Ann Branston, a white-collar professional, finds herself in charge of the large blue-collar workforce of the equipment maintenance division of the San Francisco public transit system, "Muni." Beginning with her arrival in the midst of a serious service delivery crisis for the transit system, this three part case traces Branston's actions during her five year tenure as deputy general manager. The A case sets the stage by outlining the service problems, organizational structure, human resources issues, political environment and the budgetary status of the unit. In the B case, Branston and her senior associates implement a successful strategy to solve a major problem, an excessive level of missed runs by the transit fleet. However, serious problems of fleet degradation emerge which are addressed by the development of a preventive maintenance program and other strategies outlined in the C case.

The "Muni" case is well suited to classes dealing with organizational change, particularly the role of crisis in facilitating structural change. It is conducive to numerous other discussions including but not limited to: the technical, political, bureaucratic, and behavioral aspects of management; comparisons of "hard" production processes like the transit technology to the "soft" processes of social programs; management priority setting and dealing with different organizational cultures and interpersonal styles; interagency cooperation; and gender similarities and differences in management.