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The terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 on the Pentagon brought death and destruction to one of the nerve centers of American power, a site where top military officials came to work every day. When terrorists deliberately crashed a commercial jetliner into the southwest wall of this giant government landmark, it rendered a large portion of the building unstable and started a ferocious fire inside, where--rescuers hoped--Pentagon workers might be trapped but still alive. Despite the serious nature of the attack, the emergency response to the disaster was led by neither a high political official nor a four-star general. Instead, remarkably, the response and rescues at the Pentagon were led by James Schwartz, the assistant chief of a county fire department in the State of Virginia. A few hours into the emergency, Schwartz was, in fact, introduced to US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as "the man who owns this ground" by one of Rumsfeld's own generals. This case describes the unprecedented emergency response operation and many of its key turning points and places it within the broader context of a national system in which authority is widely decentralized. Specifically, the case tells the story of how Arlington County, Virginia Fire Department used the "incident command system" to oversee the Pentagon emergency response and how it responded when the professional mandates of far higher-profile agencies--including the Department of Defense, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Environmental Protection Agency--collided with those of the firefighting and rescue effort. Despite years of practice and preparation, fire officials would face a string of predicaments at the Pentagon emergency that had never been foreseen. The case can serve as a platform for discussion about inter-jurisdictional cooperation in emergency response and, by extension, cooperation across units of government in a wide variety of situations. HKS Case Number 1712.0

When Hugh Price became president and chief executive of the National Urban League in May 1994, he knew he was taking the helm of an organization groping for new moorings in the post-civil rights, post-Great Society, post-welfare state era. During the Reagan administration of the 1980s, the large annual federal grants and contracts that had steadily grown during the 1960s and 1970s, sustaining the National Urban League and its network of 113 affiliates, were abruptly slashed. People wondered if the Urban League would dissolve. This case chronicles what happened with the NUL during this era of transition. Pair with the first part of the case (HKS 863). HKS Case Number 1634.1.

When Hugh Price became president and chief executive of the National Urban League in May 1994, he knew he was taking the helm of an organization groping for new moorings in the post-civil rights, post-Great Society, post-welfare state era. During the Reagan administration of the 1980s, the large annual federal grants and contracts that had steadily grown during the 1960s and 1970s, sustaining the National Urban League and its network of 113 affiliates, were abruptly slashed. People wondered if the Urban League would dissolve. This case chronicles what happened with the NUL during this era of transition. Pair with the sequel (HKS 864). HKS Case Number 1634.0.

When the employees of a Kmart distribution center in Greensboro, North Carolina vote to unionize, they encounter difficulty in negotiating a contract with their employer, which viewed wages and working conditions as in keeping with regional conditions. Ultimately, members of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers decide that they must enlist public opinion as a means to pressure management. This series of cases (see also 1604.0) describes the tactics they employ-tactics which at first alienate local opinion but which are adjusted in ways that prove effective. The case describes, in particular, the decision to recruit local religious leaders, whose support proves crucial. The case is meant to support discussion of organizing tactics and strategy. Alternatively, it can be used to discuss labor economics, as a vehicle to examine the substance of the Kmart employees' complaints and the counter-arguments mounted by company management.

When the employees of a Kmart distribution center in Greensboro, North Carolina vote to unionize, they encounter difficulty in negotiating a contract with their employer, which viewed wages and working conditions as in keeping with regional conditions. Ultimately, members of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers decide that they must enlist public opinion as a means to pressure management. This series of cases describes the tactics they employ-tactics which at first alienate local opinion but which are adjusted in ways that prove effective. The case describes, in particular, the decision to recruit local religious leaders, whose support proves crucial. HKS Case Number 1604.0

This sequel accompanies the case Tackling Poor Performance (1571.0). When Paulo Renato de Souza accepts an appointment to become Brazil's minister of education, he faces extreme challenges. Public education in Latin America's most populous nation is widely viewed as a failure. Brazil's vast population of poor children often attends schools that are both physically inadequate and have inadequate textbooks. His own department has seen a parade of ineffective leaders and has only indirect authority of state governments responsible for primary education. HKS Case Number 1571.1

