KOSEN 한인과학기술자네트워크

SBA's reported progress in achieving its outcomes is mixed. However, we had difficulty assessing SBA's progress due to weaknesses in its performance measures and data. We were unable to assess SBA's strategies for achieving its outcomes because SBA's plan and report either lack an explanation about how the strategies relate to the outcomes or a discussion regarding strategies for the outcome. Specifically, we determined the following: - Planned outcome: Assit small businesses to become self-reliant and successful in the competitive marketplace. SBA's success in achieving this outcome is mixed. SBA's performance indicators provide little performance information on the self-reliance and success of small businesses or on SBA's contributions to this outcome. Because of the lack of explanation in the plan and report regarding how SBA's strategies for this outcome relate to helping small businesses succeed, we were unable to assess whether the strategies are clear and resonable. - Planned outcome: Ensure that businesses and families recovering from disasters receive timely assistance. SBA reported that it met its fiscal year 2000 goal of providing timely service to disaster victims, yet we have concerns about the quality of SBA's performance measures. For example, while SBA's fiscal year 2000 performance report shows that it met its 3-day field presence measure, SBA's IG determined that this measure has not consistently been applied by disaster area offices. Neither SBA's plan nor its report discusses strategies for accomplishing this goal so we could not determine how strategies relate to goal accomplishment. - Planned outcome: Ensure that more eligible small businesses participate in SBA programs and become more successful. SBA's reported success varied in achieving the portion of this outcome regarding having more eligible small disadvantaged businesses participate in its programs. However, it was not possible for us to determine SBA's progress in helping more eligible small disadvantaged businesses become more successful because SBA has not developed performance measures that assess the success of its key program in this area. SBA discusses its strategies for this outcome as a part of its outcome of helping businesses succeed.