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PRM – 306/606
Case Study
Assignment Number 1
5/18/2015
Case Study
solutions to the “hypothetical” case study I was provided. Just as a word of warning, I
have lived this case study in real life and will be using actual methods and solutions
from a real Corps. This also means I have taken the liberty to fill in a few details of the
fine inner workings of a dysfunctional Salvation Army Corps. I hope this is okay! The
following is the case study directly from the official email I received:
building that seems to be falling down around us. No space for storage, no
space for anything let alone growing into it. A small congregation that is all
related to each other, with limited skills and gifts. An office staff of two, a
secretary and a case worker who is not qualified, in fact goes to the
here is the real kicker; the community has an 18% jobless rate and we are
about the only agency in the area that gives assistance, and we have no
money. What we have comes from State and local grants and we are
always out of funds by mid month. What am I to do?” (D. Fulton, Personal
I will break each challenge into three parts, the first will be a presentation of the
issues. Secondly, I will explore some solutions. Lastly, I will create a timeline of when
The very first challenge I will address in this paper and would in real life is the
finances. Here is where I am adding some real life details to make this clearer for myself
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and the reader. The Corps is not only out of money, it is running at a current deficit and
owes Divisional headquarters nearly a third of it’s yearly budget. (About $240,000) that
had been accumulated over the previous four years due to very poor management.
Making this a priority are things like the current utilities shut-off notice that is on
the Corps Officer’s desk upon arrival. This notice is indicative of the hemorrhaging
taking place in the Corps finances for which there are several reasons.
The biggest reason comes from (added detail) the thrift store which the Corps
operates that has been losing in excess of $1000 a month due to poor location and
even worse staffing. It had been open in that location for almost 3 years and had only
To preface this, correcting this is a monumental task, but one that cannot
continue another day. Having said that, my very first step in solving this problem would
be to spend a few days at the store, dig into the books, get a good grasp on the
operation. Another added detail is that the store was at the very end of it’s lease. I
would begin a process to close the current store and begin looking for another, and
In this instance the timeline to begin would be as soon as possible, or in this case
three months because that was the remaining time on the lease. Within that 3 month
period I would be securing a new location and setting up processes for the store and
clarifying what the expectations would be for the employees. Within the first year, at
minimum the old store would be closed, the goal would be that a new store would be
opened.
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Within the first 2 months I would work out the budget with the help of the
Advisory Board and Corps Council, and make it a regular topic of prayer for everyone
involved. The new budget would include the cutting of all unnecessary spending and
would help the Corps establish sound income goals for the upcoming Christmas
season.
With the store being closed no later than the 3rd month and unnecessary
spending also cut, I would expect that the 4th month, starting the Christmas season we
Headquarters or any local vendors. However, true financial stability is likely several
The second part of the solution, and another added detail, is that Divisional
headquarters has set aside some incentive money. They have promised to forgive half
of a Corps debt each year the Corps ends balanced. So at the end of year 1 I expect
the debt to be $120,000 and year 2 less than $60,000. By this time I would expect the
Corps to have paid at least something toward it’s indebtedness. With the grant and the
Corps paying towards the total, the Corps will be out of debt by the 3 rd year and self
sufficient.
The next challenge identified is in property. The building has been neglected
mainly due to lack of resources and there are a few major issues and many more minor
ones. The bulk of the problem stems from the fact that the Capitol fund has less than a
$100,000 in it and produces a little interest and that small amount is used each month
for operating.
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Storage and program space is also very limited. We have a few small closets and
currently one Sunday school classroom has been turned into storage for Christmas
goods. The Corps does own an adjacent undeveloped lot that can be used seasonally
as program space.
The first thing I would do with property is make a list of needed repairs and rank
them from highest to lowest priority. That list would be presented Sunday as a prayer
topic in church and shared as a concern at the next advisory board meeting. Doing this
may open the eyes to the church and advisory board to the problems we are facing,
many of which the interested groups may not even be aware of.
I would get a property project in order to address the highest priorities out of
capitol. In this specific case that would be a roof that has been leaky for more than 15
years and has caused a variety of property concerns from the damage. The most recent
damage would be turned into insurance to be repaired once the roof is replaced.
