Washington Avenue: Road Diet or Road Buffet? (B)

In this field-based case set, the City of Philadelphia's Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability is deciding how best to improve safety and move more people and goods in a way that would provide economic opportunities on a major corridor. The problem-solving opportunities in the city's repaving process set the stage for an exploration of creative problem-solving and introduction of the concept of subtraction neglect. The A case opens with the director of the Office of Complete Streets thinking about all the options for the major corridor and considering tensions around how each stakeholder might perceive change on Washington Avenue. The director's team engages with numerous city departments, businesses, and community members for input around potential changes that would culminate in proposed lane reconfiguration options to present publicly. The team starts going through the transportation planners' toolbox of what is possible: What are the priorities? What will each cost? Will they be easily incorporated into the paving project? And if the team had play money to put toward the different improvements, where would it put it? This B case includes relevant images. This set is suitable for MBA and undergraduate organizational behavior or strategy courses. It could be used at the end of the module about problem-solving, making change, and removing complexity. This case can also be used to teach students about managing stakeholders with different interests and goals. Firms across industries seek managers with skill in problem-solving, and as such, this case could also be used in a broader introductory organizational behavior, innovation, design-thinking, creativity, human resources, or strategy course.

• Decision making
• Psychology
• Creativity
• Problem solving
• Design thinking