Study on Administrative Procedures

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00452R000100060034-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 23, 1998
• Sequence Number: 34
• Publication Date: August 2, 1976
• Content Type: MF

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2 August 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR: ORD Career Service Panel
SUBJECT: Study on Administrative Procedures
In accordance with ORD-0789/76, ORD MAG undertook a
study of administrative procedures and related paperwork in
order to identify areas for potential improvement. The
objectives in this initial study are to determine those
areas which seem to generate the heaviest administrative
burden and those areas where modifications to current
procedures are desirable. The heaviest administrative
burden appears to result from the annual budgeting process.
The Project Review Board was identified as an area where
some modifications to current procedures would be desirable.
The results of the ORD MAG Study of these two areas are
described below.
Annual Budgeting Process:
In evaluating the sources of paperwork within ORD it is
apparent that the greatest single source.of this paperwork
is the annual budgeting process. This process has grown
over the past several years from a relatively controlled
management function to an administrative exercise involving
most ORD employees and all ORD customers. The increasing
amount of paperwork necessary to support this exercise is
evident from a brief review of the reorganized business
planning approach as proposed by the MIACS system (Attachment
.1). This chart depicts a planning process that requires and
consumes a great percentage of ORD resources. That technical
programs are to be initiated, conducted, and evaluated is
almost neglected. Although it is clear that the actual
resources of ORD are not distributed in this manner, such a
document fosters an unhealthy view of the relative importance
of planning and budgeting.
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SUBJECT: Study on Administrative Procedures
During the conduct of this annual process, a large
number of modifications and rewrites are inevitably made to
budget submissions. Some rewrites are to be expected,
especially in cases of substantive technical modifications.
Beyond the technical stage, however, the use of ORD technical
officers in rewriting and modifying administrative submissions,
submission formats, and other nontechnical parameters places
an unduly heavy burden on the operating divisions which are
simultaneously conducting ongoing R&D programs. It seems
reasonable under these circumstances to propose that staff
support during the budget phases be increased and assigned
to these functions. In this way, the operating divisions
can be limited to contributions of a technical nature while
the supporting staff can handle the administrative burden.
An additional aspect of the budgeting process where
increased staff support would be extremely helpful is in the
coordination exercise. Certainly, person-to-person interaction
by technical officers is the essential part of this exercise,
but the documentation and back-and-forth exchange of rankings
and proposals could be handled more efficiently by a single
staff function.
Therefore, with regard to the study of the annual
budgeting process, the main recommendation of ORD MAG is to
provide increased staff support. Support' provided in the
manner described in this memorandum would result in the
objectives of the budgeting process being accomplished more
effectively and efficiently and would provide a desirable
degree of consistency and uniformity.
Project Review Board:
The second aspect of administrative procedures studied
by ORD MAG is the Project Review Board. It has become
apparent that the functional timeliness of the ORD Project
Review Board is somewhat questionable. Although the function
of the PRB is to review projects prior to initiation and to
reevaluate their technical and operational merits, this
review function occurs when it is almost too late to signifi-
cantly impact the proposed effort. Perhaps a subject for
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SUBJECT: Study on Administrative Procedures
future consideration by ORD'MAG and/or management is the
reconstitution of the PRB with particular consideration to
be given to the separation of the technical and the adminis-
trative aspects of this body. Serious thought should be
given to obtaining the valuable contributions of senior ORD
management during the early stages of projects prior to the
initial solicitation stages. The review of overall program
goals and technical plans would certainly be more effective
and have a more significant impact on ORD resources if it
occurred earlier and provided constructive guidance rather
than a narrow approval/disapproval verdict. At the same
time, the administrative review of proposed efforts, occurring
just prior to contract initiation, would be more productive
if restricted to contractual aspects, procedures, source
justifications, and security.
Another area of concern is the minimum effort expended
on the evaluation of many completed research programs.
While it is acceptable and expected that divisions handle
the initiation and conduct of R&D programs, increased emphasis
should be placed on the evaluation of program results at the
conclusion of efforts. This is clearly not the case in many
projects.
During this review ORD MAG generated a proposed PRB
organization for general discussion. While this scheme is
not intended for implementation, it provides a basis for
discussing the possible merits of such a plan (Attachment
2). Two key elements of this plan are the addition of the
technical review panel consisting of ORD technical management
and designated technical experts and the requirement for
proposed milestones and evaluation criteria to be used
during and after the contract effort to evaluate progress
and results. These criteria might be constructively used to
enhance coordination. ORD MAG recommends the addition of
these requirements and the modification of the PRB functions,
which could ultimately lead to enhanced participation by ORD
customers as well as a better definition of project objectives
and technical organization. The objective of such a plan
would be to streamline and minimize the annual coordination
effort by enhancing the ongoing continuous interaction with
customers through the full understanding and participation
of management.
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SUBJECT: Study on Administrative Procedures
Conclusions:
In summary, it appears that the two major contributors
to the current administrative workload are the annual
budgeting process and the annual coordination exercise with
ORD customers. It is the recommendation of ORD MAG that the
distribution of responsibility for these tasks be curtailed
and a single ORD staff be given full responsibility for
these efforts including the actual preparation of the required
documents. The adoption of this recommendation would confine
the workload of technical personnel to problems of a technical
nature and therefore retain the focus of these individuals
on the areas of their greatest expertise.
The second recommendation of the ORD MAG relates to the
Project Review Board as it is currently constituted. It is
recommended that the function of the PRB be reviewed and
that consideration be given to the separation of the technical
and contractual tasks performed by this board. This recommendation
should bring to bear the greatest possible technical talent
to new tasks and assure the understanding and participation
of ORD management in all phases of customer liaison'and
technology transfer.
25X1A9a
Chairman, ORD MAG
Members of ORD MAG:
25X1A9a
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