The Project Management Institute (PMI) selected the case, "Star of Hope Mission: Survival in the Midst of Hurricanes," as second place winner in the 2016 PMI Teaching Case Competition.
The aftermath of two hurricanes, Katrina and Ike, in 2005 and 2008 respectively, enormously affected the Mission's operations and capabilities to provide shelter and services to homeless people in the Houston area. In 2015, the management began to reconsider the disaster plans and whether they would be adequate in the future. The case study includes information about the impact of the hurricanes on the organization. The challenge to students is to evaluate the Star of Hope's state of readiness if another hurricane strikes the Gulf Coast area and offer recommendations for improvement. The intended use of the case is for courses that focus on project management, project risk management, or operations management.
The case study was a collaborative effort among Lila Carden, associate professor of management, marketing, and business administration, UH Downtown;, Jamison V. Kovach, associate professor of information and logistics technology, UH College of Technology; M. Alix Valenti, associate professor of legal studies and management at UH Clear Lake; Calixto Mejia, College of Technology alum; and, Raphael Boyd, professor of legal studies at Clark Atlanta University.
The authors will be recognized at the PMI's annual awards ceremony during the North American Global Congress in San Diego, California, September 24 - 27.