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Janine Robitaille, Executive Director of Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless (IPH), contemplated the future of the non-profit organization she had led for the past five years. IPH had served the homeless community since 1984 and assisted individuals and families by meeting their immediate needs, helped them find safe, affordable housing, and provided continuing support through long-term case management services. The recent publication of the 2010 annual report provided Janine and her staff an opportunity to reflect on their accomplishments, especially given the financial challenges brought about by the 2008 recession. Janine pondered several challenges facing her staff in the coming year. Nearly all programs at IPH were operating at capacity. The Emergency Shelter, which provided nightly refuge for 30 single men and women, was full. The Drop-In Center had reached the limits of the existing facility and could no longer meet the growing demand for daytime services. There was a waiting list for permanent housing and increased competition for scarce government resources would require stronger evidence of their programs' effectiveness. IPH needed to develop and grow corporate, organizational, and individual sources of support to reduce dependence on government funding; increase in-kind donations; and more effectively use volunteers to reduce operating costs. Janine considered several possibilities. Should they pursue additional capacity in permanent housing as a means for creating more sustainable funding? Was it time to find a bigger facility for the Drop-In Center that would provide space for new partnerships with other providers and increased services for those in need? Did it make sense to expand services or operations in another neighborhood or county? The difficulty was determining which alternatives to pursue and how to fund the existing operations. Janine felt it was probably time IPH engaged in some formal strategic planning.

A utility company must replace an aging coal-fired power plant. Accordingly, management must develop an Integrated Resource Plan that carefully explores all reasonable options considering the varied interests of many stakeholders, including electricity users, regulators, environmentalists, and the community in which a new power plant will be built. State regulators require that the utility company minimize the costs to ratepayers, but costs are difficult to determine given the potential for high taxes on carbon emissions as well as volatile fuel costs during the multi-decade lifetime of the replacement. The analysis is further complicated by the differences in project risk associated with the different technologies. The senior vice-president must choose carefully, because he will be required to defend that choice to many varied and passionate stakeholders. A capital budget analysis should be conducted that takes into consideration the many uncertainties associated with this problem.