Summary: One of the objectives of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in establishing a standard federal region policy is to improve management and economies of personnel which could result in savings among federal departments.
OMB has not stressed management improvements among departments and agencies, and standardizing regional boundaries has been limited to a few agencies with little effect on management and use of personnel and facilities. Action has not been taken on opportunities offered by standardization for consolidating support service facilities and reducing personnel. The coordinating groups, Federal Executive Boards and Federal Regional Councils, have promoted some common service operations, but their proposals for management improvement must be approved by OMB and the affected agencies. The General Services Administration (GSA) has authority to develop and provide common services, but agencies seem reluctant to participate in programs in which they would relinquish some control. Neither OMB nor GSA has pressed agencies to develop common service programs.
