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¦a* **	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	2005-P-00006
|	\	Office of Inspector General	February 17,2005
"	At a Glance
Catalyst for Improving the Environment
Why We Did This Audit
This audit was conducted to
determine whether EPA's
Office of Acquisition
Management (OAM) had the
seven fundamental components
of a high-performing
organization:
•	Leadership
•	Strategic Planning
•	Customer Focus
•	Information and Analysis
•	Human Capital
•	Process Management
•	Performance Results
Background
High performing organizations
are those that have the
necessary systems and
processes in place for achieving
their missions. In 2002, the
EPA Office of Inspector
General published its
"Assessing Organizational
Systems: A User's Guide."
This document is intended in
part to assist Agency managers
in determining whether EPA
has the components necessary
for mission accomplishment.
For further information, contact
our Office of Congressional and
Public Liaison at (202) 566-2391.
To view the full report,
click on the following link:
www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2005/
20050217-2005-P-00006.pdf
Office of Acquisition Management
Can Strengthen its Organizationai Systems
What We Found
OAM's management systems include various components necessary for
organizational success. We found that OAM:
•	Communicates its vision, values, and strategic goals to employees and
customers.
•	Focuses on its customers" needs.
•	Emphasizes the development of its workforce.
While OAM has taken those positive steps to achieve its vision and goals,
opportunities for strengthening systems exist:
•	OAM leadership created its vision and goals without taking all the actions
necessary to accomplish its vision. OAM should establish measures to
determine whether the vision and goals were accomplished.
•	OAM needs to complete work load and work force analyses to identify full-time
equivalent and skill gaps.
•	The information in OAM's Integrated Contracts Management System can
measure the timeliness, but not the quality and cost, of its services, and
improvements in this area should be pursued.
•	OAM does not have data to measure its progress toward achieving its vision of
being the preferred business partner for all EPA contracts. It cannot determine
the percentage of EPA contracts handled by OAM. Further, OAM does not
obtain sufficient feedback on the extent contracts contributed to Agency
environmental and performance goals.
What We Recommend
We recommend that the Director, OAM, develop an action plan with milestones
for establishing measures and means of measuring progress against its goals,
complete a workload and workforce analysis, and capture data needed to analyze
short- and long-term performance in achieving its vision and goals.
The Agency generally agreed with the recommendations and indicated that certain
corrective actions would have to be taken over the long term.

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