Case method of Teaching

What is case method ?

•Representative of real world

•It can be a situation

•A review of Eco/ Industry/ Firm

•Of situations @ a point of time

•It came from different disciplines

Why case method? In management studies

•Because wisdom cannot be taught

•To stimulate environment for decision making

What it a case discussion does

• Creative discussions, skills to handle situation in a Jiffy

• Expression of different opinions logically conceptually and impromptu way

• Up-dating and understanding current information/business situations and

its implications

• Preparing students for skills to Apply and appreciation of concepts to

Business situations – so conceptual skills can be inculcated

CASE DISCUSSION:

WHAT IS IT LIKE? WHAT IS ITS PURPOSE?

Case discussion is interactive, student-centered exploration of realistic and

specific narratives that provide grist for inductive learning.

Unlike lecture-based teaching, the case method requires intensive preparation

by the students, before each class. If a case has been assigned for discussion in
the class, the student must prepare carefully and thoroughly for the case
discussion.

The students engage in the intellectual, and emotional, exercise of facing

complex problems and making critical decisions within the constraints imposed
by reality, e.g. limited time and information, and pervasive uncertainty.

Considering them from the protagonist’s perspective, which calls on analysis to

inform action, the students strive to resolve questions that have no single right
answer. Their differing views and approaches produce a creative tension that
fuels the enterprise and a synergistic outcome that both recognizes and exceeds
their individual contributions.

In their effort to find solutions and reach decisions through discussion, they sort
out factual data, apply analytical tools, articulate issues, reflect on their relevant
experience, and draw conclusions they can carry forward to new situations. In
the process, they acquire substantive knowledge, develop analytic and
collaborative skills, and gain in self-confidence and attention to detail.

A case discussion differs in come important respects from what is conventional in

many college and university classrooms. The students engage in the text rather
than examine it. They are active and animated: offering ideas, raising questions,
building on each others’ statements, constructing a collective analysis, re-
framing the discussion, challenging the teacher, learning with and from each
other as much as, or more than, from him or her.

The teacher is also active, and frequently mobile: initiating discussion and
drawing the class into it, inviting engagement in the issues, amplifying some
students’ remarks and pointing up opposing views, feeding the group’s thinking
back to it, pulling the threads of conversation together and tying them in to the
course’s themes; in short, structuring and facilitating the students’ work rather
than delivering information, giving explanations, or providing answers.

Among the purposes of case discussion are to:

• Foster Critical Thinking

• Encourage Student Responsibility for Learning
• Transfer Information, Concept, and Technique
• Develop Command of a Body of Material
• Blend Affective and Cognitive Learning
• Enliven the Classroom Dynamic
• Develop Collaboration Skills
• Teach Questioning and Self-Directed Learning
 Guidelines for Writing Case Study Analysis
PURPOSE OF CASE STUDY ANALYSIS:

1. To provide an opportunity for you to apply your new management knowledge.

2. To confront you with real management situations for which there are no obvious
answers.
3. To develop your analytical skills

CASE ANALYSIS: WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT IS NOT:

 A case analysis is NOT a summary of what happened in the case in a more condensed
form.
 In a case analysis you must combine the facts and your insights and inferences
that you gain from studying the case together with the appropriate Organizational
Behaviour theories to develop a credible explanation of what is at the heart of the
events in the case and what should be done to make things better.
 Your case analysis should be written as if you are writing a report to give to your
manager at work. You need to persuade your manager that you have correctly
analysed the situation and that your plans, suggestions, predictions and/or
conclusions need to be acted upon by him/her.

FORMAT:

i. Your case analysis must have a cover page presenting the chapter and case titles, the
names of the team members (if any) (be creative)
ii. The first page will present a summary of your case that emphasizes what you consider
to be the critical points in the case.
iii. Read the case through once quickly to gain an overview. Then read it more carefully.
iv. Read the textbook and any other relevant reading materials that may provide you with
theoretical framework for considering the issues in the case.
v. Study the questions of your assigned case carefully to ensure that you are answering
the “right” question.
vi. As you go over the information that is available to you, write down important points
and ideas that you might want to include in the analysis.
vii. Answer each of the case questions very thoughtfully, Instructor always look
for your managerial insight into practical situations and your application of OB
theories.
viii. Questions asking what YOU would do if were the key person in the case, or asking
YOU to make suggestions or predictions, or challenging you to respond personally
are the critical questions and require your most thoughtful answers. These questions
challenge you to apply your OB learning to a practical situation. They challenge your
managerial insight and ability to apply what you are learning. Write your answer to
these questions in the first person, and support each of your major points with the
appropriate OB theory.
ix. If direct questions are not asked in the case then write your analysis with the
following four headings:

♦ Summary of the facts presented.

♦ Analysis of the problems
♦ Recommendations for solutions to the problems
♦ Implications your recommendations will have on the operation of the organization