Focusing on Fundamentals: GAO's General Management Reviews

This article, which appeared in the GAO Journal, No. 3, Fall 1988, discusses GAO general management reviews (GMR), which are GAO-initiated reviews of overall agency management. The three major goals of GMR are to: (1) impress upon the leaders of executive branch agencies the importance of improving their management practices; (2) help Congress oversee federal operations; and (3) improve GAO audits and evaluations. There are two types of GMR: (1) line agency reviews, which examine the management practices of individual agencies; and (2) central management agency reviews, which examine the performance of the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel Management, and the General Services Administration. GAO believes that the cooperation and support of agency heads are necessary for GMR to be effective in providing a long-term framework for improving agency operations.