It is a story of the evolution of a Case Research Journal - South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases. The journal accepts four types of cases: Qualitative Case Study Research, Phenomenon based theory extension or theory-building cases, Review articles and Methodological articles.

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Evolution of SAJBMC - a Case Research
Journal
 Published on March 21, 2022
(Link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/evolution-sajbmc-case-research-journal-ajoy-k-dey/?published=t)
(Credit to the original creator)
Ajoy K. Dey
Keynote Speaker, Research Guide and Professor, Birla Institute of Management Technology
South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases (SAJBMC) is published by SAGE
with the academic support of BIMTECH. It is the ONLY journal for qualitative case study
research (QCSR), that makes unique conceptual and theoretical contributions.
The case focused journal is SCOPUS listed and indexed in ABS at Level 1. In the year 2021,
about 79000 cases were downloaded.
The first issue came out in April 2012. Until 2017, the journal accepted all types of cases for
review, which included narrative stories of the business processes, many without theory
linkages or course aligned learning outcomes.

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First inflexion point: Theory linked cases only
From April 2018 issue, the journal made a strategic shift to accepting only theory linked
cases. The majority of cases submitted by authors were of teaching case type in which the
main two components of a teaching note – theory link, and case questions were included in
the body of the case. The journal did not publish teaching note.
In the year 2019, the failure to get admitted to the ABDC list taught us that to compete in the
marketplace crowded with so many research journals we have to increase the citation of
cases!
The problem was that a case is strongly embedded in the context; it seldom gets cited by
other authors.
The challenge before the editorial team was to find a way to increase the citation of cases. We
realised that between the main two types of cases – teaching and research – a research case
still has some chance of getting cited. Citing a teaching case is out of the question. They will
be downloaded by faculty to be used in class discussions. So it is better to move away from
publishing teaching cases.
Second inflexion point: No entry for the Teaching Case
From the issue of April 2020, we stopped accepting teaching cases. Only cases in which a
phenomenon has been studied with the help of research questions (no dilemma with
alternatives) within a well-bounded context were considered. Such cases enabled developing
a deeper understanding of the phenomenon and because of bounded context could generate a
new meaning of the phenomenon in some instances.
But the editorial team members were not clear as to which type of research cases could fetch
us higher citations?
A lot of literature reviews and many consultations with case experts led us to the
understanding of qualitative case study research.
Going through the works of the four global thought leaders – Robert Yin, Kathleen
Eisenhardt, Sharan Merriam and Robert Stake – we developed a liking for the approaches
advocated by Merriam and Stake. Both suggest using qualitative methods for data collection
and analysis. We felt that the multi-case method of Eisenhardt will be difficult to understand
and practice by our type of case authors. It may take time to understand. We have distanced
from Yin because he suggests using even quantitative methods for data collection and
analysis for case research. Finally, we decided to go for the case research that follows the
structures of Merriam and Stake.
Third inflexion point: Accepting only Qualitative Case Study Research (QCSR)
From the issue of April 2021, SAJBMC started publishing only qualitative case study
research. To help case authors to comprehend the structure of QCSR, we have created many
articles to be shared on social media. Published a book titled “Case Method for Digital
Natives” which included three chapters on teaching and research cases. Conducted many
workshops for management faculty and scholars.

