Has the Twitter Age Left the Case Method Behind?

Is the business case study method outmoded? James Heskett’s readers are divided on whether the case is ripe for replacement.

Use (and Misuse) of Business Case Studies

I am a huge fan of learning through cases, but I’ve also seen a lot of mis-learning through cases. In particular, learning through the presentation of business situations and discussion in order to uncover the many competing forces within a given decision is super helpful. The unique aspect of learning by the formal case method is captured in the discussion more than in the documented … [ Read more ]

Decrypting The Secrets of Business Triumph

Business practitioners study them, students debate them and companies examine them. The most-popular case studies of the last 40 years show some timeless business challenges and how to overcome them.

MBA Tips: How to Prepare Harvard Business School Cases

While reading and preparing cases is a significant part of any business school experience, there isn’t always a concrete result to your work. You could easily invest hours preparing a case and have nothing to say about it during the class discussion. It’s because of this ambiguous return on investment that many people choose not to read the scheduled case before a class … [ Read more ]

Some Notes on Case Analysis

Dave Robinson, a marketing professor at Haas, offers some notes on performing case analysis and also offers his “Six C’s model” of Business Situation Analysis.

Retaining Knowledge Capital

Facing massive brain drain from the retirement of a third of its workforce, Tennessee Valley Authority generated a knowledge-retention network to conserve its intellectual capital.

Preparing an Effective Case Analysis

This site presents a moderately structured framework. The authors divide the discussion into four sections. First, they describe the importance of understanding the skills active learners can acquire through effective use of the case analysis method. In the second section, they provide you with a process-oriented framework. This framework can be of value in your efforts to analyze cases and then present the results of … [ Read more ]

Guide to Case Analysis

This excellent guide from Otterbein College provides an overview of the case method. It begins with a discussion of the role that cases play in the teaching/learning process. This is followed by a series of guidelines for case analysis. After carefully reading this material, you should be prepared to tackle your first case analysis. Even if you have had previous experience with cases, this guide … [ Read more ]

Classic Cases Live On at HBS

Harvard Business School is famous for its case method of classroom teaching. Here is a look at some of the classic cases that have been taught to business leaders worldwide-and are still in use today.

When your competitor delivers more for less

Value-driven competitors have changed the expectations of consumers about the trade-off between quality and price. This shift is gathering momentum, placing a new premium on-and adding new twists to-the old imperatives of differentiation and execution.

IESE International MBA Case Competition

The International MBA Case Competition has taken place at IESE in Barcelona every year since 1996. This is the only case competition that brings together some of the most prestigious business schools from across the globe to prepare, analyze, and present recommendations for the case to an esteemed panel of judges. This competition has included teams from The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, … [ Read more ]

Realizing the Promise of Corporate Portals: Bain & Company

Bain has been an early adopter of knowledge management (KM) and demonstrated strong KM leadership. It is clear that the deployment of Bain’s corporate portals (CP) significantly improved the speed and accuracy of knowledge flow in the firm. Most importantly, three of Bain’s core explicit values are clearly revealed in the design and practices related to the deployment of BVU and GXC: a continuous learning … [ Read more ]

Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? Leading a Great Enterprise through Dramatic Change

Gerstner quarterbacked one of history’s most dramatic corporate turnarounds. For those who follow business stories like football games, his tale of the rise, fall and rise of IBM might be the ultimate slow-motion replay. He became IBM’s CEO in 1993, when the gargantuan company was near collapse. The book’s opening section snappily reports Gerstner’s decisions in his first 18 months on the job-the critical “sprint” … [ Read more ]

The Barista Principle – Starbucks and the Rise of Relational Capital

How did a small Seattle company turn itself into a global synonym for java and joe? The answer, we believe, lies with an ingredient as central to Starbucks’s business as the premium coffee beans it roasts: Relationships.

Starbucks is not the only company that firmly believes that an emphasis on relationships should be more than simply management rhetoric. Nor is it the only company that … [ Read more ]

The Case Against Cases

Enron’s popularity as a business-school “success story” raises tough questions about how case studies are prepared.

Getting All the Credit

Capital One has built a credit-card empire by testing and testing and testing, then testing some more.

Concordia MBA International Case Competition

“Since 1981, Concordia University has been hosting its prestigious MBA International Case Competition (MBA-ICC). The primary objective of this non-profit, student-organized event is to provide an enriching educational and social experience for all participants. Twenty-one years of experience has allowed us to grow into an international and highly recognized five-day, 30-team competition. Today, the Concordia MBA-ICC it is the largest and oldest MBA Case Competition … [ Read more ]