexibilities, such as recruitment and retention  allowances, as important human capital strategies to assist in reaching  program goals.
Establish an organizationwide knowledge and skills inventory. A  knowledge and skills inventory can help a transforming organization  identify the skills and competencies of the existing workforce that can help  the organization adapt to its new mission. In addition, a transforming  organization needs to define the critical skills and competencies that it will  require in the future to meet its strategic program goals and identify how it  will obtain these requirements, including those that it will need to acquire,  develop, and retain (including full- and part-time federal staff and  contractors) to meet future needs.
GPO’s Human Capital Office is planning to complete a knowledge and skills  inventory to identify the skills and competencies of the existing workforce.  In a memorandum to all GPO employees, the former CHCO explained that  the Workforce Development Department will undertake a comprehensive  skills assessment involving all employees to strategically determine how  GPO will need to retrain the workforce as the transformation proceeds.  The skills assessment will include a number of measurement tools and  methods, including skills tests, electronic and paper-based surveys,  interviews, focus groups, and observations of work. The knowledge and  skills inventory could help GPO as it reorganizes and shifts focus to new  missions and competencies.
Knowledge and skills inventories have been used by agencies to identify  related training needs. We have reported that agencies have used a variety  of approaches in assessing skills and competencies to identify training  needs. For example, agencies used workforce planning models; assessed  the workforce in view of organizational, occupational, and unit-based competency standards; and evaluated job performance appraisals and  information from individual development plans.
While GPO completes the skills assessment of its current employees, it  plans to also complete a systematic identification of new skills and  competencies that it will need in the future. When GPO leadership  completes both of these efforts, it will be able to pinpoint skills gaps within  its workforce and develop strategies to ensure that GPO retains, develops,  and acquires employees with these skills. These efforts can serve to help  employees understand how they can enhance their skills to contribute to  GPO’s future and are consistent with the recommendation to strengthen  training made by the panel of printing and information dissemination  experts that we convened.
The skills inventory is an important step to ensure that GPO employs  people with the skills necessary for its future mission. However, until GPO  leadership finalizes the mission and goals of the transformed GPO, it  cannot determine fully the skills needed to achieve current and future  programmatic results or develop strategies focused on those skills.
subsections: section_title: Recommended Next Steps
paragraphs: The Public Printer should develop a documented transformation plan that  outlines his goals for the transformation and when he expects to meet   identifies critical phases and essential activities that need to be  completed.   determine, based on the results of the upcoming employee survey,  whether any changes are needed to the transformation strategies and  ensure that the development of human capital strategies focuses on the  skills gaps identified by GPO leadership.
section_title: GPO’s Management Team Is in Place, but Attention to Daily Transformational Activities Could Be Strengthened
paragraphs: Dedicating a strong and stable implementation team that will be  responsible for the transformation's day-to-day management is important  to ensuring that it receives the focused, full-time attention needed to be  sustained and successful. Specifically, the implementation team is  important to ensuring that various change initiatives are sequenced and  implemented in a coherent and integrated way. Top leadership must vest  the team with the necessary authority and resources to set priorities, make  timely decisions, and move quickly to implement top leadership’s decisions  about the transformation.
Dedicate an implementation team  to manage the transformation  process.
Establish networks to support implementation team.  Select high-performing team members.
The Public Printer has put in place a senior management team, referred to  as the management council, which can help bring GPO into the future. This  council is composed of the COO, CFO, CHCO, CIO, Superintendent of  Documents, Managing Director of Plant Operations, Managing Director of  Customer Services, the Chief of Staff, the Deputy Chief of Staff, General  Counsel, and the Inspector General. According to GPO officials, the  management council does not have regularly scheduled meetings and only  meets when convened by the Public Printer. About 80 percent of the  management council’s time is devoted to long-term, transformational  activities, while 20 percent of the time is devoted to addressing day-to-day  operational issues.
A second management team, referred to as the operations council, is  composed of the CFO, CHCO, CIO, Superintendent of Documents,  Managing Director of Plant Operations, and Managing Director of  Customer Services; this council meets weekly with the COO. According to  GPO officials, this council spends about 80 percent of its time dealing with  day-to-day operations and 20 percent with transformation issues. Although  the operations council occasionally discusses transformation-related  issues, its meetings are not structured around specific transformation tasks  or decisions required to make progress on the transformation. Instead, the  meetings give each member of the council an opportunity to provide an  update on issues affecting his or her unit’s operations, improve  communication among GPO’s top managers, and ensure that crosscutting  issues in day-to-day operations receive management attention.
GPO leadership recognizes the importance of establishing networks to  support its transformation efforts, and it is creating a network of task  forces to lead the development of various transformational strategies. For  example, GPO created a task force to focus on “revenue enhancements and  new investments.” This task force will be chaired by the CFO, and will  include members of other GPO business units, such as New Business  Development and Information Technology and Systems. The Public Printer  directed the chairpersons of the task teams to select task force members  and develop the strategies that will be the basis for GPO’s strategic plan by  June 17, 2004. Our work on transformations has found that establishing  networks, including a senior executive council, functional teams, or  crosscutting teams, can help the implementation team conduct the day-to- day activities of the transformation and help ensure that efforts are  coordinated and integrated.
GPO leaders have acknowledged that creating the support capacity and  accountability for daily transformation activities could help ensure that the  transformation continues to make progress. These leaders said that  responsibilities for day-to-day transformation activities could include  setting priorities, proposing milestones, tracking progress, providing  analysis to support decision making, and coordinating among teams.
subsections: section_title: Recommended Next Steps
paragraphs: The Public Printer should establish a transformation team, or augment the  management council, to address the day-to-day management of GPO’s  transformation effort. The team should include high-performing employees  who have knowledge and competencies that could help GPO plan its  future. Establishing such a team could create the focus needed to stimulate  and sustain GPO’s transformation efforts.
section_title: GPO Is Planning Changes to Strengthen Its Performance Management System
paragraphs: A performance management system can help manage and direct the  transformation process and serves as the basis for setting expectations for  individuals’ roles in the transformation. To be successful, transformation  efforts must have leaders, managers, and employees who have the  individual competencies to integrate and create synergy among the  multiple operating units involved in the transformation effort. Individual  performance and contributions are evaluated on competencies such as  change management, cultural sensitivity, teamwork and collaboration, and  information sharing. Leaders, managers, and employees who demonstrate  these competencies are rewarded for their success in contributing to the  achievement of the transformation process.
Use the performance management  system to define responsibility and  assure accountability for change.
Adopt leading practices to implement effective  performance management systems with adequate  safeguards.
GPO plans to implement a new performance management system for its  executives and will later work on changes for employees at other  organizational levels. As part of this effort, GPO is exploring the use of  competencies to provide a fuller assessment of performance. For example,  GPO has developed performance agreements for its senior managers based  upon the executive core qualifications adopted by the Office of Personnel  Management for senior executives and included responsibilities such as  leading strategic change. Each responsibility will be linked to three or four  competencies. Additionally, the draft performance agreements include  interim goals that GPO developed for its operating units and other elements  that we have identified as important for executive performance. They  include, for example, specific levels of performance that GPO plans to link  to strategic objectives to help senior executives see how they directly  contribute to organizational results.
