Cases

"Almost a Worst-Case Scenario": The Baltimore Tunnel Fire of 2001 (A)

Publication Date: September 01, 2004

In the late afternoon of a hot day in July, 2001, an accident beneath the streets of Baltimore threatened to turn into a disaster. A freight train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed and caught fire inside a tunnel that ran beneath one of the...

Evolution of The Gill Foundation (Epilogue)

Publication Date: July 8, 2004

Computer mogul Tim Gill, who had launched the popular QuarkXPress publishing software during the 1980s, wanted to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organizations in the United States. Although he had been a successful...

Evolution of The Gill Foundation

Publication Date: July 8, 2004

Computer mogul Tim Gill, who had launched the popular QuarkXPress publishing software during the 1980s, wanted to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organizations in the United States. Although he had been a successful...

Faith in the City: Patrick McCrory and the Mayor's Mentoring Alliance

Publication Date: July 4, 2004

In November 2003, Patrick McCrory became the first Mayor of Charlotte to be elected for a fifth term. Throughout his eight years in office, McCrory had developed and championed the "Mayor's Mentoring Alliance," a cross-sector initiative aimed at...

The Ethics Officer

Publication Date: June 01, 2004

A corporate lawyer prevails in a competition with her colleagues for a coveted assignment in the legal department of Oilco, an oil refining and marketing venture based in Hong Kong with operations in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The new...

Discovery in the Amazon

Publication Date: June 01, 2004

In a world of increasingly fluid boundaries, public and private managers often face ethical challenges that cross familiar geographical and cultural lines. This disguised case recounts the experience of a chemical engineer from Brazil who...

Parks and Partnership in New York City: Adrian Benepe's Challenge (A)

Publication Date: June 01, 2004

New York's public parks, brought to their magnificent peak by the legendary Parks Commissioner Robert Moses in the mid-20th-century heyday of direct government activism, were in disarray in a new era of public-sector austerity. As the City's...

Corporate Values and Transformation (Sequel)

Publication Date: June 01, 2004

This case focuses on one of the largest and most successful of such microlenders, Mexico's Compartamos ("we share") organization, and raises questions about the most effective business model and scale of microlenders. Specifically, the case...

Corporate Values and Transformation: The Microlender Compartamos

Publication Date: June 01, 2004

Microlending, defined as very small loans advanced to very low-income entrepreneurs, has attracted wide attention as a potentially effective means to aid the economic development of impoverished nations. This case focuses on one of the largest...

BlueOrchard Finance: Connecting Microfinance to Capital Markets

Publication Date: June 01, 2004

Microfinance is a field that has received increasing attention over the years in the development community. It consists of the delivery of financial services to people excluded from traditional banking institutions. For many years, most work was...

The Yofu River Crossing

Publication Date: April 07, 2004

This fictionalized case describes a public finance policy analysis problem faced by a city in China. In order to reduce downtown congestion and create a pedestrian area, the city wants to provide shuttle transportation in and out of the city...

From Protest to Power: The Education of Martin McGuinness (Epilogue)

Publication Date: April 01, 2004

Known to Protestants as the “IRA Godfather of Godfathers” and to Catholics as a hero of the Irish Republican movement, Martin McGuinness is one of the most divisive figures in Northern Ireland. This case details McGuinness’ meteoric rise through...