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Changing the way government does business may be a "buzz phrase," but it signifies an important shift occurring in today's state government entities, driven by economic need and many other factors. Such change affects organizational structures, delivery of services, and every process and procedure that occurs within government.
Change is in the air here at DAS: The agency is adopting principles and techniques that have worked well in business and for other government entities.
Like all government agencies, DAS faces reduced funding and ever-greater demand for services. DAS’ Executive Team began seeking ways to deal with customer and stakeholder dissatisfaction in 2009. DAS was also determined to resolve confusion caused by its simultaneous leadership and service-provision roles in state government.
The DAS Executive Team worked with agency customers, DAS employees, and consultants over nine months to:
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Develop mission and vision statements that reflect clarity of purpose
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Adopt a business plan and management system
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Begin moving to an entrepreneurial management model
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Begin using Lean to improve business processes within DAS divisions
Entrepreneurial management is a primary method DAS will use to improve services and provide clarity about its roles. An important part of adopting entrepreneurial management is sorting DAS services and functions into leadership, utility and marketplace categories. Then DAS customers will take agency dollars “into the marketplace,” where they will have more choices about how much of which services they purchase from DAS and whether to purchase some services from vendors on the open market. Customer boards will contribute to decisions (such as pricing) that will affect state agencies that are DAS customers.
DAS created a “Fundamentals Management Map” that outlines the following goals:
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Provide the right service at the right time for the right price
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Deliver effective, high-quality governance and oversight
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Achieve and maintain a skilled, diverse and engaged workforce
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Gain the respect of customer agencies and the people of Oregon
Today, DAS’ Fundamentals Management Map and outcome measures guide its day-to-day work along with a “Breakthrough Strategy Map,” which outlines initiatives to be achieved over the next biennium:
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Establish a simple, fast, and fair procurement system
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Maximize organizational performance through an engaged workforce
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Use the principle of entrepreneurial management to deliver certain services
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Develop a dynamic classification and compensation system
Achieving these goals and creating lasting changes in the way DAS does business will require the best efforts of everyone within the organization as well as support from and collaboration with stakeholders ― and will take several years to implement fully.
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