Management

Defending the Homeland: The Massachusetts National Guard Responds to the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings

Publication Date: March 20, 2017

On April 15, 2013, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev placed and detonated two homemade bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three bystanders and injuring more than two hundred others. This case profiles the role the...

Hacking Bureaucracy: Reimagining California’s Food Stamp Program in the Digital Age

Publication Date: December 23, 2016

In 2014, three former Code for America fellows embarked on a one-year skunk works journey to use technology to improve the enrollment process for California’s SNAP (food stamp) program, CalFresh, to increase the number of residents...

Unlocking Social and Economic Growth: The Delivery Approach to Government Performance

Publication Date: December 6, 2016

In June 2001, after winning the UK general elections by a landslide, which gave him a second term, Tony Blair invited Michael Barber (case protagonist) to establish and lead the Prime Minister Delivery Unit (PMDU): a small, dedicated performance...

Divided We Stand: Gay Marriage Rulings and Official Disobedience

Publication Date: August 25, 2016

On June, 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the federal Defense of Marriage Act violated the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment protection of equal liberty, effectively overturning the law. Pennsylvania, however, banned same-sex...

6 Minutes: Community Organizing in Amman, Jordan

Publication Date: July 28, 2016

This case describes how community leaders in Amman, Jordan used a community organizing framework to launch and manage a major campaign, 6 Minutes, to encourage residents to commit time to reading for pleasure. Using Marshall Ganz’s...

"Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force

Publication Date: May 12, 2016

Due to proposed long-term cuts in the United States Department of Defense (DOD) budget, the DOD prioritized improving efficiencies, reducing overhead, and eliminating redundancies within its many commands. Accordingly, the Commander of Air Force...

Fears and Realities: Managing Ebola in Dallas Epilogue

Publication Date: April 20, 2016

This epilogue accompanies case number 2055.0. In September 2014, as several West African countries continued to battle a deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus, Dallas, Texas, emerged as ground zero for the disease in the U.S. This case recounts...

Fears and Realities: Managing Ebola in Dallas

Publication Date: April 20, 2016

In September 2014, as several West African countries continued to battle a deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus, Dallas, Texas, emerged as ground zero for the disease in the U.S. This case recounts how, over the course of three days, Thomas Eric...

A Rising Storm: Eric Garner and the Explosive Controversy over Race & Policing

Publication Date: March 3, 2016

The controversial choking death of Eric Garner in New York City in 2014 is the point of departure for this rich and complex case, which tackles difficult questions of race, crime, and policing in poor, racially-isolated urban neighborhoods. The...

Ready in Advance: The City of Tuscaloosa’s Response to the 4/27/11 Tornado

Publication Date: February 3, 2016

In a matter of minutes on the afternoon of April 27, 2011, a massive and powerful tornado leveled 1/8 of the area of Tuscaloosa, AL, a city of approximately 90,000 people and home to the University of Alabama. Doctrine called for the County...

Preventing Another Madoff: Reengineering the SEC’s Investigation Process

Publication Date: July 22, 2015

Bernard Madoff perpetrated a $60 billion fraud that lasted for more than a decade. The fallout ruined the lives of many of his investors and significantly damaged the reputation of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). How did the...

Kalamazoo Zoo

Publication Date: April 15, 2015

Variance analysis is widely used in budgeting and managerial accounting, and is a required skill to be taught in any introductory budget course. The Kalamazoo Zoo is a short, amusing case for use in teaching variance analysis. The case is best...