Montgomery County Business Roundtable for Education

Allen S. Grossman; Geoff Eckman Marietta

Case | HBS Case Collection | May 2009

Montgomery County Business Roundtable for Education

by Allen S. Grossman and Geoff Eckman Marietta

Abstract

Montgomery County Business Roundtable for Education (MCBRE) was a business-public education partnership with Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) that promoted cross-sector knowledge sharing and academic excellence. Its suite of core student programs, such as “720,” where business leaders addressed nearly half of the ninth-grade class about the importance of achievement in high school, and the Young Professionals Conference, an event for juniors that highlighted exciting business practices, allowed businesses to connect with students at the individual level. At the same time, the creation of platforms for business-education learning brought system-level improvements. In particular, MCBRE's board of advisors meetings brought together top executives from companies such as Lockheed Martin, NASDAQ, and PricewaterhouseCoopers with MCPS leaders to learn about management and leadership practices. After leading MCBRE for the past five years, first as executive director and now as board chair, Jane Kubasik was leaving. While the newly hired executive director, Heather Schwager, was more than qualified to take over, there were some concerns. Kubasik had planned and implemented most of MCBRE's current initiatives and single-handedly recruited nearly all of MCBRE's current members. Would MCBRE be able to retain its impressive membership without Kubasik? With its selective invite-only criteria for new members, would MCBRE be able to continue to grow? Should growth even be a goal?

Keywords: Business Ventures; Knowledge Sharing; Leadership; Partners and Partnerships; Education; Business and Community Relations; Education Industry; United States;

Format: Print

26 pages

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Citation:

Grossman, Allen S., and Geoff Eckman Marietta. "Montgomery County Business Roundtable for Education." Harvard Business School Case 309-105, May 2009.

StriveTogether aimed to improve education outcomes by coordinating the actions of diverse community stakeholders—nonprofit service providers, school districts, government, parents, businesses and others. StriveTogether had an intense focus on collective impact—"the commitment of a group of important actors from different sectors to a common agenda for solving a specific social problem"—and the use of data to drive decisions. In the case, managing director Jeff Edmondson is faced with two dilemmas: how to attract business engagement in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego, California, and how to achieve greater results in the communities that had implemented the StriveTogether framework.

Case | HBS Case Collection | November 2013 (Revised February 2016)

A Long, Bumpy and Unfinished Road: Education Reform in Memphis, Tennessee

Allen Grossman, J. Puckett and Nithya Vaduganathan

In 2010 the Memphis City School District merged with the neighboring Shelby County School system under the supervision of a single board of education and superintendent. It promised much more than just administrative synergies—it was an opportunity to change a culture, as well as policies and practices that had existed for decades.

By 2010 Shelby County school system had about 50,000 students, approximately 55 percent white and 37 percent economically disadvantaged. The Memphis student body, which numbered around 100,000, was about 85 percent black and 87 percent economically disadvantaged. In 2010, residents from within and outside the city each contributed about 50 percent of the tax revenue for the two systems, but, based on enrollment, two-thirds of the budget was allocated to Memphis City schools.

Pitt Hyde and the Hyde Family Foundation saw the merger as a once-in-a-lifetime fresh start for public education in Memphis and he was determined to do what he could to make sure the merger realized its potential. Many interests, practices and players were deeply entrenched in the Memphis schools. But Hyde and his wife had encountered like-minded reformers—educators, government officials, business people and not-for-profit leaders who were willing to put a shoulder to the wheel. Prior to the merger, the Hydes had notched some considerable successes, starting with the legislation that permitted establishment of the state's first charter schools. They had established valuable partnerships, and developed performance standards and accountability for teachers and administrators. They had helped inaugurate pay-for-performance for teachers and a teacher evaluation system based on student outcomes. Building relationships, raising the money, getting others involved were critical steps along the way. They had brought new voices into the campaign. He also remembered some false steps and some lost battles, but overall their decisions had been sound, their efforts focused, and perhaps most important, their perseverance relentless.

Keywords: education; education reform; public education; business engagement; Public Sector; Education; Business and Community Relations; Education Industry; Tennessee;

Citation:

Grossman, Allen, J. Puckett, and Nithya Vaduganathan. "A Long, Bumpy and Unfinished Road: Education Reform in Memphis, Tennessee." Harvard Business School Case 314-064, November 2013. (Revised February 2016.) View Details

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When Diane Paulus, artistic director and CEO of the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) first started in 2008, she attracted media coverage around an aesthetic that aimed to give the audience more ownership over the theater experience, excited theatergoers by experimenting with new venues and received critical recognition for the breadth and range of the work she staged. Paulus also recognized the changing realities in theater, which included dropping subscription numbers and an increase in single ticket buyers. Paulus, inspired by the mission of the A.R.T.—to expand the boundaries of theater—hastened a shift in the A.R.T. business model. Her new plans included operating two unique segmented venues, creating and presenting varied content that aimed to be both challenging and popular, and driving a sales and marketing campaign focused on single ticket buyers, memberships and dynamic pricing. Early results showed some promise; the A.R.T. was closer to break-even than in previous years. However, some questioned if the A.R.T. was beginning to look like a commercial theater, focused on presenting theater that sold, rather than truly expanding boundaries. Despite the questioning, Paulus remained committed to fulfilling her vision of the A.R.T. mission in order to solidify A.R.T. as a leading and financially stable not-for-profit regional theater.

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Montgomery County Business Roundtable for Education

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