When Paulo Renato de Souza accepts an appointment to become Brazil's minister of education, he faces extreme challenges. Public education in Latin America's most populous nation is widely viewed as a failure. Brazil's vast population of poor children often attends schools that are both physically inadequate and have inadequate textbooks. His own department has seen a parade of ineffective leaders and has only indirect authority of state governments responsible for primary education. HKS Case Number 1571.0

The concept of "benchmarking" as applied to the public sector, seeks to use quantitative measures and comparison over time to encourage progress toward social and efficiency goals. This case describes the origin and implementation of one of the most ambitious benchmarking efforts in the U.S. It follows the program from a period of initial enthusiasm to legislative disillusion--and the efforts of a new program director to redirect and re-energize the effort. Broadly, it raises the question of what sorts of public goals are well-suited to the benchmarking process and how public agencies respond to it. Pair with the case study (HKS845). HKS Case Number 1554.1.

The concept of "benchmarking" as applied to the public sector, seeks to use quantitative measures and comparison over time to encourage progress toward social and efficiency goals. This case describes the origin and implementation of one of the most ambitious benchmarking efforts in the U.S. It follows the program from a period of initial enthusiasm to legislative disillusion--and the efforts of a new program director to redirect and re-energize the effort. Broadly, it raises the question of what sorts of public goals are well-suited to the benchmarking process and how public agencies respond to it. Pair with the case sequel (HKS846). HKS Case Number 1554.0.

This case focuses on the contractual relationship between a state's office charged with forestalling child abuse and neglect and one non-profit provider of social services for those purposes. The case points out the reasons the state of Massachusetts decided to contract for services and how it chose to define that contractual relationship. At the same time, the case also allows for discussion of whether the non-profit provider La Alianza Hispana would be well-advised to take on the work proffered by the state, given its organizational mission and capacity. Ultimately, the final part of the case reveals the disastrous end to which the Massachusetts-Alianza contract led. [See also High Stakes and Frightening Lapses: DSS, La Alianza Hispana and the Public-Private Question in Child Protection Work (C16-94-1265.0).]

At first glance, Greater Boston Rehabilitation Services appeared to be in excellent financial shape in the spring of 1991, when Terry Ann Lunt was named its new executive director. A mix of government grants and work contracts with local businesses seemed to protect this 20-year-old organization, based in the hope that work could be a form of therapy for the mildly mentally ill, from the vagaries of public budget changes. Soon after her arrival, however, Lunt found that, unknown to the board that had hired her, three of the group's four sources of income were in jeopardy, that accounting records were, at best, haphazard, and employees were deeply confused as to the mission of the organization.

Whether as analyst or deputy director at the federal Office of Management and Budget, or as the chief executive of Alcoa, Paul O'Neill has sought to inspire those working for him to approach their tasks with vision and without preconceptions. In considering how he has applied disciplined, analytical techniques to different organizations, O'Neill dismisses the assertion of significant distinctions between the public and private sectors.

This is a case which might inspire discussion both about political strategy and the relation of marginalized cultural groups to the mainstream. It tells the story of a 1988 attempt via referendum to declare English to be the official language of the state of Florida-an attempt, in part, inspired by tension and jealousy surrounding the arrival and relative affluence of the large Spanish-speaking population of South Florida. The alternative strategies which they conceive reflect both their views about the likely nature of the campaign and their views about how a minority relates to the majority. HKS Case Number 990.0

This "Innovations in State and Local Government" case begins in January 1983, when Ellen Schall is appointed commissioner of New York City's Department of Juvenile Justice, an agency in upheaval. DJJ was established to detain seven- to fifteen-year-old children between arrest and adjudication. Most of DJJ's charges are held in a 25-year-old secure detention facility called "Spofford," a notoriously violent and dilapidated facility in the South Bronx. The case describes the situation as Schall walks into it. In addition to internal tensions and significant operational problems in every division, the agency has a history of bad press and feuds with City Hall. The department is also struggling with deep-seated racial and class tensions among employees, and with great confusion over its mission. The case ends with Schall planning to speak to a new group of juvenile counselors, trying to articulate her vision for the agency. The case offers students the chance to diagnose the ills of the agency and to chart a strategic course of action. Among the topics for debate: How should Schall go about assembling an executive team? How should she address the confusion over agency mission? What should she do about racial tensions? How involved should she get with the nitty-gritty operational problems of her agency's divisions? HKS Case Number 793.0