Cases

Mayor Evan Sweeney

Publication Date: July 01, 1986

This series of hypothetical cases, written for executive training programs for new mayors, frame the quintessential problems faced by municipal chief executives. These include labor relations and negotiations with a public employees union, the...

Mary Malone

Publication Date: January 01, 1986

This disguised case is about a woman who faces a hard choice in her career and family life. Mary Malone, an associate professor at the Adams School of Government, has been offered the job of executive deputy commissioner in the Old York State...

Falklands/Malvinas: Breakdown of Negotiations (A)

Publication Date: January 01, 1986

On April 2, 1982, Argentine forces overran the British-controlled Falklands, thus triggering a confrontation between the two nations over possession of the barren South Atlantic islands. Part A of this case presents a historical account of the...

Energy Emergency Assistance

Publication Date: January 01, 1986

When the 1979 revolt in Iran disrupted that country's oil exports, the US government responded to the reduced availability of fuel by controlling both price and allocation. Some analysts have argued that those actions exacerbated the oil crisis...

Conflicting Findings: Evaluating WIC

Publication Date: January 01, 1986

This case is designed to foster discussion concerning a question public managers often face: How should one make decisions when available studies and data appear contradictory? A 1984 General Accounting Office (GAO) review found that existing...

Smith and the Public Health Battle

Publication Date: January 01, 1986

In this disguised case, Helen Smith is a newly appointed state administrator of personnel hired as part of a new governor's reform effort. Smith's task is to crack down on the practice of using outside contracts to bypass state-required job...

Competitive Bypass of Pacific Gas & Electric

Publication Date: January 01, 1986

In 1986, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), a private utility company serving most of northern and central California, was facing the loss of many of its biggest and best customers. The threat came not from conservation, general economic...

California Water Pricing

Publication Date: January 01, 1986

In many parts of California, water districts set prices so that agricultural users pay far less than residential users and far less than the true cost of water. While the adoption of a marginal cost pricing system would bring enormous efficiency...

Saving the Tuolumne (Sequel)

Publication Date: January 01, 1986

In April 1983, the City and County of San Francisco and two irrigation districts in Merced and Stanislaus counties commissioned a feasibility study of their long-standing proposal to dam the Tuolumne River for power and water. At the same time,...

Saving the Tuolumne

Publication Date: January 01, 1986

In April 1983, the City and County of San Francisco and two irrigation districts in Merced and Stanislaus counties commissioned a feasibility study of their long-standing proposal to dam the Tuolumne River for power and water. At the same time,...

Controlling Acid Rain, 1986

Publication Date: January 01, 1986

This case is designed to support a discussion of how to apply an economic evaluation of the appropriate level of control of an externality to a real problem with incomplete information of uncertain quality and high political stakes. It sketches...

George Shultz and the Polygraph Test

Publication Date: January 01, 1986

Shortly before Christmas 1985, Secretary of State George Shultz publicly threatened to resign over a pending administration directive that would have required thousands of government employees with access to highly classified information to...