The Test of Transition: The Case of the Community Preservation and Development Corporation

The case study presents facts pertaining to the Community Preservation and Development Corporation (CPDC), one of the best-known nonprofit housing development companies in the United States, at a time of fundamental transition--a new chief executive officer has been installed after several months of the board of directors running the company. Working with the founder, Eugene Ford, the first chief executive had made a specialty of using a variety of complicated financial arrangements to revive assisted low-income housing projects that had become or were at risk of becoming dilapidated, crime-ridden disasters. The organization had become famous for blazing new trails in providing services for the low-income residents of its housing projects, particularly related to technology. Federal, state, and local government agencies, private corporations, foundations, and universities had joined with CPDC in its development and resident service projects. But despite the worthy redevelopment projects and dazzling programs, CPDC was a house divided. Concerned about CPDC's difficulties in accounting and reporting its revenues and expenditures, members of the board of directors became more involved in running the organization and contributed to the departure of the organization's founding CEO. Fundamentally, CPDC was afflicted with what might be called organizational schizophrenia, with two different lines of business, each with its own organizational structure, funding mechanism, and supporters on the board of directors. The case presents the reader with the question of what strategies and ultimately business model the incoming CEO should adopt to keep the organization viable and fulfill its mission. HKS Case Number 1924.0

• Nonprofit organizations
• Budgets and budgeting
• Strategic planning
• Entrepreneurship
• Leadership
• Innovation
• Corporate strategy