Having shared the list with the church and advisory board I would solicit help
from those groups to work on the smaller issues for which they have a talent to fix. In a
later challenge I will discuss the congregation and their limited abilities, however, even
with limited abilities there are things that they can take care of and in turn will have a
Another outcome of sharing the property needs list with the board and the church
is that many of the people are likely to share the needs with others who may have the
The time line for this is complicated; the property issues have been years in the
making. The identifying of problems should be done in the first month, through at least
one Advisory Board and Corps Councils to get them involved before the master list is
presented. The major repairs such as roof would be taken care of in the first six
months, and the little repairs over the course of the year.
The issue of space is the hardest to resolve, with limited funds it is unlikely any
expansion of the building would be possible at any time in the near future. Lower cost
storage sheds could be purchased in the meantime to hold items that would not be
affected by temperature.
The next issue to resolve is staffing. The Corps has a case worker and an office
manager, neither are educated in their field of work and are related to the church body,
in fact the case worker is married to the CSM. Although being part of the church could
strong sense of “us and them” in the social work and business of the Corps. They can,
from time to time, feel entitled and secure and can demonstrate some questionable
ethics.
My first solution to the staff problem would be to immediately try to engage the
employees. Not just telling them what I want done, but as much as possible sitting down
beside them showing them how I believe it should be done and really getting a good
grasp on what they do and why. Through this they would clearly learn expectations and
hopefully be more likely to fix any actions that are less than ethical, and know for sure
a day to working with the employees and I would expect that they would understand that
some of the poor decisions made regularly in the past will no longer be tolerated within
the first week. I would schedule a meeting with each individually after 3 months to
discuss their job description and give them the opportunity to voice frustrations and
This leads me into the next topic, Social Services. Problems within are an 18%
jobless rate, the need to donations ratio is terrible, we are funded by grants that run out
almost as fast as they come in. Clients know the day we get them and they are waiting
outside the office that morning. This creates a lack of hope for the client and the
Because of the great need, and that we are one of the few providers, the majority
of people seeking our help are turned away and the only people that make it in while we
have money are the ones who know how the system works, Corps members and repeat
clients, and the community knows it. This has lead to a lack of support by the small
As far as solutions are concerned, social service will take a good deal of work. I
would plan to work alongside the case worker as much as possible and develop a
system that can help those who are repeat clients to rely less on the help of others and
The timeline for this would be spending the first 2 months working with the case
worker a little each day to help train how we should interview and help a client. By 6
Case Study
months I would want to have a process in place and documented on how each case is
handled, limits and processes. The hope is that within the year the community would
start to see us being better stewards of the money and respond with support.
The Church would be my next point of concern. The CSM is married to the case
worker, and as I explained before it has caused some issues, we have addressed it on
the staff side and now it needs addressed from a congregational standpoint. The church
has begun to react since addressing staff. Somehow I must convince them, without
violating confidentiality that I had the everyone’s best interest in changes that were
made.
The second challenge is that the congregation is simple and not very capable,
they need a lot of support, often more than I can give. They are also related and not
comfortable with newcomers or really even visitors which has kept the church from
My first solution would be to schedule regular meetings with the CSM to work
hard to help him understand that I make decisions for the good of the group, and not for
any one person. In doing so, I would work with him to come up with a plan as to how to
change the culture of the Corps to be welcoming and able to grow. We would find ways
for more of the congregation to be involved to help them get a healthy ownership of the
Corps.
The timeline for this is one that may exceed my time at the Corps, however, I
would schedule the meetings with the CSM within the first 6 months. I would conduct
them regularly for at least 2 months, perhaps longer depending on how far we get. I
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would like to have the congregation more involved by the end of the first year, and
The last detail I am going to add, because it has been my experience that my last
detail is synonymous with Corps in this situation is that there is a small and not all that
involved advisory board. The members that serve have served for many years and are
now retired, and although good, faithful members they are no longer connected to those
are by joining local club and being a part of community. Service clubs can be a great
place to meet potential board members, and taking part in community events can attract
The timeline for this is another that may be years, but I would expect that within
the first two years I would have at least 5 new productive members. Once I start
recruiting new members, I would hope that those new board members would use their
connections to then recruit new board members. I would reinstate terms and limits so
Like I said before, much of what I have written in my paper have come from
limited experience, that this case study is indicative of many of our small Corps. In
hindsight, although this course is still very helpful, I could have been more effective had
I taken this course at the beginning of my officership. The positive thing is that it did
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work and the Corps in which this is mostly based on is still functioning very well to my
Turner, Major Mark & Fulton, Major David. (2015). Principles of Management [Syllabus].
University.