To Be or Not to Be? Or, Is it Nobler to Care than to Be a Part of Managed Care?

Associated Youth Services (AYS) provides a variety of services to at-risk youth and their families. In recent years its management and board have responded to rapid cuts in state funding and to the introduction of "managed care" in the administration of state social service programs. Readers of this case critique a decision process of core strategic importance: whether to redesign the organization's mission and vision to reflect a basic paradigm change in the external environment.