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Department of Homeland Security: A Comprehensive and Sustained Approach Needed to Achieve Management Integration

GAO-05-139 Published: Mar 16, 2005. Publicly Released: Apr 13, 2005.
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Highlights

The creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) represents one of the largest reorganizations of government agencies and operations in recent history. Significant management challenges exist for DHS as it merges the multiple management systems and processes from its 22 originating agencies in functional areas such as human capital and information technology. GAO was asked to identify opportunities for DHS to improve its management integration.

Recommendations

Matter for Congressional Consideration

Matter Status Comments

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Management Directorate In order to build the management infrastructure needed to help support the department's integration and transformation, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Under Secretary for Management, working with others, to develop an overarching management integration strategy for the department. Such a strategy would, among other things, (1) look across the initiatives within each of the management functional units; (2) clearly identify the critical links that must occur among these initiatives; (3) identify tradeoffs and set priorities; (4) set implementation goals and a time line to monitor the progress of these initiatives to ensure the necessary links occur when needed; and (5) identify potential efficiencies, and ensure that they are achieved. The department should also use this strategy to clearly communicate a consistent set of goals and the progress achieved internally to all its employees, and externally to key stakeholders, such as the Congress.
Closed – Implemented
In January 2011, DHS provided us with its Integrated Strategy for High Risk Management, which provides an overview of DHS's plans to address the high-risk designation, including management integration by, for example, enhancing acquisition management efforts across the department. DHS updated this strategy in June 2011, December 2011, and June 2012. In the most recent version, DHS addressed the five criteria GAO recommended for an overarching strategy. (1) To look across the initiatives within each of the management functional units, DHS has established 18 initiatives, with at least two in each functional unit, including financial management, human capital management, information technology, procurement management, and acquisition program management. (2) To clearly identify critical links that must occur among these initiatives, DHS created a new chapter on Transformational Initiatives, which DHS identified as cross-cutting, multi-dimensional and whose duration will likely span multiple years. According to DHS, these initiatives provide a framework for managing investments across DHS, strengthen integration and ensure that mission needs drive investment decisions,a central tenet of DHS's integration strategy. (3) To identify tradeoffs and set priorities, DHS has identified 173 ongoing corrective actions, and is changing corrective actions to meet current priorities by eliminating, modifying, or adding corrective actions when necessary. (4) To set implementation goals and a time line to monitor the progress of these initiatives, the June 2012 Strategy establishes corrective action plans for all 18 initiatives. These corrective action plans outline the goals for each initiative, describe how they will be accomplished, and generally establish near term timeframes. (5) Finally, to identify potential efficiencies, and ensure that they are achieved, DHS has through its Efficiency Review and component initiatives, identified more than $1 billion in cost avoidances and implemented 30 efficiency initiatives across the agency.
Management Directorate In order to build the management infrastructure needed to help support the department's integration and transformation, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Under Secretary for Management, working with others, to designate the planned BTO within DHS's Management Directorate as the dedicated implementation team for the department's management integration and provide it with the requisite authority and responsibility to help set priorities and make strategic decisions to drive the integration across all functions. The BTO would also be responsible for helping to develop and implement the overarching management integration strategy.
Closed – Not Implemented
DHS has stated that the Under Secretary for Management has authority in the Homeland Security Act of 2002 for transition and reorganization processes throughout the Department of Homeland Security. A DHS official told us that the Business Transformation Office was eliminated, which was the dedicated team put in place to manage management integration agencywide. In the USM's former Chief of Staff, May 2, 2008 e-mail to GAO, he stated that "It was determined in the legislation for FY 2007 that while the integration that BTO sought to provide was valued, such integration could be coordinated directly out of the Immediate Office of the USM and therefore an independent office was not needed. Although DHS requested $2.012M for FY 07, zero dollars was appropriated. Presently and for the foreseeable future, the Immediate Office of the Under Secretary for Management dedicates resources and supports management integration efforts across the Department through the management of the Integrated Strategy for High Risk Management, the DHS Management Council, and the Internal Controls Program Management Office.

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Topics

Homeland Security
Federal agenciesFederal agency reorganizationHomeland securityPersonnel managementProductivity in governmentStrategic planningSystems managementOrganizational changeHuman resources managementFinancial management