Page 89 - PRAGMATIC STRATEGY

The Harvard Approach -V- The European Approach

Broadly speaking, there have been two major approaches to business
policy case study analysis: the first was and is the Harvard approach,
developed at the Harvard Business School and then subsequently

adopted by most of the major business schools throughout the world.
This approach was based on a systematic study of the firm, in the
context of the five main functional areas of management:

finance,
marketing,

production,
personnel and
general management (business management).

Developing from this approach were cases, which had ‘decision
points’, which were clearly identifiable. Generally, they tended to be

based on cases taken from the manufacturing sector.

The second approach was the European approach, and it consisted of
an eclectic, unstructured study of the processes taking place within the

organisation. This was done by employing a checklist of questions,
such as:

• What are the facts of the case?

• What problem(s) are evident in the case?

• How can these problems be defined?

• Do we need more information?

• What is/are the cause(s) and what is/are the effect(s)?
• Can the problem be classified?