Members' Case Forum 2023 - programme

	Carin-Isabel Knoop Executive Director, Case Research & Writing Group Harvard Business School
	Antonio Sadaric Founder Capt. Bossman’s Workplace Stories

For over a century, cases have presented decision-makers as robotic. In doing so, we negated their humanity and their decisions' impact on others.

In this session, we will explore a different approach - using tools from storytelling to create relatable characters without relying on stereotypes. This is important as students seem more distracted and less able to engage in productive disagreement, upon which the case method depends to drive learning and promote humility. They also expect engaging content that reflects the complexities of real-life situations, impacts business outcomes, and enables them to drive social change. We aim to encourage social responsibility by highlighting the human aspects of decision-making and leadership.

Key takeaways

• It is time to talk about mental health in the business classroom - that of decision makers but also the impact of their decisions on individual, corporate, but also collective mental health.
• By showing how lived experiences shape decision-makers, we create space to discuss mental health in the workplace and the cost of success without being invasive or pushing agendas.
• Humanising our decision-makers, however, requires understanding and presenting markers of social identity.

Muhammad Mohsin Hakeem Associate Professor NUCB Business School, Nagoya University of Commerce and Business

This session will explore an innovative approach to sustainability education that combines case teaching with field method. Specifically, it will showcase the impact of our field immersion program, the 'SDGs Project', on both students and the local community. Our program provided participants with opportunities to engage with local stakeholders, including industry partners, government officials, non-profit organisations, and citizens, allowing them to gain a deep understanding of real-world sustainability challenges. Furthermore, the program helped establish stronger ties between academia, local industry, and society.

The presentation will also discuss the development of an eco-system of case development, publication, and usage focused on sustainability. Finally, we will examine the potential for other institutions to create similar programs and the benefits of doing so.

Key takeaways

• The integration of case teaching and field method enhances students' understanding of sustainability challenges and potential solutions, providing a more comprehensive approach to sustainability education.
• Engaging with local stakeholders fosters long-term relationships between academia and society, allowing students to learn from diverse perspectives and gain practical skills.
• The development of local brief cases by students offers valuable insights into the unique sustainability challenges of the region and provides a basis for collaborative problem-solving.

Siti Seri Delima Abdul Malak Senior Lecturer Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz School of Accountancy, Universiti Utara Malaysia

The Integrated Case Study (ICS) course in Malaysian accountancy programmes is a core capstone course that integrates knowledge from various disciplines, such as financial accounting, management accounting, taxation, audit, finance, management, business, and information technology.

Conventional teaching methods, including group presentations, were found to be repetitive and lacked engagement, and students often faced group dynamics issues. In response, an open exhibition day was introduced as an active intervention, where students showcased their understanding of a final case through posters, pitches, and interactive activities. The exhibition involved 384 students in 78 groups, and was judged by industry and academic experts. The evaluation captured traits such as clarity, quality, innovation, and professionalism. Overall, the open exhibition day was found to be effective in the teaching and learning of cases and developing students' cognitive and soft skills.

Key takeaways

• The active intervention was transformative in allowing student-centred learning to take a prime seat.
• Post-pandemic, the open exhibition day was also much needed to bring our students back to a physical world.
• The elements of gamifications in terms of real judges, cash prizes and interactive peer activities introduced competitiveness and reality.
• The importance of reflections of our scholarly teaching and learning practices for a constructive alignment to occur.

Anna R Gasiorowska Professor, Management, Strategy, Negotiation; Coach & Mentor, International Case Competitions Shantou University Business School

This session will share experiences of different ways to use cases in teaching, coaching and mentoring students. Efficient working with cases is critically important at undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels, including MBA.

Active preparation by students, team-work, brainstorming, role-play, simulation, time-limited and interrupted sessions, business presentation, immediate and post-mortem feedback are the essence of getting the best possible results as an educator, and especially important for students, including students’ learning and satisfaction with the studying process. Working with a real-life company as 'a support' for an existing case is one of the creative, flexible ways of using cases.

