The Case Method in Management Education

“Only 7% of students are employable”

Source: The Hindu Business Line

Prof Pramath Raj Sinha
Founding Dean
Indian School of Business

“Like with education in
other fields, only
bookish knowledge is
being pushed through
with no relevant
context or practical
learning. That is the
main issue”
Prof Pramath Raj Sinha
Founding Dean
Indian School of Business

● Concepts
● Frameworks
● Metrics

Core competency
Benchmarking
Division of labor
Downsizing
Market segmentation
Resources allocation
Re-engineering
Test marketing
Vertical integration
Concepts

● McKinsey 7S model
● The 7Ps of the Marketing
Mix
● AIDA
● The BCG Matrix
● Porter's Five Forces
● The Balanced Scorecard
● Blue Ocean Strategy
Frameworks

Current Ratio
Return on Equity
Return on Investment
Net Profit Margin
Debt to Equity Ratio
Customer Acquisition Cost
Time to Break Even
Cost per Lead
Metrics

“While the textbooks help [students in] acquiring more
knowledge, case studies help in developing wisdom by
giving a lot of scope for application of knowledge and
mind which is the crux of wisdom.”
Dr Shalini Verma
Professor – Business Communication
Jaipuria Institute of Management

● Verbal ability
● Quantitative ability
● Reasoning

Overall average percentage score obtained by MBAs
● Verbal ability - 53%
● Quantitative ability - 42%
● Reasoning - 38%.
MeritTrac Services India - 2012

Source: Top Hap 2016 Professor Pulse Survey

“A series of well-selected case studies is it helps
students develop the skill of “pattern recognition” (or
the ability to “connect the dots”). Over a period of
18-24 months of a regular management course, a
student examines anything between 60 to 300 case
studies—all “slices of life” experiences.”
Prof Jones Mathews
Great Lakes Institute of Management

“A new idea comes suddenly and in a rather intuitive way, but intuition is
nothing but the outcome of earlier intellectual experience.” ― Albert Einstein

10
3 year average
rank in Global
MBA Ranking by
FT
Open
CourseWare

Lecture Number Topics Type
1 Introduction Lecture
2 Burger King and
McDonald's
Case
3 Capacity Lecture
4 National
Cranberry
Case
5 Webvan Case
6 Inventory Lecture

● lecture
● case
● lecture

Case Writeup 1. Work in groups
2. Write cases
3. Use metrics / concepts /
frameworks
4. Analyse the major
issues
5. State all options
6. State the
recommendations

1. Heart
2. Head
3. Hand
4. Heart

“as you watch a case
study unfold in class,
you'll see students
doing 85 percent of
the talking.”
Harvard Business School

What I hear, I forget.
What I hear and see, I remember a little.
What I hear, see, and ask questions about or
discuss with someone else, I begin to
understand.
What I hear, see, discuss, and do, I acquire
knowledge and skill.

Sum Up
1) Teaching the
definitions of the
business concepts are
not enough because
the students may not
be able to apply them.
2) We have to show
the students how the
frameworks they
study at classrooms
work in the
boardrooms.
3) Case Method can
help students gain
expert intuition
4) It can boost the
engagement rate at
classrooms

Agenda
1. Start with Why?
2. Workshop: Case Study Writing
3. Alter the Scope; Tweak the Agenda
4. The Need of the Hour

Time Topic Type Duration
10:00 - 10:30 AM Inaugural session
10:30 - 11:15 AM Self Introduction /
Overview
Presentation &
Interactions
45 minutes
11-15 - 11:30 Tea / Coffee Break 15 minutes
11:30 - 12:15 PM Start with Why Presentation 45 minutes
12:15 - 01:15 PM Workshop Case Presentation
and Workshop
1 hour
01:15 - 02:00 PM Lunch break
02:00 - 02:15 Nap breaker games 15 minutes
02:15 - 03:00 PM Alter the scope &
Tweak the agenda
Presentation and
Interactions
45 minutes
03:00 - 03:15 PM Tea / Coffee Break
03:15 - 03:45 PM The Need of the
Hour
Presentation and
Interactions
30 minutes
03:45 - 04:00 PM Sum up & Feedback 15 minutes

Start with Why?
● What a Case Study Is?
● How it Contributes to BoK

The core purpose of the case
method is to equip students to
use the concepts, frameworks,
and metrics they learn at
colleges to come up with
answers for business
challenges.