Until GPO’s strategic plan is completed, however, GPO will not be able to  fully align individual performance competencies or expectations with  organizational goals. The completion of the strategic plan will provide  human capital officials with the information needed to develop  competencies and expectations for employees that have a direct link to  GPO’s goals, providing employees with the information they need to  understand how their performance leads to organizational success.
As part of GPO’s effort to strengthen performance management, GPO plans  to pilot a new system that, beginning with its senior executives, will more  closely link an individual’s pay with his or her performance. Linking pay to  performance is a key practice for effective performance management. We  have reported that efforts to link pay to performance require adequate  safeguards, including reasonable transparency and appropriate  accountability mechanisms, to ensure the fair, effective, and  nondiscriminatory implementation of the system. The Human Resources  Office has begun developing a pay-for-performance program that will use  measures of effectiveness that directly link individual performance with  organizational goals and objectives. The newly established Workforce  Development, Education and Training Office will be required to develop  and deliver training to supervisors and managers on performance  management. The objective is to ensure that supervisors and managers are  equipped with the necessary skills to effectively manage their employees,  help drive change efforts, and achieve results.
subsections: section_title: Recommended Next Steps
paragraphs: The CHCO should continue developing a performance management system  for all GPO employees that creates a line of sight by linking employee  performance with agency goals. The CHCO should ensure that GPO’s new  performance management system has adequate safeguards, including  reasonable transparency and appropriate accountability mechanisms, to  ensure the fair, effective, and nondiscriminatory implementation of the  system.
section_title: GPO Has Improved Communication, but Can Better Address Employee Needs
paragraphs: Communication, an important management control, is most effective when  done early, clearly, and often, and when it is downward, upward, and  lateral. Successful organizations have comprehensive communication  strategies that reach out to employees, customers, and stakeholders and  seek to genuinely engage them in the transformation process.
Establish a communication  strategy to create shared  expectations and report related  progress.
Communicate early and often to build trust.  Ensure consistency of message.  Encourage two-way communication.  Provide information to meet specific needs of  employees.
The Public Printer communicated his intention to transform GPO early and  often and to various audiences. For example, in his confirmation hearing in  October 2002, the Public Printer told Congress that GPO “must step back  and take a new look at the changing and emerging information needs of its  customers and develop a deeper understanding of its true strengths so that  it can determine how best to build a new business model.” Then again, just  8 days after the Public Printer took office, he publicly stated his intention  to transform GPO. In his communications with employees, the Public  Printer has also frequently expressed his intention to transform GPO. For  example, GPO’s biweekly management newsletter, the GPO Link, often  contains articles about GPO’s transformation. Transforming organizations  have found that communicating information early and often helps to build  an understanding of the purpose of the planned changes and builds trust  among employees and stakeholders.
GPO leadership has communicated a consistent message about the  transformation to employees, customers, and other stakeholders through  such methods as sponsoring conferences, attending customers’ meetings,  and speaking with relevant trade magazines. For example, in  correspondence with the Congress, employees, and the library community,  the Public Printer and other senior managers have used similar terms and  concepts when discussing GPO’s transformation. This consistency is  important in ensuring that GPO’s employees, customers, and other  stakeholders understand the current environment under which GPO  operates. A message to employees and others affected by a transformation  that is consistent in tone and content can alleviate the uncertainties  generated during the unsettled times of large-scale change management  initiatives.
GPO leadership has encouraged two-way communication by instituting  methods for employees and others to provide feedback and ask questions.  For example, GPO’s intranet site has a section called “Ask the Public  Printer.” On the site, the Public Printer fields questions on issues ranging  from training opportunities, to building renovation issues, to contingency  planning. In addition, the Public Printer holds periodic town hall meetings  that include time for employees in attendance to ask him questions in  person. In addition, stakeholders have been asked to communicate with  GPO leaders. For example, on January 22, 2004, the Depository Library Council provided GPO with advice on topics that the Public Printer  identified as important to the future of GPO. The Public Printer expects to  use feedback from stakeholders such as the Depository Library Council as  GPO develops its strategic plan. Two-way communication is central to  forming the effective internal and external partnerships that are vital to the  success of any organization.
GPO leadership has also made significant efforts to improve  communication between management and employees. For example, GPO  established the Employee Communications Office, which was developed  with the vision “to have the best informed workforce in the U.S.  Government by over-communicating organizational clarity and the mission  and vision of the new GPO.” An important initiative undertaken by the  Employee Communications Office is the development of GPO Link, a  biweekly newsletter that reports on activities of GPO’s top managers.
Despite these efforts, because GPO’s future mission and strategies have not  yet been decided, the Public Printer has been unable to communicate the  nature of the change that GPO needs to make in a way that addresses the  specific needs of employees. During a communications focus group GPO  held in October 2003, employees stated that recent efforts to improve  communication were positive, but failed to provide the specific  information needed to alleviate job concerns. These concerns were also  voiced during town hall meetings led by the Public Printer in January 2004  and were consistent with concerns raised by union representatives in their  discussions with us about GPO’s transformation. Employees have indicated  they are unsure about their future in the new GPO, and are seeking specific  information on the skills they will need to remain useful to GPO.  Communicating with employees about their specific concerns can help  them understand how they might be affected and how their responsibilities  might change with the new organization.
GPO managers, union leaders, and employees have indicated that  employees are unsure of their role in GPO’s transformation. Union leaders  told us that much of the communication has been rhetoric with insufficient  detail regarding how the transformation will affect employees. For  example, the Public Printer has stated that the transformation will bring  GPO into the 21st century, but the specifics of what jobs might be lost or  changed have not been discussed because GPO is developing its mission  and strategic plan.
subsections: section_title: Recommended Next Steps
paragraphs: The Public Printer can augment GPO’s communication about the  transformation to include additional information that employees can use to  understand their role in building the GPO of the 21st century. As GPO’s  strategic planning effort moves forward, communication with employees  should include topics such as GPO’s new mission, strategic goals, and in  particular, employee concerns about their role in the new environment. As  key decisions are made, communication should address how GPO’s  transformation will affect employees so that they understand how their  jobs may be affected, what their rights and protections might be, and how  their responsibilities might change.
section_title: GPO Can Expand the Involvement of Employees in the Transformation
paragraphs: Employee involvement strengthens the transformation process by  including frontline perspectives and experiences. Further, employee  involvement helps to create the opportunity to establish new networks and  break down existing organizational silos, increase employees’  understanding and acceptance of organizational goals and objectives, and  gain ownership for new policies and procedures.
Involve employees to obtain their  ideas and gain their ownership for  the transformation.
Use employee teams.  Involve employees in planning and sharing  performance information.
Incorporate employee feedback into new policies  and procedures.
Delegate authority to appropriate organizational  levels.
The former and Acting CHCO, CIO, CFO, and Managing Director of  Customer Services told us that they are adopting team-based approaches  for accomplishing their units’ goals, which includes improved customer  service. For example, GPO combined the former procurement division with  the customer services division to create teams of employees who have a  range of skills to address customer needs. Previously, GPO’s customers  were shuffled between these two divisions, neither of which was clearly  accountable for addressing the customers’ needs. A GPO official explained  that by changing to a team approach, where a group of about five  employees is responsible for all work with a customer, accountability for  meeting the needs of that customer is clear and may lead to improved  service. A teams-based approach to operations can create an environment  characterized by open communication, enhanced flexibility in meeting job  demands, and a sense of shared responsibility for accomplishing  organization goals and objectives.
