The Use of the Case Study Method in Business Education

The use of the case study method for learning in business education was first pioneered by Harvard Business School in the 1920s. Since then, it has become the prevalent method for experiential learning in business courses.

Over the years I have read hundreds of cases and performed analysis on many of them. In the course of studying these cases, I have also found excellent cases and poorly written ones. The quality of the case construction impacts the amount of learning that a student can get from analyzing the case. In many cases, studying short brief cases that only provide limited public information often results in superficial analysis with limited opportunity to explore different solutions. A good case provide a wealth of information, relevant data, in depth interviews and analysis from management and employees at the company. Such cases provide a wealth of learning opportunity for students and allow the students to truly experience experiential learning.

In the article "Learning by the Case Method in Marketing" published by the Harvard business school, an interesting comparison is made between the use of case study in the fields of medical and business education. This comparision, although valid at some levels, also highlights a significant difference in the process of educating doctors versus business leaders. Medical students use case studies to learn about different scenarios and situations they will face, but are then required to undergo a rigorous 3-4 years residency period where experiential learning is the fundamental means of gaining experience and training. No such rigorous training system exist for business leaders other than the typical final graduation project or one term co-op type assignment available to business students. Most of the instructions for business leaders are done solely through the case study method. An argument can be made for raising the level of M.B.A. programs to that of a professional degree similar to law and medical degrees. Business leaders play an important role in private and public companies, as well as other important government and non-profit institutions in the world. Raising the level of professionalism in business degrees, with build in experiential learning experiences at institutions and companies, will help produce more ethical, competent and experienced professional business leaders for the future.

In a future post, I will share some more thoughts on how the case analysis process is currently used in business education and how it can be enhanced with more emphasis on other branches of the experiential tree.