Page 768 - The Case Lab Book

students from any location. Gone is the local market advantage of the regional schools—
and with it—the crucial source of revenue from part-time and executive MBA programs.”

How then will these views impact upon the case method and its position in teaching? The
answer is not difficult. It lies with the movement away from the traditional Harvard style
case study and its teaching methodology towards a more participative style based on
recognition of the demands of the users.

In his book “The Name of the Rose” Umberto Eco (1982) wrote that the Bible was not
meant to be read rather, it was meant to be interpreted. A sentiment reinforced by
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.’

However, 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