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One good thing is that the downloads of cases increased from 27000 in 2020 to 79000 in
2021.
On the negative side, the number of cases got drastically reduced and they needed multiple
rounds of revisions to improve their quality. It is clear that our authors are struggling to
frame QCSR and would need more time.
To increase the inflow by attracting more authors we have planned to expand the scope of
cases that will be accepted by SAJBMC. Also, we gave guidance to write cases on
entrepreneurship, sustainability, start-up, and social entrepreneurship. And, invited reputed
case authors to guest edit thematic issues. Upcoming three issues of April 2022, April 2023
and December 2023 will be edited by eminent case authors.
Fourth inflexion point: Expanding the scope of cases for acceptance
After a lot of soul searching the editorial team has concluded that besides Qualitative case
study research, the journal will be open to accepting the following four types of submissions:
Type 1: Manifestation of theory
Phenomenon based cases where the manifestation of theory can be seen in the data and
information collected from an organization. At least one of the sources of information must
be primary (in-depth interview) data.
Example 1
Naara-Aaba is an indigenous wine innovated by a woman who could predict a beautiful end
to her vision of brewing wine from the sacred but exotic fruit kiwi. The brand was launched
in 2017 at Hong village of Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh by Tage Rita Takhe; an engineer turned
entrepreneur through her venture M/s Lambu Subu Food & Beverages. The motto of the
company is to fight a social problem that wreaks havoc across the region, namely the suicides
of thousands of farmers who cannot pay back their debt due to drought, poor harvest, and
sometimes exacerbated by climate. Rita started her winery facing these hurdles and a field
abundant in kiwi fruits. Despite facing many challenges such as lack of efficient production
infrastructure, market connectivity, and minimum support from the government machinery,
she has created a niche market in the wine industry.
This case aims to establish the applicability of the Blue Ocean strategy by applying the tools
to create an uncontested market space for Naara-Aaba, the first organic kiwi wine from the
north-eastern states of India and second in the world after New Zealand.
Read the case here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/22779779211028550
Example 2
In a case on sustainability, the author may bring out the manifestation of the four pillars
(social, human, economic and environmental) of sustainability in the case of Yulu Bikes
(Visit: https://www.yulu.bike/).

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Such a case will help in developing a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of
sustainability in the urban transport system in the context of Yulu Bikes.
Read the case here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2277977920957954
Type 2: Finding a new meaning of a phenomenon
Cases that can develop a fresh understanding of some existing phenomenon by determining
theoretical limits within a context. At least one of the sources of information is preferred to
be primary (in-depth interview) data.
Example 1
According to the research, the current understanding of the phenomenon of developing an
intentionally established organizational community of practice (OCoP) does not provide
enough understanding of the enabling and disabling factors for developing an OCoP. After
doing an in-depth qualitative case study of two organizations (organizational level context),
the author recognised the need to integrate knowledge management initiatives while
developing intentional OCoPs, thus expanding the current phenomenon of developing
OCoPs.
Read the case here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/22779779211036961
Example 2
Workplace bullying is a common phenomenon. However, the research on addressing bullying
done to neuro-diverse employees is negligible thus limiting the understanding of the
phenomenon itself. The study focuses on a broad international level context and collects
publicly available documents on bullying from three countries to provide policy level insights
in tackling bullying of neuro-diverse employees
Read the case here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2277977919881406
Type 3: Review articles suggesting new areas of case research
SAJBMC is also interested in considering review articles (systematic review, integrative,
meta-analysis bibliometric studies) or conceptual studies, for
any contemporary and interesting phenomenon for which the need to synthesize
current evidence exists. Examples are bootstrapped entrepreneurship, the role of leadership in
social value creation, communication during disruptive times, and the role of trust in building
a social enterprise.
Such studies should map the broad contours of the literature to determine its common
theoretical and empirical approaches, intellectual core, and evolution over time. Qualitative
content analysis may be used to synthesize main findings and create a conceptual framework.
In addition to providing a rich and systematically organized account of the evidence, the
analysis must provide promising avenues for future case study
research and a critical reflection on ethical dilemmas.

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Type 4: Methodological articles
SAJBMC is interested in considering methodological articles that can provide insights in
using qualitative case study research as a methodology. We invite such articles that are
written on experiences of using this methodology as well as articles that are focused on
extending the methodology.
If you can write such cases or review articles, please submit:
https://peerreview.sagepub.com/bmc?_ga=2.195377327.245203293.1607487985-
223714207.1574011132
Kindly share your views.
E Mail: ak.dey@bimtech.ac.in