between two offices: the Office of the Executive Director and the Office

of Program Management.

The former is responsible for PBS-wide

budget, financial, systems, and administrative services activities. The latter performs PBS-wide planning, coordination, management and economic analysis, procurement policy, and EEO activities. It is recommended that the Program Management Office be abolished, and that three of its functions--planning, management analysis, and EEO--be transferred to the Office of the Executive Director. The

Procurement Policy Review Staff should be retained as a staff in the Office of the Commissioner, and the economic analysis functions of the Special Studies Staff should be transferred to the Office of Space Management. Eleven positions would be eliminated through these functional transfers with an estimated annual salary reduction of approximately $238, 000.

Program administrative support units.

Like the Federal Supply Service, each Assistant Commissioner in PBS has an organizational unit (or units) that exists primarily to provide centralized support, coordination, and control over the administrative activities of that office. However, unlike those in the Federal Supply Service, these units do not have a standard organizational title, and

their structure and organizational placement vary considerably among the

various PBS offices. Also, unlike FSS, some of these units have established (or are currently in the process of establishing) regional counterparts. Some of the PBS support units have been assigned a key role in accomplishing the program management functions of the office. However, to the degree that PBS administrative units are engaged in basic administrative support functions, their functions should be limited to control and coordination only.

Transfer of responsibility for initiation of administrative documents to the respective program divisions would allow for a reduction of a total of 8 positions in the support units due to reduced workload. This reduction represents an estimated annual salary savings of $95,000. Two branches in the Office of Construction Management which are both involved in budget and financial activities can be merged, accomplishing a net reduction of two positions and an estimated savings of $35,000. There was evidence of functional overlap between the responsibilities of these two units and other organizational units in the Office of Construction Management, which indicates a need for a study of the entire program direction staff in that office.

9. The Coordination and Support Branch, Administrative Management Division, should not be staffed until a Division Director has been

selected and procedures governing administrative management in PBS

have been defined. These procedures should clearly delineate the

responsibilities of the Administrative Management Division and those

of the PBS program offices.

The Division was established in April 1977. Due to classification issues, a full-time Division Director has not been selected. Presently, a special assistant to the Executive Director is serving as Acting Division Director. This situation has inhibited development of a precise definition of the responsibilities of the Division versus those of the PBS program offices. At present, there appears to be a duplication of effort between these units. Accordingly, it would be unwise to staff the Coordination and Support Branch until these responsibilities are clarified.

10. Abolish The Office of Program Management and reassign its functions

a. Transfer the EEO Staff, with its functions and resources, to

the Office of the Executive Director and establish it on a level with the

other divisions in the Office.

The EEO Staff was once a part of the Office of the Executive Director,
and functioned effectively as such.
Therefore, this transfer should not

affect its activities. The EEO function is placed in the Office of the

Executive Director in all the other GSA services. Implementation of

the above recommendation would make the EEO organization more

consistent GSA-wide.

b. Establish the Procurement Policy Review Staff as a staff in

the Office of the Commissioner.

The Procurement Policy Review Staff is program oriented (recommends policies, practices, and procedures covering PBS-wide procurement activities). Its activities do not relate to the administrative functions of the Office of the Executive Director; nor do they relate to those of any one PBS program office. The team concluded that the staff would be most appropriately placed in the Office of the Commissioner, where it can function in a policy and program evaluation capacity.

c.

Abolish the Planning Staff. Transfer the planning function, staffing, and related resources to the Financial Management Division, Office of the Executive Director and establish a Planning Branch. Collocation of the planning function with the financial management activities will facilitate coordination of the planning and budgeting processes. The plan should be developed so as to expand upon and compliment the planning data already available through the zero-based budgeting process.

d. Abolish the Management Review Staff. Transfer its functions, staffing (except for three positions) and related resources to the Policy

and Programs Division, Office of the Executive Director. Establish a

Management Review Branch and retitle the division the Policy and

Analysis Division.

The Management Review Staff was once a part of the Office of the Executive Director. Reassignment of its functions and staff to that office will facilitate the balancing of workloads and improve the effectiveness of the program, management, and operations analysis activities within the Office. A reduction in clerical support personnel (3 positions) is also recommended because the current staff ratio of position

1 clerical to every 2 professionals is excessive. A ratio of 1:5 would

result from implementation of the recommendation.

Clerical support

for one-time or special projects could be obtained from the other two

branches within the Division.

e.

Abolish the Special Studies Staff and transfer all functions (and resources) except the special studies function to the Planning Division, Office of Space Management. The special studies function is part of the ongoing responsibilities of the Management Review Staff and should not be duplicated elsewhere.

Placement of the Special Studies Staff in the Planning Division, Office of Space Management, will provide the division with economic analysis and computer capability now available in the Special Studies Staff. This will facilitate performance of the Planning Division's economic analysis functions under OMB Circular A-104 ("Comparative Cost Analysis for Decisions to Lease or Purchase General Purpose Real