In the last five years I have spent studying business administration, now working on my master’s degree in the subject, I have always felt that the stigma around business classes could easily be avoided.
Since my junior year, I have learned and spoken of ways to fix Whiteclaw, what pricing and reward strategy works best for a rental car company and even which storefront a specific showerhead should go in. These have been through business cases, which have become my favorite part of the business administration curriculum.
Business cases, popularized by the Harvard Business Review, cover an instance where a business and/or generalized group have come to a problem, and the student is tasked with solving it.
These, in my experience, have been extremely effective. It is nearly impossible to forget certain cases. For example, I still carry with me the story of Jean-Claude Biver, who turned two no-name watch start-ups into successful companies. I further still remember the laugh that was had when my incorrect decision within a case led to the hypothetical launch of a failed space shuttle.
Parker Ellen, associate dean of the MSU College of Business, has utilized the Harvard Business Review cases in multiple classes in the past and said he looks back on them fondly.
“I think the reason I like teaching them so much is because they really do, well-written ones, bring the material to life and it enables students to engage, show their opinions, back up the reasons for their choice [and more],” Ellen said.
In a managerial context, critical thinking is essential to well-tailored decision-making. As Ellen explained, cases go a long way to help “grow that muscle.”
Joel Collier, Dean W.C. Flewellen, Jr. Endowed Chair in Marketing for the College of Business spoke similarly of the use of cases in his graduate marketing class in business administration.
“Some of it is really trying to get them to understand that you have to look at a perspective from multiple directions to really understand it,” Collier said. “And I would even say as a society in the whole today, we are very much entrenched in [the mindset of] ‘I want to look at it one way because I believe that’s right and then I don’t really care about the other side.'”
Collier said that the business cases help his students understand the bigger picture of business decisions.
“I think even in business schools we have to do a better job of really understanding the collective hole of the issue instead of just looking at its pieces to really understand how to critically think moving forward,” Collier said.
In my opinion, this is the case for cases. Both to bring real-world scenarios to the forefront to help learn material and also to understand that business cases can be filled with blind spots. It is never as simple as knowing a company or industry that can allow for a well-done answer.
Mel Fugate, professor of management at the College of Business, stated his disagreement on the matter.
“So for me, I have a very specific view on cases, and I’ll admit my own bias, I think they are wildly overused,” Fugate said.
Fugate went on to explain his belief that using cases can help illustrate concepts, apply learning and give common contexts to all students, but too often they are used ineffectively. On top of this, Fugate said they are tough to pull together and can often be replaced by asking students to find real-world applications for concepts through reading articles.
“I had folks do ethics application articles where they go out, read the materials and show you understand the concept so that you can identify it when going and looking for those examples and applying it to those,” Fugate. “Those aren’t cases, that’s another way to achieve the same thing.”
These are beyond fair points, but I have felt my education has been only broadened through case use in classes.
From MakerBot’s switch from open to closed source and proper ways to compete in the rental car space to even finding out what might be causing a varsity rowing team to be performing worse than a junior varsity team, I have learned managerial skills through other’s experiences more often than I ever have from a lecture.
