|
The report was mandated by the House Appropriations
Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies, which is chaired
by Representative Ralph Regula. The Holocaust Museum asked
an Academy panel, chaired by Fellow Sheldon S. Cohen, to conduct
a study of the Museum's overall governance and management.
The report is in part an effort to help the six-year old Museum,
a federal institution up for reauthorization, to step back,
reevaluate its progress, and focus on its future.
According to the report, effective governance
of the Museum is stifled by "excessive involvement of
the Council, particularly the chair and the Executive and
other Committees, in the day-to-day operations of the Museum,"
a tendency by the chair to act unilaterally, and an often
inefficient and ineffective committee structure. The Council
has not provided guidance on some "critical policy issues,"
such as the definition of what it means to be a national museum,
the impact of the eventual passing of all Holocaust survivors,
and a vision for the next five years. While such issues go
unaddressed, the panel points out, some council members, the
chair, and committees have encroached on the roles and responsibilities
of the Museum director and senior management in areas such
as the hiring and firing of staff and the Museum's organizational
structure.
The panel recommends strengthening the governance
function of the Council by changing the enabling legislation
to formally establish the Museum as the institution with primary
responsibility for museum operations, establish the Council
as the Board of Directors of the Museum, and make the Museum
director the chief executive officer of the Museum. Such a
distinction will help clear the blurred line between governance
and management for the Council and Museum staff. In addition,
the panel recommends that the executive committee put in place
a system for monitoring the performance of the Council.
The report describes internal management
problems at the Museum, such as a lack of cohesion across
the different elements of the museum and a wide gulf between
programs and administration. "The climate at the museum
seems to foster pride, strength, and energy on the one hand,"
the report states, " and to discourage teamwork and input
on the other." One significant way to address this problem,
according to the panel, is for the director and senior management
to promote the vision statement widely and work to align staff
behind it.
The report goes on to state that "The
director and senior management need to create an environment
in which the Museum operates at a level consistent with its
resources and that achieves a proper balance between programs
and administration, promotes collaboration, improves cost
efficiency, and fosters self-assessment and accountability."
The panel encourages the director and senior
management, with input from staff, to develop a strategic
plan that sets out broad priorities, goals, and strategies.
Such an initiative can help to create a renewed sense of ownership
and commitment among staff. Senior management can further
strengthen its relations with staff by "engaging them
in the planning of operations and mix of activities that best
carries out the Museum's mission and that is consistent with
the Museum's reources."
The challenges the Museum faces, according
to the report, "are for the most part typical of those
that young, complex organizations face, but heightened in
the Museum's case, by the subject it treats and the political
and emotional environment in which it operates."
The panel also notes that new director,
Sara J. Bloomfield, has already identified many of the problems
described in the report and is taking steps to address them.
The National Academy of Public Administration
is an independent, nonprofit organization chartered by Congress
to improve governance at all levels-local, regional, state,
national, and international. The Academy's membership consists
of 480 Fellows with distinguished careers in public management
as practitioners, scholars, and civic leaders. Since its establishment
in 1967, the Academy has assisted hundreds of federal agencies,
congressional committees, state and local governments, civic
organizations, and institutions overseas.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum:
A Study of Governance and Management, Order # 99-10, is
published by the National Academy of Public Administration.
Copies may be purchased for $15.00 plus shipping by calling
NAPA Publications at 301-617-7801. The media may obtain complimentary
copies by contacting the Academy's Office of Communications.
|