GPO units can expand the involvement of employees and use their  feedback in planning and sharing performance information, which can help  employees accept and understand the goals of their units and their role in  achieving them. For example, GPO officials told us that the CFO has shared  goals for his division with his managers, who have, in turn, shared the goals  with their employees. Therefore, all employees under the CFO know the  goals of the division and how their work and performance helps realize the  goals. However, not all division managers have shared goals with their  employees. The practice of involving employees in planning and sharing  performance information can be transferred to other GPO units as GPO’s  transformation progresses.
Major transformations, like GPO’s, often include redesigning work  processes, changing work rules, or making other changes that are of  particular concern to employees. GPO has made or plans to make changes  to many of its policies and procedures. As we mentioned earlier, for  example, GPO is planning to pilot test a new pay-for-performance system,  beginning with its senior managers. We have reported on other agencies’  attempts to involve employees and unions in developing aspects of its  personnel systems. For example, at the Department of Homeland  Security, employees and union representatives played a role in shaping the  design of a proposed personnel system. The design process attempted to  include employees by creating multiple opportunities for employees to  provide feedback.
GPO has taken some actions to delegate authority to employees. Soon after  the new Public Printer took office, GPO instituted a time-off awards  program, which provides supervisors with a means to recognize employees  for their productivity, creativity, dedication, and outstanding contributions  to the mission of GPO. Before GPO created this award program,  supervisors did not have the authority to recognize and reward outstanding  performance. In a transformation, employees are more likely to support  changes when they have the necessary authority and flexibility—along with  commensurate accountability and incentives—to advance the  organization’s goals and improve performance.
Delegating certain personnel authorities is important for managers and  supervisors who know the most about an organization’s programs and can  use those authorities to make those programs work. The former Deputy  Public Printer told us that decision making on many day-to-day matters was  centralized within his office. For example, his approval was required for all  training requests from GPO employees. The current Public Printer has  delegated authority to approve training to lower level managers who are  more familiar with the employees’ work requirements and, therefore, have  a better understanding of the training individual employees need to  improve their performance.
We have reported that agency managers and employees have important  roles in the success of training and development activities. Managers are  responsible not only for reinforcing new competencies, skills, and  behaviors but also for removing barriers to help employees implement  learned behaviors on the job. Furthermore, if managers understand and  support the objectives of training and development efforts, they can  provide opportunities for employees to successfully use new skills and  competencies and can model the behavior they expect to see in their  employees. Employees also need to understand the goals of agencies’  training and development efforts and accept responsibility for developing  their competencies and careers, as well as for improving their  organizations’ performance.
subsections: section_title: Recommended Next Steps
paragraphs: GPO leadership should involve employees more in planning and decision  making for the future, allowing employees to gain ownership of the  transformation. For example, the CHCO should incorporate employee  feedback as part of the process for developing GPO’s pay for performance  system and in training and development activities.
section_title: World-Class Management Practices Can Strengthen GPO’s Transformation
paragraphs: Successful change efforts start with a vision of radically improved  performance and the relentless pursuit of that vision. Leaders of successful  transformations seek to implement best practices in systems and processes  and guard against automatically retaining the approaches used in the past.  Instead of developing optimal systems and processes, transforming  organizations risk devoting attention to attempting to mend less than fully  efficient and effective systems and processes merely because they are  already in place. Over the longer term, leaders of successful mergers and  acquisitions, like leaders of successful organizations generally, seek to  learn from best practices and create a set of systems and processes that are  tailored to the specific needs and circumstances of the transforming  organization.
GPO leadership has articulated a vision to transform GPO into a world- class organization and has taken some initial steps toward this objective,  most notably with respect to human capital management. However,  because significant change efforts are difficult and take a long time,  continued leadership attention is needed. The commitment of the Public  Printer, the appointment of a COO, and other key leadership selections are  positive steps in this regard. In particular, we have reported that COOs can  be part of a broader effort to elevate attention to management and  transformation issues, integrate various key management and  transformation efforts, and institutionalize accountability for addressing  management issues leading a transformation. By their very nature, the  problems and challenges facing agencies are crosscutting and thus require  coordinated and integrated solutions. However, the risk is that  management responsibilities (including, but not limited to, information  technology, financial management, and human capital) will be “stovepiped”  and thus will not be carried out in a comprehensive, ongoing, and  integrated manner.
subsections: section_title: GPO Has Taken Numerous Actions to Strengthen Human Capital Management
paragraphs: Having effective human capital policies and procedures is a critical factor  in an organization’s management control environment. GPO’s efforts to  strengthen human capital management demonstrate a commitment to  these management controls.
In October 2003, we reported on how GPO leadership could advance its  transformation through strategic human capital management and made  numerous recommendations to GPO leadership that were based on leading  practices in strategic human capital management. Taken as a whole, these  recommendations represent a framework for radically improving GPO’s  human capital practices. GPO’s Human Capital Office is using our October  2003 report as GPO’s roadmap for transforming its human capital  management and is actively implementing the recommendations we made.  Much of GPO’s progress in improving its human capital management has  been described previously in this report. Our recommendations focus on  four interrelated areas:  communicating the role of managers in GPO’s transformation,   strengthening the role of the human resources office,   developing a strategic workforce plan to ensure GPO has the skills and  knowledge it needs for the future, and   using a strategic performance management system to drive change.
GPO has made clear progress toward adopting the leading practices that  we described in our October report, and has shown a continuing interest in  improving GPO’s Human Capital Office by identifying management best  practices used by other organizations. The experience of transforming  organizations, including GAO, has shown that transformation must be  based on the best, most up-to-date management practices to reach its full  potential. Consistent with this practice, GPO leadership requested our  assistance in identifying and describing approaches and strategies used by  other organizations to restructure their workforces.
In response to this request, on January 20, 2004, we briefed GPO leadership  on the workforce restructuring efforts of the Federal Deposit Insurance  Corporation, GAO, and the Treasury’s Financial Management Service. The  briefing presented the lessons that these agencies learned from their  workforce restructuring efforts, with particular emphasis on efforts to  assist employees in finding other employment. The approaches and  strategies we highlighted were retraining, outplacement assistance,  workforce restructuring planning, communication, and employee and  union involvement. Our briefing contained specific examples, related  agency materials, and contacts that could provide further information and  assistance to GPO.
section_title: GPO’s CIO Organization Has Begun to Transform
paragraphs: The Public Printer has stated that the new vision of GPO will be an agency  whose primary mission will be to capture digitally, organize, maintain,  authenticate, distribute, and provide permanent public access to the  information products and services of the federal government. To execute  this vision, he states that GPO must deploy the technology needed by  federal agencies and the public to gather and produce digital documents in  a uniformly structured database in order to authenticate documents  disseminated over the Internet and to preserve the information for  permanent public access.
However, improved information technology (IT) systems such as those  contained in the Public Printer’s vision are not simple to develop or  acquire. Through our research of best IT management practices and our  evaluations of agency IT management performance, we have identified a  set of essential and complementary management disciplines that provide a  sound foundation for IT management. These include  software/system development and acquisition,  IT human capital.