Key takeaways

• Using a case in innovative, creative, flexible ways.
• Planning and preparing a case session, including a limited timeline, for maximum benefit.
• Preparing students for a case session: requirements and support.
• Challenging students.
• Giving feedback to students.

	Marie-Noëlle Rimaud Director, Case Centre EXCELIA
	Morgane Fritz Associate Professor in Supply Chain Sustainability EXCELIA
	Minelle Silva Associate Professor (HDR) in Supply Chain Sustainability EXCELIA

In 2014-2015, EXCELIA established a case centre. A team of ten teachers, who accepted a renewable two-year mandate and represent all teaching areas, are the driving force behind the system. Each teacher is in charge of publishing cases in their field of study, and also of working towards the recognition of these tools by the scientific community by organising case workshops.

The key aims are to contribute to the upgrading of cases, and to develop the theoretical basis, in particular by relying on partnerships with scientific associations (creation of case prizes). The centre also involves the learners as much as possible: creating a method for students (and teachers) to carry out mini-cases.

Key takeaways

• Methodology courses for students.
• Working with scientific associations in tourism, social responsibility and logistics.
• Strong expectations from the teachers to consolidate feedback (experience of using a case) and to deepen the theoretical anchoring.

David Wood Lecturer, Operations Management; Executive Director, Ivey Publishing Ivey Business School

Technology has proven a valuable ally to case teaching. Leveraging advancements in learning technology enables faculty to engage students in learning the content online in order to preserve classroom time for the case discussion.

During this session, Ivey Faculty will demonstrate two examples of how digital content can enhance the faculty and student experience.

The first example enables students to learn some basics of Excel asynchronously online to ensure that the focus of the live classroom discussion can be on analysing the case data for a more insightful debate on the alternatives.

The second example will explore how multimedia cases offer opportunities for students to better prepare the case for a richer in-class discussion. This example explores the option to use an online case where students receive automated feedback on their analysis so that the live classroom discussion can focus on the implications and decision.

Key takeaways

• How technology can create more time for a live case discussion.
• How a multimedia case online will help students better prepare for class - enabling faculty to get more learning from the case discussion.

Stefan Michel Professor of Strategy and Marketing International Institute for Management Development (IMD)

A significant proportion of successful cases are based on field research, and require working with executives and entrepreneurs as protagonists. The process of working with protagonists is different from any other research collaboration.

This session will provide new case authors with essential guidance for their first protagonist-based case. At the same time, it will allow more experienced authors to compare and reflect on their approaches.

Key takeaways

• How to select a protagonist.
• How to prepare for the interviews.
• How to conduct interviews.
• How to publish the case and the teaching note with the protagonist.
• Do’s and don’ts when working with protagonists.

Eduard Calvo Professor of Operations, Information and Technology IESE Business School

IESE’s Faculty Ambidexterity working group was created in May 2020 with the objective to prepare the school for an uncertain September. Faculty and programme teams were trained for different scenarios and a hybrid classroom model was implemented at scale, with one challenge in mind: to adapt our programmes to new formats without losing the essence of IESE’s learning model which is based on the case method and personalised attention. Developed out of necessity, this taskforce is now focused on continuous improvement and the evolution of teaching capabilities at IESE through strategic projects.

Key takeaways

• Technology designs for the classrooms: simplicity and flexibility.
• Getting people up to speed: centralising trainings and decentralising coaching.
• From necessity to competitive advantage: continuous improvement, capability sharing, and new blended designs.

Ted Ladd Dean of Research and Professor of Entrepreneurship Hult International Business School

Outside of the classroom, students consume content in short videos. This session will describe best practices for creating, delivering and teaching video-only cases.

Key takeaways

• Follow all of the best practices for designing a traditional written case; video does not require - or allow - short-cuts to learning objectives.
• Edit into chapters that support different sessions of the same course.
• Post to a password-protected website - no tech skills required.
• Invite (and record) the protagonist to class live for an update.
• Add the recording of the protagonist in class as an additional chapter to keep the case current.