Page 343 - The Case Lab Book

Students normally come to the case method fresh with little or no exposure to this form of teaching and
learning. Their first experiences can often be traumatic as they are confronted with an unstructured body
of work against which they have to bring some form of order by systematising its component parts. From
this process some form of prioritisation is attempted as the student tries to rationalise the information he/she
has before them. At this point the student is still engaged in surface learning as linkages have not yet been
made. However, once the linkages between the individual elements in a case are established the holistic
nature of the case study begins to emerge e.g. juxtaposing a time-line of events against share price
movement allows critical event analysis to begin (Diagram 3).

From the critical event analysis the student should be able to appreciate the fact that the new CEO has
overseen the launch of a new product into both the US and Chinese markets but has experienced negative
reviews within the industry and is facing a battle with its competitors for the industry standard of production.
The outcome is that share price has dropped by nearly sixty percentage points indicating that the market
does not have confidence in the new product becoming the industry standard. Subsequently however, the
share price rallies indicating perhaps, that some form of alliance has been made with its competitor?

It is therefore, the responsibility of the lecturer to provide the milestones and directions for the students
to follow especially at the start of their journey. Recognition of this by the lecturer is crucial as the test of a
case study lies with the instructor, the situation and its setting. The test of a case lies with the instructor, the
situation and its setting. If the case produces an exciting and provocative learning experience for those
participating in its use then that is a good case. It emphasizes synergistic collaborative learning [Boehrer &
Linsky, 1990]. Perhaps at this point the role of the lecturer should be clarified. He is part of the learning
equation. He has to provide as a minimum a working solution that enhances the students learning process.
Current wisdom says that there is no standard form for a business case study. Business case studies will
vary in length, style, format, and data presentation. However, the common feature of the case study is the
route to understanding and arriving at a resolution for it. This resolution is simply a process, driven not by
the search for answers per se, but rather, by continually asking questions such as,

‘Why?’
‘What was the cause?’
‘What was the effect?’ and
‘What impact did this have on performance?’

If these questions can be answered then solution generation and justification for such are well
underway. For the lecturer then, the aim is to create a vehicle that, through the application of judicious
questioning, fosters a learner centered and action oriented experience geared to producing a stimulating
and challenging and illuminating pedagogy for the student.

However, students new to the case method may experience an element of fear when first confronted
with this form of complex, unstructured problem. It is at this point that an ‘armchair’ (non-factual) case study
was introduced.

The case study was distributed to the students with the instruction that all they should do is read it.
When the class meets the students are informed that, if it is alright with them, they will be treated as
‘congenital morons’ with little or no knowledge and with little expectation of serious input to the solution as
he examines the case study and draws out the analysis by examining each paragraph of the case study?
Furthermore, he will read out each paragraph and will call upon them for their take on each paragraph in
terms of their interpretation of it i.e. what is being said (Board 1).

The essential tool necessary at this point is the chalk board where important concepts can be written
and developed as they emerge from the lecturer led discussion. Board work gives structure to the
discussion and students who are new to the case method often find that a practical worked solution drawing
on the experiences of the class (and lecturer) alleviates some of the initial trepidation associated with the
unfamiliar. The simple fact of writing important concepts on the board as they emerge from the discussion
and showing key points and their linkages goes a long way in assuaging case method fear and preparing