GPO’s CIO understands that his IT organization, like all of GPO, will have to  transform to meet current and future needs. More specifically, he  acknowledges the need to establish IT management policies, procedures,  and practices in the key areas listed above. The CIO has taken steps, or  plans to take steps, to begin improving IT in each of these areas.
subsections: section_title: Enterprise Architecture
paragraphs: An enterprise architecture is to an organization’s operations and systems as  a set of blueprints is to a building. That is, building blueprints provide those  who own, construct, and maintain the building with a clear and  understandable picture of the building’s uses, features, functions, and  supporting systems, including relevant building standards. Further, the  building blueprints capture the relationships among building components  and govern the construction process. Enterprise architectures do nothing  less, providing to people at all organizational levels an explicit, common,  and meaningful structural frame of reference that allows an agency to  understand (1) what the enterprise does; (2) when, where, how, and why it  does it; and (3) what it uses to do it.
An enterprise architecture provides a clear and comprehensive picture of  the structure of an entity, whether an organization or a functional or  mission area. This picture consists of snapshots of both the enterprise’s  current or “as-is” technical and operational environments, its target or “to- be” technical and operational environments, and a capital investment  roadmap for transitioning from the current environment to the target  environment. An enterprise architecture is an essential tool for effectively  and efficiently engineering business practices, implementing and evolving  supporting systems, and transforming an organization. Managed properly, it  can clarify and help optimize the interdependencies and relationships  among an organization’s business operations and the underlying IT  infrastructure and applications that support these operations. Employed in  concert with other important management controls, such as portfolio- based capital planning and investment control processes, architectures can  greatly increase the chances that organizations’ operational and IT  environments will be configured to optimize mission performance. Our  experience with federal agencies has shown that investing in IT without  defining these investments in the context of an enterprise architecture  often results in systems that are duplicative, not well integrated, and  unnecessarily costly to maintain and interface. The development of an  enterprise architecture is an essential part of a successful organizational  transformation.
Our research has shown that an organization should ensure that adequate  resources are provided for developing the architecture and that  responsibility for directing, overseeing, and approving enterprise  architecture development is assigned to a committee or group with  representation from across the organization. Establishing this  organizationwide responsibility and accountability is important in  demonstrating the organization’s commitment to building the management  foundation and obtaining support for the development and use of the  enterprise architecture from across the organization. This group should  include executive-level representatives from each line of business, and  these representatives should have the authority to commit resources to  architecture-related efforts and enforce decisions within their respective  organizational units. Our research shows that enterprise architecture  efforts also benefit from developing an architecture program management  plan that specifies how and when the architecture is to be developed,  including a detailed work breakdown structure, resource estimates (e.g.,  funding, staffing, and training), performance measures, and management  controls for developing and maintaining the architecture. The plan  demonstrates the organizations’ commitment to managing enterprise  architecture development and maintenance.
Currently, GPO does not have such an enterprise architecture. Its CIO  agrees that an enterprise architecture is an important tool and is working to  develop one for GPO. As the first step towards developing an enterprise  architecture, the CIO organization is in the process of documenting GPO’s  current business processes and supporting IT architecture (the “as-is”  enterprise architecture). In doing this work, the agency is focusing first on  those business items of greater interest to two sets of critical customers— the Congress and users of the Federal Register. The CIO has also hired a  manager to lead this effort who has significant experience in the  development and institutionalization of enterprise architecture and related  processes.
section_title: Investment Management
paragraphs: In concert with a properly developed and institutionalized enterprise  architecture, an effective and efficient IT investment management process  is key to a successful transformation effort. An effective and efficient IT  investment process allows agencies to maximize the value of their IT  investments and to minimize the risks of IT acquisitions. This is critically  important because IT projects, while having the capability to significantly  improve an organization’s performance, can become very costly, risky, and  unproductive. Federal agency IT projects too frequently incur cost  overruns and schedule slippages while contributing little to mission-related  outcomes.
GPO’s transformation may require significant investment in IT and related  efforts. Therefore, it is essential that GPO effectively manage such  investments. We have developed a guide to effective IT investment  management based on a select/control/evaluate model:   Select. The organization (1) identifies and analyzes each project’s risks  and returns before committing significant funds to any project and  (2) selects those IT projects that best support its mission needs. This  process should be repeated each time, reselecting even ongoing  investments, as described below.
Control. The organization ensures that, as projects develop and  investment expenditures continue, the project continues to meet  mission needs at the expected levels of cost and risk. If the project is not  meeting expectations or if problems have arisen, steps are quickly taken  to address the deficiencies. If mission needs have changed, the  organization can adjust its objectives for the project and appropriately  modify expected project outcomes.
Evaluate. The organization compares actual versus expected outcomes  after a project is fully implemented. This is done to (1) assess the  project’s impact on mission performance, (2) identify any changes or  modifications to the project that may be needed, and (3) revise the  investment management process based on lessons learned.
To oversee the investment management process, an investment review  board is established, made up of managers, that is responsible and  accountable for selecting and monitoring projects based on the agency’s  investment management criteria. The IT investment board is a key  component in the investment management process. An organizationwide  investment board has oversight responsibilities for developing and  maintaining the organization’s documented IT investment process. It plays  a key role in establishing an appropriate IT investment management  structure and processes for selecting, controlling, and evaluating IT  investments. The organization may choose to make this board the same  board that provides executive guidance and support for the enterprise  architecture. Such overlap of responsibilities may enhance the ability of the  board to ensure that investment decisions are consistent with the  architecture and that it reflects the needs of the organization.
This model allows an organization to effectively choose, monitor, and  evaluate projects. GPO intends to complete a major transformation of itself  within a few years, with most of its transformation based on improved IT  capabilities. For an organization like GPO, in the midst of transformation,  effective oversight of its IT investments is essential.
Currently, GPO does not have an IT investment management process.  GPO’s CIO said that his review of projects at GPO indicated that in the past,  for example, most projects were selected without documentation such as a  cost-benefit analysis, economic justification, alternatives analysis, and fully  validated requirements. The CIO’s long-term goal is to implement a  standard investment management process requiring such items. As a  beginning, he is working on a list of required documents that each new  information technology proposal will have to provide before it can be  approved by GPO management. He is holding workshops aimed at  introducing the business managers to this documentation and providing  training in the meaning and use of these documents in support of project  initiation.
section_title: Software/System Development and Acquisition Capability
paragraphs: Underlying enterprise architecture management and investment  management is the ability to effectively and efficiently develop and acquire  systems and software. GPO’s CIO is aware that his organization’s  development and acquisition capabilities could be improved and plans to  take steps to achieve these improvements.
