Federal Information Resources Management after the Paperwork Reduction Act

Abstract

In 1985, Harlan Cleveland wrote in the Public Administration Review that information is the dominant resource in the United States and perhaps the world.I Cleveland's observation underscores the importance of effectively managing information and related resources such as computers and information systems. Numerous books and articles on their management now populate library and bookstore shelves, generally catalogued under the rubric of information resources management (IRM). IRM, operating in a world of integrated networks where information has strategic importance, reflects major changes in information management during the last three decades.2 Not surprisingly, the federal government has been swept up in the IRM tide. The subject of task force deliberations, explicit legislation, and implementing regulations, information resources have joined money, personnel, and other resources in the net of strong management control. Reporting on the findings of a 1987 study, this article examines IRM in federal executive departments and bureaus following passage of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, the Act that formally introduced and mandated information resources management in the federal government. Among other questions, the study explores (1) how IRM is organized at departmental and bureau levels, including whether IRM is organized differently from other resource management functions; (2) what are the roles and relationships between departmental and bureau IRM units; and (3) what major management changes have resulted from the Paperwork Reduction Act. This research shows that IRM in practice has not penetrated far across departments or down into bureau management as the 1980 legislation intended. Information technology management dominates IRM activities, leaving information management as almost an afterthought.