CHAP TER 1
WHAT IS THE CASE
METHOD? WHAT’S
IN IT FOR YOU?
Each year, entering business school students— and students in many other disciplines— encounter an approach to learning that is new to them: the case method. You may be one of them. For novices, the
fi rst encounter can be frustrating and unnerving. A case appears to be a
straightforward narrative, but when you fi nish reading it, you may ask
yourself questions such as:
• What point is the case trying to make?
• Is it trying to make a point at all?
• What am I supposed to do now?
Let’s say you have read a case study of a restaurant chain that ends with
the CEO turning over in his mind basic questions about the business.
He has some possible answers, but the case doesn’t tell you which one
he thinks is best. In another case study, a young MBA has accidentally
learned of offi ce behavior that could have serious consequences for the
individuals involved, including her. At the conclusion of the case, she has
a literal and fi gurative headache, and the choice of what she should do is
left up in the air.
In the classroom, case instructors facilitate discussion, asking lots of
questions, writing comments on the board, and making occasional
remarks. Students respond to questions, build on each other’s comments,
disagree with one another, ask questions, and try out diff erent points of
view about the case situation. A case classroom is dynamic and unpre-
dictable; discussion can lurch into a blind alley, reverse course, and then
head in a more productive direction. Sometimes the discussion may seem
to end in a frustrating muddle. Students have expressed confl icting views
about the main issue in the case, and the professor, the expert in the room,
Ellet, William. The Case Study Handbook, Revised Edition : A Student's Guide, Harvard Business Review Press, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central,
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unsw/detail.action?docID=5180070.
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6THE CASE STUDY HANDBOOK
doesn’t step in and resolve the confl ict by announcing the “right” answer.
Why doesn’t she do her job?
Actually, she is doing her job. In a case classroom, you’re entitled to your
own opinion; you don’t have to defer to the professor or other students as
long as you back your opinion with case facts (including numbers when
they’re available) and fact- based inferences and calculations. The professor
doesn’t lay out the correct response to the case for one very good reason. As
students, you have to learn how to think. The professor can’t do it for you.
You have to practice thinking, which means you’ll gain insights and under-
standing that are gratifying and fun and make mistakes that are frustrating.
Written examinations that use cases pose another challenge for you. In
class, everyone, including the instructor, works collaboratively on a case.
On exams, you are on your own. You not only have to analyze the case
in response to one or more questions but also write an essay that satisfi es
and persuades an expert reader, all in a limited time.
WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?
Until now, your education has probably consisted primarily of lectures.
They are widely used all over the world. There are good reasons for their
popularity. They are an effi cient way for an expert to deliver content to
many individuals at once. One memorable description of the method is
the “sage on the stage.” In combination with textbooks, which are lec-
tures in print, this learning model can deliver a large amount of content
to many students in a short time. In addition, student learning can usually
be tested effi ciently with multiple choice or short- answer questions or
problem sets.
The lecture model is good for transferring information. In that sense, it
is effi cient (although there are serious questions about how long and how
well students retain the information). However, like any learning model, it
has limitations when used exclusively. Most important, lectures can teach
you what to think but not how to think. Lecture content (live or delivered
through media such as the web and in textbooks and other similar read-
ings) provides theory, frameworks, concepts, facts, formulas, and expert
opinion about a subject. It is the “what” of thinking.
However, for knowledge you will use in the real world— in business, for
example, or in engineering or medicine— the “what” isn’t suffi cient. You
must know how to apply the knowledge in the real world. For that, you
need to practice in situations that are similar to those you will actually
encounter.
Ellet, William. The Case Study Handbook, Revised Edition : A Student's Guide, Harvard Business Review Press, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central,
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unsw/detail.action?docID=5180070.
Created from unsw on 2022-01-27 04:30:34.