The CIO has tasked one of his new managers to begin improving key  process areas for software development and acquisition. On the basis of  this manager’s recommendation, GPO has selected the software acquisition  models of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) as  its standard for this process. The IEEE defines a nine-step process for the  acquisition of software, which GPO plans to implement for future software  acquisitions. The CIO also plans to implement a process for software  development, but has not determined which model to use.
section_title: IT Security
paragraphs: Dramatic increases in computer interconnectivity, especially in the use of  the Internet, are revolutionizing the way our government, our nation, and  much of the world communicate and do business. The benefits from this  have been enormous. However, this widespread interconnectivity poses  significant risks to computer systems and, more importantly, to the critical  operations and infrastructures they support, such as telecommunications,  power distribution, and national defense. The same factors that benefit  operations—speed and accessibility—if not properly controlled, also make  it possible for individuals and organizations to inexpensively interfere with  or eavesdrop on these operations from remote locations for purposes of  fraud or sabotage, or for other malicious or mischievous purposes. In  addition, natural disasters and inadvertent errors by authorized computer  users can have devastating consequences if information resources are  poorly protected.
As GPO transforms, its information resources will become increasingly  dependent upon correctly functioning IT. Whereas in the past, GPO needed  only to have several paper copies of each document available, greater  security measures will be required as GPO implements a database for  permanent public access to all federal government information.
GPO’s current information security could be improved. In fiscal year 2003,  an independent audit of GPO’s internal controls, done as part of a review of  GPO’s financial statements, found that GPO did not have in place an  effective security management structure that provides a framework and  continuing cycle of activity for managing risk, developing security policies,  and monitoring the accuracy of GPO’s computer security controls. Among  the specific findings:  Security-related policies and procedures had not been documented or  had not been kept current and did not reflect GPO’s current  environment. These policies also provided no guidance for developing  risk assessment programs.
Local network administrators did not have guidance in developing  formal procedures to perform network administration duties, such as  creating and maintaining user accounts, periodically reviewing user  accounts, and reviewing audit logs.
GPO had not established a comprehensive business continuity and  disaster recovery plan for its mainframe, client-server platforms, and  major software applications.
The CIO has ongoing projects aimed at addressing each of the issues  outlined by the audit organization. First, he is in the process of issuing new  security-related policies and procedures reflecting GPO’s current  environment. The CIO’s security organization is also working on policies  and procedures and guidance for local network administrators. Finally,  GPO is negotiating with other legislative branch agencies to use their  backup computer facility and is developing a business continuity and  disaster recovery plan for GPO’s platforms and major software  applications.
section_title: IT Human Capital
paragraphs: As mentioned earlier, the Public Printer has emphasized the importance of  strategically managing GPO’s people in order to successfully transform the  organization. The CIO, like other GPO managers, considers human capital a  vital part of his organization’s operations as well as critical to the success  of GPO’s transformation efforts.
The CIO and his managers are reviewing the current human capital  situation and taking interim steps to improve. At the same time, they are  working with GPO’s human capital organization to develop a strategy to  improve GPO’s human capital management capability for the long term.  For example, the CIO has tasked each IT area manager to complete such a  review of his or her staff and report the results to the CIO. While a few  needed skill sets will be hired from the outside, the emphasis for the CIO  organization in the near term will be on finding needed skills inside the  organization and retraining individuals with related skills. The CIO is also  providing training to his CIO staff on project management and related  issues.
section_title: Recommended Next Steps
paragraphs: Like efforts in other parts of GPO, the CIO’s actions to improve GPO’s IT  capabilities are important first steps. However, much more needs to be  done to establish an effective IT investment process, to establish an  enterprise architecture, and to improve the agency’s system development  and acquisition, security, and human capital capabilities. Therefore, we  recommend that the Public Printer direct the GPO CIO to do the following.
Begin an effort to create and implement a comprehensive plan for the  development of an enterprise architecture that addresses completion of  GPO’s current or “as-is” architecture, development of a target or “to-be”  architecture, and development of a capital investment plan for  transitioning from the current to the target architecture. As part of the  capital investment plan, designate an architecture review board of  agency executives who are responsible and accountable for overseeing  and approving architecture development and maintenance, and  establish an enterprise architecture program management plan.
Begin an effort to develop and implement an investment management  process by (1) developing guidance for the selection, control, and  evaluation processes and then (2) establishing an investment review  board responsible and accountable for endorsing the guidance,  monitoring its implementation, and executing decisions on projects  based on the guidance.
Develop and implement a comprehensive plan for software  development and acquisition process improvement that specifies  measurable goals and time frames, sets priorities for initiatives,  estimates resource requirements (for training staff and funding), and  defines a process improvement management structure.
Establish the appropriate security and business continuity policies,  procedures, and systems to ensure that its information products are  adequately protected.
Ensure that GPO’s Human Capital Office, in its efforts to develop and  implement a human capital strategy, considers the special needs of IT  human capital.
section_title: Financial Management’s Role in Supporting Transformation
paragraphs: Sound financial management practices that produce reliable and timely  financial information for management decision making are a vital part of a  strategic plan to achieve transformation. In recent testimony the Public  Printer acknowledged that GPO is in a precarious financial position with  sustained significant financial losses over the past 5 years, which appear to  be structural in nature. Such structural losses point out the clear need for  transformation. In response to GPO’s financial condition, the Public Printer  has taken positive, immediate steps to stem losses, cut costs, and curtail  certain program activities.
Given the importance of GPO’s business transformation, it is imperative  that transformation efforts be clearly linked to financial management  results and receive the sustained leadership needed to improve the  economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of GPO’s business operations  through its transformation plan. The transformation plan should provide a  strategic-level “road map” from the current environment to the planned  future environment, including a link to current cost-cutting and other  financial improvement initiatives. In addition, management needs reliable  and up-to-date information on progress, including financial results.
As discussed in our executive guide on best practices in financial  management, dramatic changes over the past decade in the business  environment have driven finance organizations to reevaluate their role. The  role of financial management and reporting will be critical to managing the  progress and impact of GPO’s transformation efforts.
In the transformation environment, GPO will need to define a vision for its  financial management organization such that it is a value-creating,  customer-focused partner in business results in order to build a world-class  finance organization and to help achieve GPO’s transformation goals. As  reported and shown in figure 6, certain success factors, goals, and  practices are instrumental in achieving financial management excellence.
Build a team that delivers finance. results. prority. decision makers.
1. Build a  foundation of control and accountability.
10. Develop a finance team with the right mix of skills and  competencies 2. Provide clear strong executive leadership.
4. Assess the finance organization's current role in meeting mission objectives.
7. Develop systems that support the partnership between finance and operations.
3. Use training to change the culture and  engage line managers.
5. Maximize the efficiency of day-to-day accounting activities.
8. Reengineer processes in conjunction with new technology.
11. Build a finance organization that attracts and retains talent.
6. Organize  finance to add value.
9. Translate financial data into meaning- ful information.
We compared best practices that would be most applicable to GPO’s  financial management operations and transformation efforts to many of the  activities and goals planned by GPO. Overall, GPO and its CFO have taken  many actions and have plans for efforts that are consistent with many best  practices in financial management; however, additional emphasis is needed  for other best practices that enhance GPO’s transformation and to ensure  that planned efforts are fully supported. In addition, GPO’s strategic  planning for transformation should include the actions, plans, and goals to  be initiated by its CFO and its financial management team to ensure that  GPO’s weakening financial position does not undermine its transformation  goals.
section_title: Making Financial Management an Entitywide Priority
paragraphs: Our prior report observes that the chief executive should recognize the  important role the finance organization plays in improving overall business  performance and involve key business managers in financial management  improvement initiatives. This is especially important in a transformation  environment. In order to make financial management an entitywide  priority, the organization should (1) build a foundation of control and  accountability, (2) provide clear strong executive leadership, and (3) use  training to change the culture and engage line managers.
