The Development and Implementation of an Operational Planning System

Abstract

The management problems of government enterprises are often obscured by a concern with budgets, budget planning, and the allocation of fiscal resources. Those are important concerns, but they must be linked and related to the planned allocation of time and talent. The New Jersey State Department of Education has designed an operational planning system that incorporates some of the features of both program budgeting and management by objectives (MBO). The primary focus of this system is planning and monitoring through a structure of “program centers. ”Through this system we have initiated an effort to link fiscal accountability to the planned activities and objectives of the professional staff. The process allows for the more precise identification of governmental “product” and provides for some control over productivity through attention focused on objectives and activities at a middle management level.

This paper could not have been possible without the cooperation and substantial imput of our friends and colleagues, Peter Hahn and Lloyd Fredericks. They have provided much of the design work associated with the current phase of the operational plan. Their work follows the earlier work of Bill Cozzens, Bob Hanson, and Ed Jackowski. We also appreciate the motivation and enthusiasm of the operational plan coordinators of the different divisions of the State Department of New Jersey. The support of the deputy commissioner, Ralph H. Lataille, has been critical to the success of this system. His determination to introduce rationality into the system has been the principal nuturing factor behind the implementation of the plan. Commissioner Fred G. Burke has of course been the ultimate contributor to the success of the planning system. His ability to impart “clarity” to the “complexity” of planning is truly outstanding.