84. Editorial Note
In August 1966 the Office of Deputy Under Secretary of State for Administration Crockett issued A Management Program for the Department of State consisting of 29 pages of text and a 75-page appendix. The introduction noted that there had been “a number of actions taken during the past five years to improve management of the Department of State and the leadership position of the Department in the foreign affairs community.” The purpose of A Management Program was to review “what has been done, what has been started, and what is planned for the remainder of this fiscal year in the general area of ‘management improvement.’” National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964–66, ORG 10)
Part I of the text, “Leadership in Foreign Affairs,” discussed the leadership roles of the Ambassador, the Department of State, and the Country Director, the role of positive administration and the administrative officer, the development of managers as leaders, national policy papers, and the foreign affairs programming system. Part II, “Department-wide Management Improvement,” sketched 16 projects and programs instituted to improve management in the Department as a whole, such as Action for Organization Development (ACORD), a long-range organizational development program designed to increase managerial effectiveness and improve interpersonal relationships by [Page 181] applying the knowledge of the behavioral sciences to the workings of a complex organization. Part III, “O Area Improvements,” focused on seven projects and programs primarily affecting the Office of the Under Secretary for Administration. The appendix included key documents, a discussion of “Management by Objectives and Programs,” an index of State Department studies in the administrative area, and other material. In September 1966 the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary for Administration issued a very slightly revised version of A Management Program for the Department of State. (Kennedy Library, Crockett Papers, MS 75–28, Box 31)