GPO has shown that financial reporting and the audit process are  important management and oversight tools for building a foundation of  control and accountability by routinely receiving “unqualified” audit  opinions on its annual financial statements. In addition, GPO receives an  opinion on its management assertion on internal controls from its external  auditor. Additional accountability is provided through oversight from the  GPO Office of Inspector General established by Title 44, U.S. Code, section  3901. Also, GPO has expanded reported financial information beyond  audited financial statements to include performance information on  revolving fund operations such as printing and binding operations,  purchased printing, and procured printing.
Our executive guide on best practices in financial management also  recognizes that the chief executive officers of leading organizations  understand the important role that the CFO and the finance organization  play in improving overall business performance of the organization.  Consequently, the CFO is a central figure on the top management team and  heavily involved in strategic planning and decision making. In this regard,  the Public Printer established the CFO position shortly after arriving at  GPO and has included the CFO as a member of the management council.
The key to successfully managing change and changing organizational  culture is gaining the support of line management. To change the  organizational culture and enlist the support of line managers, many  organizations use training programs. This training may be geared towards  providing line managers with a greater appreciation of the financial  implications of their business decisions and transformation efforts.
GPO has engaged its nonfinancial managers with financial-related goals.  For example, customer services, which includes purchased printing, has a  goal of increasing revenue by identifying potential government work and  increasing business to GPO. As discussed earlier in this report, account  managers are assigned to increase revenue from federal agencies through  regular customer agency visits, presentations at selected agencies to  highlight GPO services, and targeting customers for specialized outreach  efforts.
GPO could provide a greater emphasis on training its nonfinancial  managers on the financial implications of business decisions and the value  of financial information. Training on how to fully use the financial  information they receive not only produces better managers, but also helps  break down functional barriers that can affect productivity and impede  improvement efforts, especially in a time of transformation. In addition,  training and other tools facilitate and accelerate the pace of the change  initiative, which helps to reduce the opposition that could ultimately  undermine the effort.
section_title: Redefine the Role of Finance
paragraphs: Today, leading finance organizations are focusing more on internal  customer requirements by providing products and service that directly  support strategic decision making and ultimately improve overall business  performance. Again, this is critical in a transformation environment. Best  practices reported by our prior review of leading financial organizations  include actions to (1) assess the finance organization’s current role in  meeting mission objectives, (2) maximize the efficiency of day-to-day  accounting activities, and (3) organize finance to add value.
Consistent with best practices for redefining financial operations, GPO has  plans to integrate on-line workflow systems for all major operations  including the receipts and processing operations, to streamline the budget  formulation process, and to eliminate all paper-based accounting and  budget reports. Customer feedback is also useful both in the future to  assess the perceived benefits of changes related to transformation and to  use as a baseline on which to compare future changes. The CFO plans to  establish a baseline of information on customer satisfaction based on our  survey of GPO’s major customers. This includes a planned assessment of  customer satisfaction with services provided, identification of areas for  improvement, implementation of plans to increase the value and efficiency  of services provided, and identification of key performance measures.
section_title: Provide Meaningful Information to Decision Makers
paragraphs: Financial information is meaningful when it is useful, relevant, timely, and  reliable. Therefore, organizations should have the systems and processes  required to produce meaningful financial information needed for  management decisions. Financial organizations should (1) develop systems  that support the partnership between finance and operations,  (2) reengineer processes in conjunction with new technology, and  (3) translate financial data into meaningful information.
Our executive guide for best practices in financial management suggests  that relevant financial information should be presented in an  understandable, simple format, with suitable amounts of detail showing the  financial impact and results of cost-cutting initiatives and transformation  efforts. Leading finance organizations have designed reporting formats  around key business drivers to provide executives and managers with  relevant, forward-looking information on business unit performance. We  believe that such reports can be a key to linking GPO’s financial  management efforts to transformation.
GPO provides financial information to its key decision makers that is  consistent with best practices for reports that are useful and relevant to  key decision makers. The GPO CFO provides monthly summaries for each  of GPO’s key operational areas, including plant operations, customer  service, sales program, salaries and expenses programs, and administrative  support operations, as well as other information on the status of  appropriated funds, billings, and contractors. The information includes  cumulative year-to-date summaries, profit and loss statements, use of  employees and staff levels, and other information specific to each  operational area. The CFO organization is developing plans to provide  financial, administrative, and analytical support to all of GPO in addition to  the monthly information packages provided to the management council.
GPO is also developing plans to replace legacy information systems to  integrate and streamline internal and external ordering as well as inventory  and accounts payable processes. GPO expects to greatly improve the  monthly financial processes with information necessary to make  calculations regarding time spent on performance or cost analysis and on  transaction processing. This information can be useful in gauging office  efficiencies as a result of changes and transformation efforts.
section_title: Build a Team That Delivers Results
paragraphs: The finance function has evolved over the past decade from a paper-driven,  labor-intensive, clerical role to a more consultative role as advisor, analyst,  and business partner. Many leading finance organizations have seen a  corresponding shift in the mix of skills and competencies required to  perform this new role.
GPO has plans and goals that are consistent with best practices for  financial organizations. GPO should ensure that these plans are completed,  fully supported, and expanded, especially in light of the critical function  that finance will play in GPO’s transformation efforts. Specifically, the CFO  is completing input for training plans that include both skill and education  assessments of administrative support staff, budget operations staff, and  staff in the Office of Comptroller. The CFO stated that he is directly  involved in recruiting talented staff for GPO’s financial operations and is  coordinating with the human resource office on developing a career path  and opportunities for rotational assignments for financial-related staff.
While these planned and developed efforts are consistent with best  practices for financial organizations, GPO should keep focused on the need  to ensure that its financial professionals are equipped to meet new  challenges and support their agency’s mission and goals. This requires GPO  to develop a finance team with the right mix of skills and competencies and  to play the role needed in GPO’s transformation efforts.
GPO has taken actions through ongoing efforts and planned goals that are  often consistent with best practices for financial management.  Nevertheless, unless it includes critical financial management activities in  strategic plans for transformation, GPO creates the risk of undermining its  ultimate goal of successful transformation. Without the link to  transformation, GPO may lack the commitment to sustain sound financial  management and lose the benefit of best practices that may be used as  tools to assist decision makers during a period of great change.   emphasize training on the usefulness and understanding of financial  information to nonfinancial managers who are critical to GPO’s business  operations;  ensure that planned GPO and CFO efforts and goals in redefining the  role of finance, providing information to decision makers, and building a  team that delivers results receive the full and consistent support of  GPO’s top management;  ensure that management is receiving the financial information needed to  manage day-to-day operations and track progress against  transformation goals; and  recognize the importance of financial management and reporting in  strategic plans for transformation.
section_title: Concluding Observations
paragraphs: The Public Printer has taken action to transform GPO in response to  changes in the environment for printing and information dissemination.  Change is not optional for GPO—it is required, and it is driven by declines  in GPO’s printing volumes, printing revenues, and document sales. The  panel we convened of printing and information dissemination experts  identified options for GPO’s future that focused on GPO’s role in  information dissemination rather than printing. GPO leadership is using the  panel’s suggestions to inform its strategic plan and set a direction for the  agency’s transformation.
