In 2004, Pine Street Inn, Boston's preeminent homeless shelter, confronted the prospect of steadily dwindling funds for shelter services over the following several years. This bare reality- joined with persistent frustrations at finding permanent homes for homeless customers -convinced Pine Street's manager and board to regroup, collect data, and reconsider the organizational strategy of Pine Street.
The Harvard Kennedy School has developed two instances that consider this juncture in the Pine Street’shistory -this one, intended for an a second case and also an introductory statistics course, thought for a strategic management course. Each case is made to stand on its own. Additionally it is possible to use the cases in sequence-the data case followed by the management case. There's some overlap in the content of the two written cases, as the description of Pine Street's history and organizational identity is included in both.
This case, designed to introduce the notion of statistical "outliers," consists of two parts: Five-page written case introduces the Pine Street Inn, supplies a brief description of its own sources, history, and mission, in the context of a burgeoning homelessness population between its foundation in 1969 and 2004, when the case predicament is set. Students are challenged to consider whether it suggests a brand new path forward, and to interpret the length of stay data, in the context of Pine Street's history and organizational identity. Case number 1988.0
PUBLICATION DATE: May 14, 2013 PRODUCT #: HKS748-PDF-ENG
This is just an excerpt. This case is about LEADERSHIP & MANAGING PEOPLE
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