CASE METHOD LEARNING
Why Case Studies?
“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”
Confucius
This tutorial is designed to help you analyze case studies, whether you are new or experienced with cases.
The Case Method
Case Method Learning is a practical, collaborative teaching and learning approach. This method values learning by doing and learning by working with actual leadership challenges faced by real leaders and managers. These are not stories; instead, they challenge your ability to analyze information, make decisions, and defend those decisions when others around you may disagree. By analyzing real cases, you learn to become a leader and manager. You will advance and debate ideas—often, the case study has no right or wrong solution. Unlike the traditional lecture method, which involves one-way delivery of accepted truths and ideas from a professor to a student, the case method approach involves equal contributions from all members.
A case describes an actual situation, commonly involving a decision, a challenge, an opportunity, a problem, or an issue faced by a person (or persons) in an organization. A case will allow you to step figuratively into the position of a particular decision-maker. The case method is designed to enhance student understanding of the core concepts of the course as well as to encourage critical thinking (McKeachie, 1999).
Cases enable you to learn by doing and by teaching others. What you learn becomes deeply ingrained and stays with you. The repetitive opportunity to identify, analyze, and solve several issues in various settings prepares you to become truly professional as a leader.
Steps to Analyze a Case