On Case Studies and MBA Programs
714 449 1040 www.mixnerstrategy.com
Harvard Business School case studies don't work as well as they could because they give everything away too quickly. They're dense, comprehensive, conclusive and don't require collaboration to solve. A better way? Don't "present the solution until students have grappled with issues on their own (Gloeckler, 66)." See a video of the CEO presenting her problem. Receive minimal backup paperwork. Discuss solutions. Hypothesize possible solutions. Make a proposal. Then see a second video with the CEO's solution. Decide if there were better ways to solve the problem.
If you provide old-way case studies, teach your students to how to prepare for class. At least two readings of each case study with prep on the problems found before class makes sense. After class, summarize findings and begin the cycle again on the next case. Identify and analyze key problems. Generate alternatives. Make recommendations for action (Rondstadt).
Want to re-do your MBA program? Forget the classic silos like finance, accounting, marketing and operations. Think customer, competitor, investor, employee and shareholder (Pellet). Sophistication is another step. Stanford, a "richer" school, is able to provide three different levels based on students' experience. Emphasize leadership, ethics and global institutions and environment to create "global leaders".
How to make a speech into a case study?
- Present the basic facts in a pre-discussion summary.
- Hand out a written document of less than a page summarizing the presentation. Discuss alternatives.
- Now, break into small groups. Amongst the groups discuss key points, ways you have solved the problem in the past, suggest alternatives, posit questions for future discussion, and reach agreement on the best way to proceed.
- Reform as a group to hear the CEO's actual action plan and results.
- Discuss as a group alternatives to the CEO's method. Include the "woulda, shoulda, coulda" possibilities.
- Maybe, convince the CEO of her errors. Finally, plan to ask the CEO to present to your group again in six months to check back on how things are going.
And how to make a case study a basis for discussion to drive strategy at your company?
- Much like a speech, come prepared with a statement of the current situation.
- Use the current situation like a straw man. Tear it up. Make changes. Suggest new strategies.
- Decide which new strategies make sense. Remember, you can't do everything.
- For the few strategies you chose, create some sort of action plan.
- Report back to the group your plan, and actions toward the plan.
- As time proceeds, report on results - often.
- The tendency is to forget your plan as you focus on the day-to-day tasks that hit your desk.
- Wrong. Focus on the strategy daily. Sometimes, let the day-to-day stuff wait.
Gloeckler, Geoff. The Case Against Case Studies. BusinessWeek. 4 February 2008. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_05/b4069066093267.htm?chan=search
Pellet, Jennifer. Fixing the Flawed MBA. Chief Executive. http://www.chiefexecutive.net/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=55372CF344D746869D4BE7AD57BA84F4
Ronstadt, Robert. The Art of Case Analysis. A Guide to the Diagnosis of Business Situations. Lord Publishing, Inc. 1988.