The Department of Commerce Process for
Strategic Planning and Performance Reporting

Management Strategic Framework, Performance Planning, and Reporting at a Glance

Performance Management Process An overall performance management process ensures that performance feedback, accountability, performance results, corrective action, and performance planning occur.

The Department’s Strategic Plan provides a comprehensive vision for fostering the conditions that create jobs; increasing the productivity of the U.S. economy; encouraging the economic growth that benefits all U.S. industries, workers, and consumers; enhancing technological leadership and environmental stewardship; and supporting market growth strategies. The plan puts forth broad objectives, targets specific outcomes, and identifies key challenges. The Department is currently in the process of updating its strategic plan for FY 2007 - FY 2012. The FY 2004 - FY 2009 strategic plan can be found at: http://www.osec.doc.gov/bmi/budget/DOCSTPLAN.htm.

Bureau Annual Performance Plans (APP) provide the Department’s bureau-specific performance goals and measures that align with the Department’s strategic goals and objectives. These performance goals are linked with the resource requirements for the past, current, and upcoming fiscal years. Each plan is integrated with the President’s budget submission to Congress, at the bureau level. Bureau FY 2007 APPs can be found at: http://www.osec.doc.gov/bmi/budget/.

This Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) provides a public accounting of the Department’s FY 2006 performance results and completes the Department’s performance management process. The Web address of the FY 2006 PAR is: http://www.osec.doc.gov/bmi/budget/.

The appendices of the FY 2006 PAR provide details of the Department’s performance and explanatory materials supporting the program results. The Department’s goal structure has three levels. Strategic goals describe outcomes that emerge from the Department’s mission. Each of these goals in turn has outcome goals or objectives that define the results that the bureaus aim to achieve. These are long-term objectives that often involve more than one Department bureau. Within each strategic objective are performance goals tied to specific bureaus that support each outcome goal and provide program-level clarity of purpose. Each has associated indicators and targets to measure the Department’s impact on a continuous basis.

How the Department Selects Its Performance Goals and Measures

Performance goals articulated in the introductory material for each goal in the APP are aimed at achieving one or more strategic outcomes, and convey a sense of how the Department creates value for the U.S. public. Performance measures depict tangible progress by Department program activities toward these goals. The Department has tailored performance measures to be more outcome-oriented (described in the next section). When considered along with external factors and information provided in program evaluations, these measurements give valuable insight into the performance of Department programs, and are meant to broadly illustrate how the Department adds value to the U.S. economy. The FY 2006 PAR depicts a top-level, integrated system for managing for results within the Department, and is not an exhaustive treatment of all Department programs and activities. This report must also be read with each Department bureau’s own performance results to gain a comprehensive picture of the Department’s accomplishments in FY 2006. More in-depth performance results for FY 2006 and prior years are available in Appendix A, and other information about the bureaus can be found on individual bureau Web sites. The directory of Web sites is located on the back cover of this report and provides a good foundation for researching additional information.

Performance Validation and Verification

The Department uses a broad range of performance goals and measures to make reporting useful and reliable. It is imperative to demonstrate that performance measures are backed by accurate and reliable data; valid data are important to support management decisions on a day-to-day basis. The data and the means to validate and verify the measures are also diverse. A general discussion of the Department’s process follows. The APPs of each bureau provide the data validation and verification tables for each measure and describe how the data are validated and verified.

Currently, the Department reviews its performance validation and verification processes to ensure that the performance data are accurate. The Department maintains a quarterly monitoring process that reviews performance measurement data as well as the measures themselves. This process includes selecting specific performance measures for review each quarter, requiring that the bureaus provide all the data used for determining these measures, reviewing the measures for validity, and then developing recommendations for improving the measures.

Performance Controls and Procedures

Performance Data: The Department’s performance measurement data are collected by its 13 bureaus, each with systems to manage their data validation and verification processes. Some of these are automated systems and others are manual processes. Data can be divided into three types: Financial Data, Data Management Methods, and Data from Manual Processes. As of September 30, 2006, Department staff had reviewed 31 measures as described above. Some examples include: jobs created or retained (Economic Development Administration [EDA]), lead time of tornado warnings (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA]), and trademark applications filed electronically (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office [USPTO]).

Financial Data: As stated above, the Department has a high degree of confidence in its financial data. Normal audit and other financial management controls maintain the integrity of these data elements. During FY 2006 Consolidated Financial Statement audit, tests and review of the core accounting system and internal controls were conducted as required by the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act. Further, the Department conducted its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, which includes safeguarding of assets and compliance with applicable laws and regulations, in accordance with the requirements of Appendix A of OMB Circular A-123, and based on the results of this evaluation, the Department provided reasonable assurance that its internal control over financial reporting was operating effectively.

Performance Reviews: The Department also conducts quarterly performance reviews. During these reviews, bureau heads report to the Deputy Secretary on the current status of bureau performance, including PART results and efforts on the President’s Management Agenda. They also report on the status of measures that will appear at the end of the year in this report.

Future Enhancements to Financial and Performance Information

The Department is continuously making improvements in its financial and performance data, particularly in integrating the information. As demonstrated by its efforts in improving internal processes, the Department is building on its existing Commerce Business System (CBS) to bring these two data sets together.