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WHAT IS THE CASE METHOD? WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?7
Here’s a simple example of the diff erence between what and how. You
received a degree from Soccer University. You took courses on rules,
skills, and strategy and read textbooks, listened to lectures, and watched
videos and demonstrations by professional soccer players. However, you
never practiced what you learned on a soccer fi eld. Do you know how to
play soccer? No, you don’t.
Similarly, let’s say you’re an MBA who took multiple accounting classes
taught by the lecture method and read the assigned textbook. None of
your classes used cases or any other type of active learning. In your fi rst
job, you’re asked to evaluate the organization’s accounting system. In
school you had lectures on diff erent types of accounting systems, but you
were never asked to analyze, on your own, a real- world accounting system
and its fi t with an organization. You aren’t sure what criteria you should
use. You could tell your boss that you need her help but are afraid she
might question the decision to hire you.
One area of education has always recognized the importance of both
the “what” and the “how.” Medical schools teach their students knowl-
edge from a wide range of fi elds (the what). But it would be unthinkable
to teach students the theory of medicine and turn them loose on patients
with no training in how to treat them. Medical schools require clinical
training: the application of what students have learned to real patients
under the supervision of experienced doctors (the how). This practice
continues beyond graduation from medical school in internships and
residencies.
Strangely, academic disciplines that teach knowledge meant to be
applied in the real world often put limited or no emphasis on the transla-
tion of knowledge into action. This knowledge requires practice opportu-
nities. The lecture method generally doesn’t give students the chance to
practice. In the case method, you use the knowledge you have learned to
come up with your own answers (with the guidance of an expert). The
method allows for answers that are objectively wrong or dubious because
they are part of learning. The case method allows you to make mistakes
and learn from them.
This fundamental shift in the learning model causes many students to
be confused, uncertain, and anxious. But professors using cases are doing it
for your sake. They want to give you the opportunity to practice using what
they’ve taught you.
Think of it this way: when you are in a job, your professor isn’t going
to be there to tell you the right answer. Your boss likely isn’t going to tell
you either. After all, she hired you to come up with answers.
Ellet, William. The Case Study Handbook, Revised Edition : A Student's Guide, Harvard Business Review Press, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central,
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unsw/detail.action?docID=5180070.
Created from unsw on 2022-01-27 04:30:34.
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8THE CASE STUDY HANDBOOK
SKILLS FOR THE CASE METHOD
MBA students have told me they feel there is a secret to the case method
that some people get and some don’t. If you get it, you do well; if you
don’t, you scrape by as best you can.
The case method requires a lot from you. At the same time, it isn’t a
secret society in which a few fortunate individuals get it and outperform
their peers. As a case method student, you need three distinct sets of skills:
1. You need to be able to read a case and give it meaning in relation
to the key issues or questions that you have been asked about it.
2. You have to be able to communicate your thinking eff ectively in a
class discussion.
3. You must be able to write a persuasive response to a question about
a case.
Reading, discussing, and writing about cases all involve the application
of knowledge to the situation described in a case. What does “knowledge”
mean? It includes your work experience and also the knowledge you learn
in courses such as the principles of accounting, the 5Cs of marketing, and
the Five Forces of Michael Porter.
This book addresses the three aspects of the case method. The case
method begins with reading a case, interrogating it with questions, seek-
ing information relevant to the questions, making inferences and calcula-
tions, and forming an opinion or conclusion about the main issue. These
skills are the focus of part I of this book. In the classroom, the case method
is about sharing your thinking with classmates and the instructor and
learning from this collaboration. The skills related to case discussion are
the subject of part II. You may have to write about cases for class assign-
ments or the fi nal examination. Skills for writing about cases are covered
in part III. In part IV, you’ll fi nd three cases used as examples for analyzing
and writing about a case. Finally, part V includes Study Guides for taking
notes to prepare for case discussion and to outline a case- based essay.
Ellet, William. The Case Study Handbook, Revised Edition : A Student's Guide, Harvard Business Review Press, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central,
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unsw/detail.action?docID=5180070.
Created from unsw on 2022-01-27 04:30:34.
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