Creating High-Performance Government Organizations: A Practical Guide for Public Managers.

• Author: Gaskins, Greg C.
• Position: Review

Popovich, Mark G., editor

San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass Publishers. (179 pp)

Reviewed by Greg C. Gaskins, Deputy Finance Director, City of Charlotte, North Carolina.

This book is a product of the Alliance for Redesigning Government of the National Academy of Public Administration. Its authors hoped that it would serve as a guide for those in the public sector seeking to improve performance by using ideas such as customer focusing, flattening hierarchies, and employee empowerment. The editors felt that a book like this was needed as these management concepts became more accepted in the mainstream of public administration.

The book is divided into three sections. The first section defines high-performance government organizations and provides a description of the context in which these organizations exist. There are some good insights offered on the political implications of change. The second section deals with the steps necessary to shift to the high performance organization. There are practical examples of the various steps that illustrate the changes needed to achieve high performance. There are chapters on preparing for change, creating the mission statement, assessing the organization, and designing the plan for change. The third section discusses some of the changes in central management systems necessary to achieve high performance. This section deals specifically with budgeting, human resources, and procurement systems.

As a government employee who has been facing a changing environment and new...