We have noted that setting a clear direction for the future is vital to GPO’s  transformation. GPO’s draft strategic plan is to be completed imminently;  however, its transformation efforts are at a critical juncture, and GPO  leadership will need to take further actions to strengthen and sustain GPO’s  transformation by using the nine key practices that we identified to help  agencies successfully transform. One of these practices, related to ensuring  that top management drives the transformation, has already been fully  applied by GPO’s leadership. Our recommendations, outlined in this report,  will assist GPO with the implementation of the eight practices where GPO’s  efforts are still under way.
GPO leadership has articulated a vision to transform GPO into a world- class organization and has taken some initial steps toward this objective.  GPO is actively implementing our prior recommendations to strengthen  strategic human capital management and has also taken steps toward  improving information technology and information technology  management. GPO could build on this progress by focusing additional  leadership attention on adopting best practices in these areas.
section_title: Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
paragraphs: We provided a draft of this report on June 9, 2004, to the Public Printer for  review and comment. We received written comments from the Public  Printer, which are reprinted in appendix II. The Public Printer agreed with  the content, findings, and recommendations of the draft report.
In his written comments, the Public Printer stated that this report, together  with our October 2003 report on human capital management, will support  many future actions that are necessary to bring about a successful  transformation of GPO. For example, GPO will use our recommendations,  along with the panel’s suggestions, to develop a customer service model  that partners with GPO’s agency customers to meet their publishing needs.  Further, the Public Printer said that he fully agrees with our assessment of  GPO’s human capital environment and will make significant investments in  workforce development in order to train existing employees in the skills  required for 21st century printing and information processing. In addition,  he added that GPO is moving toward becoming a world-class organization  in both financial management and information technology management by  adopting leading business practices.
GPO also provided minor technical clarifications, which we incorporated  as appropriate in this report.
We are sending copies to the Public Printer, as well as the Joint Committee  on Printing, the House Appropriations Legislative Subcommittee, the  Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and the House Committee  on Administration. We will also make copies available to others upon  request. In addition, the report will be available at no charge on GAO’s Web  site at http://www.gao.gov.
If you have any questions about this report, please contact J. Christopher  Mihm or Steven Lozano on (202) 512-6806 or mihmj@gao.gov and  lozanos@gao.gov. Questions concerning the expert panel, the survey of  executive branch agencies, and information technology issues should be  directed to Linda Koontz at (202) 512-6240 or Tonia Johnson at (202) 512- 6447 or koontzl@gao.gov and johnsontl@gao.gov. Questions about GPO’s  financial management should be directed to Jeanette Franzel at (202) 512- 9471 or Jack Hufnagle at (202) 512-9470 or franzelj@gao.gov or  hufnaglej@gao.gov. Other contributors to this report were Barbara Collier,  Benjamin Crawford, William Reinsberg, Amy Rosewarne, and Warren  Smith.
section_title: Scope and Methodology
paragraphs: To help explore the options for the future for the Government Prining  Office (GPO), we contracted with the National Academy of Sciences to  convene a panel of experts to discuss (1) trends in printing, publishing, and  dissemination and (2) the future role of GPO. In working with the National  Academy to develop an agenda for the panel sessions, we consulted with  key officials at GPO, representatives of library associations, including the  Association of Research Libraries and the American Library Association,  and other subject matter experts. The National Academy assembled a panel  of experts on printing and publishing technologies, information  dissemination technologies, the printing industry, and trends in printing  and dissemination. This panel met on December 8 and 9, 2003.
To obtain information on GPO’s printing and dissemination activities— including revenues and costs—we collected and analyzed key documents  and data, including laws and regulations; studies of GPO operations; prior  audits; historical trends for printing volumes and prices; and financial,  budget, and appropriations reports and data. We did not independently  verify GPO’s financial information, but did perform limited tests of the  work performed by external auditors. We also interviewed appropriate  officials from GPO, the Library of Congress, and the Office of Management  and Budget. To determine how GPO collects and disseminates government  information, we collected and analyzed documents and data on the  depository libraries, the cataloging and indexing program, and the  International Exchange Service program. We also interviewed appropriate  officials from GPO.
To determine executive branch agencies’ current reported printing  expenditures, equipment inventories, and preferences, familiarity and level  of satisfaction with services provided by GPO, and current methods for  disseminating information to the public, we developed two surveys of  GPO’s customers in the executive branch. We sent our first survey to  executive agencies that are major users of GPO’s printing programs and  services. It contained questions on the department’s or agency’s   (1) familiarity with these programs and services and (2) level of satisfaction  with the customer service function. These major users, according to GPO,  account for the majority of printing done through GPO. We sent one survey  each to 7 independent agencies and 11 departments that manage printing  centrally. We also sent one survey each to 15 component agencies within 3  departments that manage printing in a decentralized manner. A total of 33  departments and agencies were surveyed. The response rate for the user  survey was 91 percent (30 of 33 departments and agencies).
We sent our second survey to print officers who manage printing services  for departments and agencies. These print officers act as liaisons to GPO  and manage in-house printing operations. This survey contained questions  concerning the department’s or agency’s (1) level of satisfaction with GPO’s  procured printing and information dissemination functions; (2) printing  preferences, equipment inventories, and expenditures; and (3) information  dissemination processes. These agencies include those that were sent the  user survey plus two others that do not use GPO services. We sent this  survey to 11 departments that manage printing centrally, 15 component  agencies within 3 departments that manage printing in a decentralized  manner, and 9 independent agencies. A total of 35 departments and  agencies were surveyed. The response rate for the print officer survey was  83 percent (29 of 35 departments and agencies).
To develop these survey instruments, we researched executive agencies’  printing and dissemination issues with the assistance of GPO’s Customer  Services and Organizational Assistance Offices. We used this research to  develop a series of questions designed to obtain and aggregate the  information that we needed to answer our objectives. After we developed  the questions and created the two survey instruments, we shared them with  GPO officials. We received feedback on the survey questions from a  number of internal GPO organizations including Printing Procurement,  Customer Services, Information Dissemination, and Organizational  Assistance.
We pretested the executive branch surveys with staff at the Department of  Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency. We chose these  agencies because each had a long-term relationship with GPO, experience  with agency printing, and familiarity with governmentwide printing and  dissemination issues. Finally, we reviewed customer lists to determine the  appropriate agencies to receive the executive branch surveys. We did not  independently verify agencies’ responses to the surveys.
To assess GPO’s actions and plans for the transformation, we reviewed  statements by the Public Printer, Superintendent of Documents, and other  senior leaders; analyzed draft performance agreements, employee surveys,  communication plans, and strategic planning documents; GPO policies and  procedures; organizational charts; audited financial statements;  information from GPO’s intranet; communications with employees from  the Employee Communications Office and Public Relations; and other  relevant documentation.