1) Why a business succeeded?
2) Why a business failed?
3) How a business can turn around or be
competitive in the future?

Essential Steps
● understand the business
needs
● analyse a business
situation
● know where the business
stands in a particular
context
● recommend actions that
can take the business
where it wants to go next.

Concepts
needs
situation
context

Frameworks
needs
situation
context

Executive Summary
(5 minute read)

● 3Cs of Profiling
● Market Segmentation
○ small - 10,000 birds
○ medium - 10,000 to 50,000 birds
○ large - upwards of 50,000
● Product positioning

● SWOT analysis
● 4Ps of Marketing

● Pricing
○ Cost and Profit pricing
○ Competitive pricing
○ Value Based Pricing
● Cost
○ Fixed cost
○ Variable Cost
● Break-even Analysis
○ Breakeven Sales Output
○ Profitable Sales Output
○ Market Share

● Recommendations
○ Market capitalization
○ Profitability
○ Promotional strategy

“When students participate in case studies, they can
contribute to the Body of Knowledge in management
by demonstrating, disproving or giving birth to new
concepts and framework.”

Flagship
Fill Gap
Free
Future
?

Workshop:
Writing a case study

Backgrounder
● Company
● Competition
● Customer

Brand & Marketing
● Price
● Positioning
● Promotion

Recommendations
● Utility
● Aspirations
● Ease of Use

● 6 groups
● Group Discussion (30 mins)
● Oral Presentation (2-3 mins / group)

Refer
Backgrounder
● Company
● Competitor
● Customers
Brand
● Pricing
● Positioning
● Promotion
Recommendations
● Utility
● Aspirations
● Ease of use

Alter the Scope;
Tweak the Agenda

“The HBS case
study pedagogy
works extremely
well at….”

● 40% Vs 80%
● 200-250 cases / year
● USP / Brand Promise

● 40% Vs 80%
● Major source of revenue
● Protagonist in the campus

● 40% Vs 80%
● Diversity & expertise of students

● 40% Vs 80%
● ~50% score for class participation

● 40% Vs 80%
● ~50% score for class participation
● Case support: Case Research and
Writing Group & 8 Regional
Research Centres

● 90 person classes
● classroom shape/design

● Professors spend 8 or more hours
for a 80 minute case discussion

● Students prepare 1 hour per case
discussion

● Students prepare 1 hour per case
discussion
● The major source of revenue

Way out?
Adopting the Case Method for
our context

● Field cases
● Library cases
● "Armchair" cases

● Field cases
● Library cases
● "Armchair" cases
● Titbit Cases

Your inputs? ● What is a framework
that you are most
familiar with?

Your inputs? ● What is a framework
that you are most
familiar with?
● Can you come up
with 3 business news
that support it?

● Simple, plain language
● No metrics
● Based on news items
● Very brief / 5 min read

To begin with...
● Select a few key concepts / frameworks
● Organize weekly or fortnightly case method
sessions
● Get students present business stories that
support them

"It's imperative that black students see role models.
They see people — great businessmen and
businesswomen — who look like them."

● Amul
● Mumbai Dabbawala
● Aravind Eye Hospital

● Adyar Ananda Bhavan?
● Suguna Chickens?
● Esae Scales?

"It's hard to be who
you can’t see"

i. Attract bright and talented students
ii. Publicity among a wider audience
iii. Clear and concise record
iv. Useful for internal training of managers
v. Co-authorship opportunities
vi. Confidential information could be disguised
Courtesy:
Prof Jones Mathew
Great Lakes Institute of Management

The Case Method in Management Education

The Case Method in Management Education

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to The Case Method in Management Education

Similar to The Case Method in Management Education (20)

More from Sankar Narayanan

More from Sankar Narayanan (13)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (18)

The Case Method in Management Education