Page 3 - Ice Breaker Article

3

ABSTRACT

Business case studies allow students to use theory in anger and to test the boundaries
of their knowledge. However, what was going on in the classroom especially with the
introductory class, sparked the recognition that case analysis can be a threatening
prospect and one that the lecturer should address. The use of the ice breaker case study
whereby the lecturer takes responsibility for solution generation is an attempt to demystify
the case method. In order to aid this process this paper has been reproduced and
augmented in e-resource format at http://www.mbahelp4u.com. It may be downloaded
directly to tablet or IPad.

KEY WORDS: E-resource, e-resource case study, business case studies, chalkboard,
complex unstructured problems, ice breaker business case study

INTRODUCTION
'The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes.'

Marcel Proust

In his book “The Name of the Rose” Umberto Eco [Eco,1982] wrote that the Bible was not
meant to be read rather, it was meant to be interpreted. A sentiment reinforced by Bauman
[Bauman, 2005], when he wrote

“…..we have 89,000+ laws on the book to apply the basic Ten Commandments”.

Case studies may be seen in a similar light. They are generally written to reflect real life
situations and like life, do not supply perfect information. Instead, they require the reader to read
between the lines, make assumptions after re-ordering and combining the information provided,
and by drawing on experience generate solutions. It is therefore, through this combination of
stimuli, this marriage of theory, practice, and experience that conclusions are generated. These
conclusions provide the key to good case solution generation for it is they that provide the
underpinning and justification for the actions and resolutions chosen.

So, ‘case studies are not meant to be read rather, they are meant to be interpreted.’

This manifested itself in the realisation that students are not passive recipients of knowledge.
They do not simply soak-up and absorb information and concepts. Nor does knowledge simply
download directly into their brains. They are sentient with a desire to use their accumulated
knowledge and experience not plug and play automatons [Wertheim 2006]. Business case studies
allow them to use theory in anger and to test the boundaries of their knowledge.
Case studies are designed to bring out the details from the viewpoint of the case participants
by using multiple sources of data [Tellis, 1997]. Essentially it is used to amalgamate disparate
sources of information into a structure and analysis that makes sense of a complex unstructured
problem. Reva Brown [Brown,1995] put it succinctly when she observed that:

“..the case study is many things. It is systematic story-telling; it is a way of writing (or talking) about
seeing; it is a tool for teaching; it is a philosophy for approaching research; it is a technique for
researching; it is a reason (or an excuse) for taking seriously investigations into vague, blurred or fuzzy
topics; it is a rigorous vehicle which sits comfortably and equally alongside more quantitative research;
and I could go on.”

This is augmented by the view that