To obtain additional information and perspectives on GPO’s transformation  issues, we interviewed key senior GPO officials, including the Deputy  Public Printer; Chief Operating Officer; Chief of Staff; Deputy Chief of Staff;  Superintendent of Documents; Deputy Superintendent of Documents;  Managing Director of Plant Operations; Managing Director of Customer  Services; the former and Acting Chief Human Capital Officer; Chief  Financial Officer; Chief Information Officer; and Director, Office of  Innovations and New Technology. We also interviewed GPO officials at the  next level of management responsible for information dissemination,  customer service, and human capital. To get employee perspectives, we  spoke with union leaders, attended town hall meetings, and analyzed  results of the employee survey and focus groups held by the Human Capital  Office. In addition, we visited the Pueblo, Colorado, Document Distribution  Center to talk with frontline managers about their views of the  transformation.
We used the practices presented in our report Results Oriented Cultures:  Implementation Steps to Assist Mergers and Organizational  Transformations, GAO-03-669, to guide our analysis of the actions taken by  GPO to transform. We developed the recommended next steps by referring  to our other models, guides, reports, and products on transforming  organizations, strategic human capital management, and best practices for  information technology and financial management, and by identifying  additional practices that were associated with and would further  complement or support current GPO efforts.
We performed our work from March 2003 through June 2004. During this  time we worked cooperatively with GPO leaders, meeting regularly with  them about the progress of their transformation initiatives and providing  them with information that they plan to use to develop GPO’s strategic plan  and strengthen management. Because of this collaborative, cooperative  approach, we determined that our work in response to the mandate could  not be considered an audit subject to generally accepted government  auditing standards. However, in our approach to the work, we followed  appropriate quality control procedures consistent with the generally  accepted standards. For the general management review examining GPO’s  transformational efforts, we did follow generally accepted government  auditing standards.
section_title: Comments from the Government Printing Office
section_title: Executive Agency Satisfaction with GPO Services
paragraphs: Agencies responding to our surveys were generally satisfied with the  Government Printing Office (GPO) and its services. Many agencies rated  certain services favorably:    18 of 19 that use electronic publishing services rated these as average or   16 of 17 that use large-format printing services rated these as average or   16 of 17 that use services to convert products to electronic format rated  these as average or above.
However, a few of the responding agencies suggested areas in which GPO  could improve, as the following examples illustrate:  7 of 23 that use financial management services (such as billings,  payments, and automated transfers) rated these as below average or  poor;  3 of 10 that use Web page design/development rated it as below average   5 of 24 that use the Federal Depository Library Program rated it as  below average or poor.
Table 5 (repeated from the body of the report) summarizes (1) agency  users’ levels of satisfaction with GPO’s services and (2) products and  services that they do not use.
As the table shows, in responding to questions on customer satisfaction,  some agencies indicated that they did not use certain electronic services:  18 of 28 do not use Web hosting and Web page design/development   11 of 28 do not use services to convert products to electronic format,  and  9 of 28 do not use electronic publishing services.
Some responding agencies identified other services that they did not use:  19 of 28 do not use reimbursable storage and distribution services,  15 of 28 do not use archiving and storage services,  12 of 28 do not use custom-finishing services,  10 of 27 do not use large format printing services, and  10 of 28 do not use preflighting services.
In addition, we asked agencies about specific GPO services, which are  reported in the sections that follow.
subsections: section_title: Level of Satisfaction with GPO Term Contracts
paragraphs: Most of the responding agencies’ print officers were generally satisfied  with GPO’s Print Procurement Term Contracts organization—the group  that awards and manages long-term multiple print contracts. All print  officers responding to our survey rated this organization as average or  above in the following areas:  cost of products and services, and  knowledge of products and services.
Among the few less-than-average ratings were  presentation of new products and services—4 of 20 rated GPO’s   timeliness—3 of 23 rated GPO’s performance below average, and  responsiveness to customer needs—2 of 24 rated GPO’s performance  below average.
Table 6 shows the specific responses.
section_title: Level of Satisfaction with GPO Procurement Purchasing
paragraphs: Most of the responding agencies’ print officers also were generally satisfied  with GPO’s Print Procurement Purchasing organization—the organization  that manages one-time print procurements. Among the areas in which the  organization was highly rated were  ability to solve problems—all ratings were average or above,  accessibility by phone—all ratings were average or above, and  communication skills—all ratings were average or above.
Among the few less than average ratings were  presentation of new products and services—4 of 16 rated this below   responsiveness to customer needs—2 of 19 rated this below average,   timeliness—1 of 19 rated this below average.
Table 7 shows the specific responses.
section_title: Level of Satisfaction with GPO Regional Print Procurement
paragraphs: Most of the responding agencies’ print officers were satisfied with GPO’s  regional print procurement organizations, which manage print contracting  for agency organizations outside of Washington, D.C. Among the areas in  which these organizations were favorably rated were  ability to solve problems—all ratings were average or above,  accessibility by phone—all ratings were average or above, and  accuracy of information—all ratings were average or above.
Among the few less-than-average ratings were  presentation of new products and services—2 of 15 rated this below   product and services knowledge—1 of 21 rated this below average.
Table 8 shows the specific responses.
section_title: Level of Satisfaction with GPO Information Dissemination
paragraphs: Most of the responding agencies’ print officers were generally satisfied  with GPO’s information dissemination. Among the areas in which this  function was favorably rated were  courtesy—all rated average or above,  product and/or service knowledge—all rated average or above, and  professionalism—all rated average or above.
Among the few less than average ratings were  presentation of new products and services—3 of 13 rated this below   accessibility by phone—3 of 22 rated this poor.
Table 9 shows the specific responses.
section_title: Level of Satisfaction with GPO Customer Services
paragraphs: Most responding agencies were generally satisfied with the Customer  Services program. Among the areas rated as average or above were  ability to solve problems,  professionalism.
Among the few less than average ratings were  presentation of new products and services—9 of 25 rated below average  or poor,  cost of products and services—4 of 26 rated below average or poor, and  timeliness and responsiveness to customer needs—2 of 28 rated below  average.
Table 10 shows the specific responses.
Most of the responding agencies were generally satisfied with their most  recent experience with this program. Specifically,  27 of 29 were able to reach a customer service representative, and  27 of 29 felt that the customer service representatives were helpful.
Among the few less than positive ratings were  7 of 29 strongly agreed or agreed that additional contact was required to   3 of 28 disagreed that their complaint was resolved in a timely manner,  3 of 29 disagreed that their question was answered in a timely manner.
Table 11 shows the specific responses.
section_title: Panel of Experts
paragraphs: Prudence S. Adler  Associate Executive Director  Federal Relations and Information Policy  Association of Research Libraries Jamie Callan  Associate Professor  School of Computer Science  Carnegie Mellon University Bonnie C. Carroll  President and Founder  Information International Associates, Inc.
Gary Cosimini  Business Development Director  Creative Pro Product Group  Adobe Systems Incorporated John S. Erickson  Principal Scientist  Digital Media Systems Lab  Hewlett-Packard Laboratories Michael Jensen  Director of Web Communications  National Academies Press P. K. Kannan  Associate Professor  Robert H. Smith School of Business  University of Maryland Nick Kemp  Senior Vice President of Operations  Nature Publishing Group William C. Lamparter  President and Principal  PrintCom Consulting Group Craig Nevill-Manning  Senior Staff Research Scientist  Google Inc.
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