Introduction to Functional Review Saltanat Liebert Ph D

Introduction to Functional Review Saltanat Liebert, Ph. D. Associate Professor of Public Administration Virginia Commonwealth University, USA

Presentation outline • • What is functional review? Objectives of functional review Types of functional review Practical tools

What is functional review? • Typically evaluates existing expenditure programs along two dimensions: efficiency and effectiveness • Change management tool used to strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization • Functional reviews should be seen as an iterative, continuous process

Objectives of Functional Review • Identify opportunities for reduction of public expenditures • Reduce the size and scope of government • Increase efficiency of public agencies • Increase effectiveness of government

Focus of Functional Review • Can focus on policy or organizations • Policy focus: – Can pinpoint particular programs or examine all government programs • Organization focus: – identify individual agencies or work units that are to be restructured for efficiency reasons Or – broad approach: review all government agencies

Types of Functional Review • ‘Pure’ efficiency review – – – • focus on how organizations are structured and managed includes business process changes/re-engineering no review of policies that these organizations implement focus on reducing costs or improving service quality Objective: To generate the same outputs at greater efficiency through organizational and business process reengineering ‘Pure' effectiveness review of policies and programs – focus on government policy and programs – assumes that some low-priority programs and/or agencies can be abolished – no review of the organizational set-up • Mixed (hybrid) functional reviews examine both efficiency and effectiveness of organizations, usually to a limited extent (incremental v. comprehensive)

Types of Functional Review (cont’d) Mixed (hybrid) functional reviews: • Upstream program and efficiency reviews: – comprehensive policy reforms – switch from low to high priority programs – restructuring of government-wide processes • Intermediate functional and agency review – focus on reshaping some programs, eliminating some programs – restructure some entire agencies but without large scale changes to the machinery of government – elimination of duplication; consolidation of services • Downstream organizational review and business process re-engineering – Objectives: To drop or change specific activities or services, and in some cases the detailed restructuring of a few specific agencies

Practical tools • Logic model (for program/effectiveness reviews) – Ties organizational mission to inputs, outputs, and outcomes • Process mapping (for efficiency reviews) – Visual representation of administrative processes to improve efficiency and customer experiences – Leads to business process re-engineering

Thank you! • Questions? Comments? • Saltanat Liebert, Ph. D. , sliebert@vcu. edu