Top 50 Bestselling Case Authors 2022/23: No. 46

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No. 46 - Stephan Schubert

Stephan Schubert
Professor of Practice for Management
Hult EF Corporate Education

Stephan is Professor of Practice in Management at Hult EF Corporate Education (formerly Ashridge Business School), located in the UK, where he teaches on a range of leadership development programmes. He is the Director of the NATO Executive Development Programme for senior staff of the Western Alliance. He has also taught as adjunct and affiliate faculty on many corporate programmes at INSEAD.

With over 20 years of experience as facilitator, Stephan’s focus is on organisational behaviour, leadership, decision-making, and strategic thinking. He has worked with a range of global organisations such as Ericsson, Lufthansa, Philips, and Continental. He has also spent considerable time in the Middle East with clients from the oil and gas and government sectors.

In the past, he was Director of one of the Ashridge Executive MBA programmes and taught countless strategy classes for MBA students.

Stephan studied Economics and Business Administration in Germany and earned a Doctorate in Economics from Paris University. He lives in Vienna.

Stephan's top bestselling cases

Browse Stephan’s top three bestselling cases during the last year.

The Mother of All Races (A)

Reference no. 315-248-1

The case series explores the challenges and pitfalls of (group) decision-making under time-pressure, and with major uncertainties, in a context where the stakes are high (strategic decisions). Its purpose is to create awareness of the biases and group processes that can cloud judgment and lead to erroneous or overly risky decisions. At the centre of the case is Tonio DiLivio, one of the two founding partners of a Swiss-based Formula One racing team. DiLivio has to decide whether to present his car at the last race, knowing that the outcome could make or break his team’s future.

The Mother of All Races (B)

Reference no. 315-249-1

The B case should be used with the A case (see above) in the series.

Value Creation in a Turbulent Industry: The Case of British Airways and the European Low-cost Carriers

Reference no. 302-118-1

The September 11 attacks accelerated the downturn in which the European airline industry had been engaged in since 1999. But while some flag-carriers like Swissair and Sabena took a nosedive and crashed, thriving low cost carriers like Ryanair and easyJet found in the downturn a new opportunity for growth. Their sustained high profit margins, contrasting with the razor-thin margins of traditional carriers, are synonymous with real value creation due to a significant competitive advantage. This case applies a resource-based view by linking competitive advantage to valuable distinctive resources and capabilities.

View all Stephan’s cases

Bestselling case author in...

446

“What I enjoy most in case writing is crafting a story around the problem. Einstein said that imagination trumps knowledge. In a case, imagination creates more learning opportunities than factual accounts alone.

"Throughout civilization, we have been learning from stories; a good case is a good story. There is typically a main actor facing a problem or dilemma. The richness of detail describing actors and settings draws us in, to the point where we become part of the case. We slip into the protagonists’ position and make their problem our own. This switch is important because we now have an opportunity to learn something about ourselves - what we would do instead of what they should do. This discovery and the self-reflection it triggers is just as valuable learning as the “solution” of the case.

“For this to happen, the personal connection with the main actor is essential. That’s why I prefer writing about fictitious characters that I can make look ‘accessible’ rather than real business leaders whose backstory we often ignore. It is difficult to imagine being Elon Musk facing a challenge at SpaceX. It is much easier to relate to Tonio DiLivio in the “Mother of All Races” - at least, I hope!”

~ Stephan Schubert

View all 2022/23 bestselling authors