[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 48 (Friday, March 11, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13353-13354]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-5563]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

[Docket No. 110228173-1173-01]
RIN 0605-XA34


Department of Commerce FY 2011-2016 Strategic Plan

AGENCY: Department of Commerce.

ACTION:  Request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Department) is updating its 
current FY 2007-2012 Strategic Plan. As part of this process, the 
Department is inviting comments on its draft FY 2011-2016 Strategic 
Plan to comply with the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 
(GPRA), as well as the recently enacted GPRA Modernization Act.

DATES: Public comments on the draft Strategic Plan must be entered 
through the Federal eRulemaking Portal or received at the appropriate 
mailing or e-mail address (see addresses) no later than April 11, 2011.

ADDRESSES:  Please submit comments through the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Attachments to electronic 
comments may be submitted in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF 
formats. Commenters who do not have access to the Internet may mail 
comments to Mr. Stephen Shapiro, Office of the Deputy Secretary, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Room 5312, 
Washington, DC 20230. While on-line submission is preferred, comments 
may also be submitted via e-mail to [email protected]. Comments that are 
mailed or e-mailed also become part of the public record and will 
generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov/ with all identifying 
information (name, address, affiliation) that is voluntarily submitted. 
Anonymous comments may be submitted on-line by entering ``N/A'' in 
identification fields. Please do not submit proprietary or other 
sensitive information you do not want made public.
    The Department's current and draft Strategic Plans are posted at 
http://www.osec.doc.gov/bmi/budget/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Stephen Shapiro, phone 202-482-
3700, fax 202-482-2903, e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Government Performance and Results 
Act of 1993 (GPRA), as well as the recently enacted GPRA Modernization 
Act, each Federal agency must develop a strategic plan describing the 
agency's mission and strategic goals, and the means and strategies that 
will be used to achieve them. The plan must describe the relationship 
between annual performance goals and the agency's strategic goal 
framework. Annual performance plans for implementing the strategic plan 
are documented as elements of the Department's budget justifications. A 
key part of the statutory

[[Page 13354]]

process for developing or updating a strategic plan includes 
consultation with Congress and other interested and potentially 
affected parties.
    The structure of the draft strategic plan has changed from that of 
the previous plan, and incorporates the structure of the Department's 
new balanced scorecard. A balanced scorecard ``balances'' or equally 
emphasizes programmatic and management objectives, and contains 
measures that are tracked by senior leaders to support their day-to-day 
management activities. During the spring of 2010, Secretary Locke 
engaged with a broad cross-section of the Department's senior 
leadership to develop a balanced scorecard to deploy and execute this 
Strategic Plan. The Secretary directed a balanced scorecard approach to 
establish and maintain focus on the Department's top priorities, to 
institutionalize quarterly data-driven reviews with heads of operating 
units to monitor and ensure attainment of these priorities, and to 
emphasize that Customer Service, Organizational Excellence, and 
Workforce Excellence are prerequisites to the short and long-term 
achievement of the Department's programmatic goals.
    The balanced scorecard approach monitors the Department's internal 
management processes and focuses its operating programs on priorities. 
This approach recognizes that follow-up and follow-through are critical 
to both the short and long-term success and sustainability of high-
performing programs.
    The Department's balanced scorecard and Strategic Plan are 
structured around three programmatic themes (Economic Growth, Science 
and Information, and Environmental Stewardship) and three management 
themes (Customer Service, Organizational Excellence, and Workforce 
Excellence). The Economic Growth theme is further subdivided into three 
goals (Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Market Development and 
Commercialization, and Trade Promotion and Compliance).
    These themes and goals are further subdivided into 27 strategic 
objectives, which frame all of the Department's programs and supporting 
activities. Each objective narrative addresses the Department's 
strategies to achieve the objective, key challenges, external factors, 
contributing programs, and program evaluations. Narratives for the 18 
programmatic objectives also include performance measures (i.e., GPRA 
measures) for tracking attainment.
    The Department's Strategic Plan is implemented on an annual basis 
through the Annual Performance Plan for each operating unit. Results 
are published in the Department's annual Performance and Accountability 
Report. Copies of the Department's Annual Performance Plans and 
Performance and Accountability Reports are posted at http://www.osec.doc.gov/bmi/budget/.

    Dated: March 4, 2011.
Scott Quehl,
Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for Administration.
[FR Doc. 2011-5563 Filed 3-10-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-GA-P