representatives in government and private industry. Bock took
pains to include union representation at every stage of the STEP
planning process, building on the substantial trust he already
enjoyed with labor leaders. He recalls asking a veteran
representative of the government-employee union, "Trust me on this
one, at least for six months."
One result of
these consultations was that STEP's name was changed even before
the program went public. Thus Strive for Efficiency and
Productivity became Strive for Excellence in Performance after Hale
was informed that "productivity" was viewed by some national union
leaders as a buzzword for "taking it out of the hide of employees."
She and Bock also abandoned a privatization project out of
deference to the unions, though they did retain some of the spirit
of privatization in their later emphasis on "marketplace
dynamics."
How do the
ideas that were the inspiration for STEP, some of them borrowed
from the literature on private management, translate to the public
sector? It is clear that unless department store buyers are close
to their customers they are unable to match merchandise to their
customers' tastes and pocketbooks. But how does a bureaucrat
develop this kind of insight?
A STEP
PROJECT–USING MARKETING TO IMPROVE THE PARKS
The
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was one of the first state
agencies to use STEP principles in organizing its response to a
problem. In 1985 the Parks and Recreation Division recognized that
it was losing customers. Overall attendance was dropping, and parks
at a distance from metropolitan areas were underused. Yet entrance
fees provided a third of the division's budget. The balance came
from appropriations, which had taken a five-year slide. Clearly, a
marketing approach was needed. A marketing presentation at an
annual conference for park managers helped highlight that need, and
it coincided with the first call for STEP proposals by the
governor's office. The DNR proposed to develop a strategy that
would help match the outdoor recreation people wanted with the park
system's natural resources.
Once they
overcame institutional resistance to what was initially perceived
as self-promotion, park managers turned to a tested marketing tool,
the survey. Survey findings helped in planning the location of new
trails; they also revealed that most park visitors approved of
sufficient infringement on the wilderness to permit installation of
electric hookups for camp vehicles and play equipment. Then the
division yielded to the public's preference for plastic over cash
and started accepting payment of fees with credit cards. In 1987 a
partnership with owners of a gift shop at the Minneapolis-St. Paul
Airport increased park sales of gifts by 50 percent.