Page 12 - Introduction & Preamble

“Strategy is like sex when all is said and done more is said than

done.”

Case studies may be viewed similarly. It seems that business

case study development, analysis and use suffered

historically from a number of shortcomings, not the least of
which was a paucity of choice. In itself, this was a serious

weakness, and one which was further compounded by an

even worse supply of business case study teaching guides.

These failings impacted directly on the efficacy of the case
method.

Today, very little has changed, though the application of new
technologies still holds the promise of radical

transformation.

Case studies are generally written to reflect real life
situations and like life, do not supply perfect information.

Often a guest speaker from the company studied would be

invited to address the class, thereby increasing the value of

the case study as a learning tool as the rationale for why

actions were undertaken are supplied straight from the
horse’s mouth. (See Diagram 3).

Today’s technology allows the business case study to become
more effective. But it should be noted that interactivity within

and between e-resources is all too often overlooked or done

badly. Here, ‘glitz’ is used to disguise the inadequacies of the
e-resource application. This may convince ‘early adopters’ to

use/purchase but in the long run it does a disservice to the

case method and its users.