NBC & the President's Management Agenda
Budget and Performance Integration

The National Business Center (NBC) is different from the DOI bureaus and other federal agencies in how it is funded: we do not receive an appropriation every year. NBC operates like a business, and relies completely on the revenue from our customers to support the cost of operation. Like any other large business, to remain competitive, we have to strive for continuous improvement in our work processes and in the products and services that we offer.

This Administration is helping us down the path of continuous improvement through the President's Management Reform Initiatives, one of which deals with budget and performance integration. In other words, we have to make a direct link between the amount and quality of services we provide and the cost of providing those services to our customers.

The Department has embraced the concept of Activity Based Costing as a means to link the budget/costs to our performance. ABC is a process by which all costs of providing a product or service are captured and assigned by activity. ABC benefits the NBC by providing improved cost data to ensure that we are fully recovering our costs through the prices we charge. This data will help managers analyze their work processes and pricing methodology and adjust them in order to be more efficient and effective. This information will also be used to keep our prices competitive both with other government organizations and the private sector.

The NBC operates under the Secretary's management vision of 1) adding value to our customers; 2) ensuring fiscal accountability; 3) enhancing technology to work smarter; and 4) evaluating business practices to eliminate duplication and achieve economies. Each NBC business line manager will develop performance goals that support the Secretary's vision, identify performance measures and indicators that tie to their goals, and track and report on the results. This information along with activity based costing will provide our managers with the tools to analyze and improve their operation. The NBC will document this information through an annual business plan that outlines our strategic goals and initiatives, linking performance goals and measures to financial and human resources, and summarizes the effectiveness of our performance and actions for improvement.

Chris Richey, NBC Budget Officer