Best Practices: Business Case Studies
Task Complexity Continuum
Simple _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X _ Complex
Classroom Interaction Continuum
Limited _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X Extensive
Course Objective Continuum
Knowledge _ _ X _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Skill
Continuum of Student Experiences
Inexperienced _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Experienced
Activity can be structured for use with either inexperienced or experienced students.
Activity Description:
In business and management, case study research allows students to examine "real-life" scenarios to explore effective strategies. Because of the need for brevity, pre-written business cases often present only introductory case "facts". Students may benefit in studying the broader business contexts in which the case is presented. Classes can also analyze a company which is facing a business or management challenge in real-time, tracking case events as they unfold in the media.
Activity Purpose:
Business case studies are assigned to students to emphasize analysis, problem solving, and decision making. This activity will help students to find additional information to facilitate strategic decision making within the broader contexts of the case.
Implementation Steps:
- Assign a case or case question which illustrates your point. Cases can be found in the textbook, in periodicals, or purchased from commercial case suppliers like Harvard Business School. (See Additional Information below.) "Real-world" or evolving case examples can be pulled from news or trade publications.
- Assign students into small groups to encourage active learning. Teams facilitate discussion of case issues in a smaller group, capitalize on the theoretical knowledge and strengths of individual team members, and engender competition among groups.
- Generate case questions for the teams to answer based on the information given in the case and additional information the students might need to consider, emphasize, or find. You may wish to utilize pre-written case questions, write and distribute your own questions, or, for students experienced in the case method, you may have the teams generate their own questions.
- Discuss resources students might use to seek additional information with which to answer their questions. For a complete list of Passport's databases available for business and management, see Additional Information below.
- Questions of theory, for example human motivations or business strategy or applicable state and federal laws, might be answered by the course textbook, a periodical article, or a library book on the topic.
- Articles from thousands of business and management journals, trade magazines and business newspapers, are available on Passports via ABI/Inform Complete, Business Source Premier, and Business & Company Resource Center.
- To find books on a topic, search the library's online catalog.
- Industry overviews, including current operating environment and future trends, for more than 50 U.S. industries can be found on Standard & Poor's Net Advantage.
- Company financials, including ratios and stock data (see "Tear Sheets"), can be found on Mergent Online.
- Want students to compare company ratios to the industry? D&B Key Business Ratios provides selected industry ratios for solvency, efficiency, and profitability.
- Value Line Investment Survey provides "Industry Commentary" and stock reports for large-cap companies.
- Want U. S. macroeconomic data? Stat-USA's "State of the Nation" file provides current and historical general (e.g. CPI, PPI) and specific (employment and housing construction) economic indicators as well monetary statistics and major financial releases from the federal government.
Additional Information:
To find case studies, please see the Passports' Business Case Studies page.
Internet resources for Business/Company Research and other related topics are available on Passports' Web sites/Search engines pages.
A complete, alphabetical list of databases and lists for Business and Finance and Management and Human Resources are available on Passports.