Meeting the New American Management Challenge in a Federal Agency: Lessons from the General Accounting Office

Are federal agencies prepared to meet the "management challenge"facing America's public sector organizations? Comptroller General Charles Bowsher provides an overview of the role the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) plays in meeting the challenge as a modelfor such efforts. With its focus on human resources, customer service, and high quality productivity, the GAO experience has demonstrated that public sector agencies can live up to high standards in the changing environments theyface now and in the future. N ot since Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber wrote The American Challenge, in which he predicted that American managerial excellence would cause it to dominate and even overwhelm Europe, has there been so much public debate about management in America.