The Army Conference Policy: Curing the Symptom Instead of the Disease
Abstract
The negative publicity associated with excessive spending on government conferences resulted in sweeping changes to OMB, DoD, and Army conference policies. These changes, as well as the effects of sequestration and continued budget cuts, require the Army to rethink business as usual well beyond conference spending. Through a critique of the top-down method used by senior OMB, DoD, and Army civilians to enforce fiscal prudence for conference expenditures, this paper argues that a more comprehensive strategy is required to change the Army s fiscal culture. An assessment of the inefficiency inherent in all government spending, and the negative tipping point it creates, is presented to highlight the need to change the basic assumptions that adversely affect the Army s fiscal culture. Once indentified, a methodology for changing these assumptions is presented based on the work of noted organizational psychologist Edgar Schein. Specific recommendations include mandatory fiscal training and changes to the officer and senior civilian evaluation system to mandate the inclusion of comments specifically evaluating fiscal prudence.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA590314
Entities
People
- Randolph Swansiger
Organizations
- United States Army War College