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THE CASE METHOD
The goal of HBS is to prepare students for the challenges of leadership. We believe that the case method is by far the most powerful way to learn the skills required to manage, and to lead. The case method forces students to grapple with exactly the kinds of decisions and dilemmas managers confront every day. In doing so, it redefines the traditional educational dynamic in which the professor dispenses knowledge and students passively receive it. The case method creates a classroom in which students succeed not by simply absorbing facts and theories, but also by exercising the skills of leadership and teamwork in the face of real problems. Under the skillful guidance of a faculty member, they work together to analyze and synthesize conflicting data and points of view, to define and prioritize goals, to persuade and inspire others who think differently, to make tough decisions with uncertain information, and to seize opportunity in the face of doubt. Pioneered by HBS faculty in the 1920s, the case method began as a way of importing slices of business reality into the classroom in order to breathe life and instill greater meaning into the lessons of management education. Today, although we also make use of lectures, simulations, fieldwork, and other forms of teaching as appropriate, more than 80 percent of HBS classes are built on the case method. What is an HBS Case? Typically, an HBS case is a detailed account of a real-life business situation, describing the dilemma of the "protagonist"—a real person with a real job who is confronted with a real problem. Faculty and their research assistants spend weeks at the company that is the subject of the case, detailing the background of the situation, the immediate problem or decision, and the perspectives of the managers involved. The resulting case presents the story exactly as the protagonist saw it, including ambiguous evidence, shifting variables, imperfect knowledge, no obvious right answers, and a ticking clock that impatiently demands action. Collectively, HBS cases cover every inch of the rich landscape of issues general managers confront—from finance and manufacturing to marketing and human resources, from the broadly strategic to the deeply personal, from companies and institutions small and large, from places around the globe. They also draw on the full range of knowledge and analytical tools business students must know to confront these issues, providing a rich context for their application. Though every case is different, nearly all center on one overarching question: What should the protagonist do? In their two years at HBS, students study more than 500 cases—500 chances to join with their classmates to test themselves against the rock-hard realities of life in business. How Does the Case Method Work? Every week, our MBA students pore over fourteen or so cases, which usually include a range of financial and other supporting data. After spending a couple of hours studying each case on their own, and conducting quantitative analyses as appropriate, they test their thinking before class in small study groups. From years of previous educational experience, most people are accustomed to large, passive lectures, amidst faces they barely know, and problem sets with an unclear relationship to actual business situations. At HBS, first-year sections of about ninety students share an amphitheatre-style classroom, designed expressly for the case method, for about four hours a day for the entire year. By working together daily on a wide array of real cases, they not only learn the lessons of business and management, but they often forge relationships that last a lifetime. Almost inevitably, class begins with a "cold call," a provocative question the professor poses to one specific student to open the case and ignite the thinking of the section as a whole. In the course of a year, every MBA student is cold-called at least once, and you never know when it will be your turn—a powerful incentive to come to class prepared. From the springboard of this opening question and the response, the class collectively dives into a riveting eighty minutes of analysis, argument, insight, and passionate persuasion. In more traditional classrooms, practically the only voice you hear is the professor's. HBS professors aren't soloists, but rather conductors who every day orchestrate a stimulating rapid-fire discussion, playing off all ninety minds in the room to analyze and synthesize the situation. Since 50 percent of each student's grade depends on class participation, everyone is inspired to contribute. It's commonplace at HBS for your professor to be the author of the case under discussion. It's also not unusual for the actual case protagonist to participate in the class or arrive via live video to answer questions and explain how things finally turned out—a powerful adjunct to the lesson. Increasingly, professors also enrich their teaching through technology, using everything from real-time simulations of dynamic inventory management to live video tours of the factory floor. Class rarely ends with a tidy solution to the protagonist's dilemma, but more often with a deep appreciation of the complex factors at play, a clear idea of how to apply appropriate techniques to analyze and assess the problem, and new insights into how to deal with the untidy uncertainties of real business. HBS Sections: Learning from One Another Every entering MBA student is assigned to a specific section that will take all of its first-year classes together. Though each section is carefully selected to mirror the diversity of the student body as a whole, each develops its own personality and protocols. Every section is taught by a team of faculty who work closely together to integrate ideas and themes across the various classes. For HBS students, their section becomes the center of their intellectual and social life, their extended family on campus, allowing them to reap the rewards of a more intimate environment while at the same time realizing the advantages of a large school. It is also a safe environment for honing the practical skills of compromise, negotiation, teamwork, persuasion, and leadership. Sections are intended to maximize one of the strengths of the case method: Every student is also a teacher. A great part of what students learn at HBS comes from listening to the dozens of contrasting analyses, opinions, and perspectives of their sectionmates, a diverse constellation of exceptionally talented people from an extraordinary range of personal and professional backgrounds. After years of experience, faculty have set the size of a section at about eighty to ninety students, a number that allows them to bring this rich diversity to bear on case discussions while encouraging the proper level of vibrant interaction. Why is Peer Learning So Important? Students are assigned to a five or six-person Learning Team during orientation with whom they will work throughout their first year at HBS. Learning Teams play a major role in the educational experience by enhancing classroom learning, providing working knowledge of teamwork, fostering interaction among diverse class members from different sections, and allowing more in-depth case analysis. Learning Teams are also assigned graded projects in most first-year required courses. Learning Teams can play an important part in individual class preparation. By using the Learning Team as a study group, students can deepen their understanding of material before the case discussion in a section. Some Learning Teams meet in the morning before class to discuss the cases, share expertise, and sharpen arguments to strengthen communication and persuasion skills. The Role of the Faculty Teaching an HBS case is an unpredictable business. There is no familiar lecture to deliver, and no telling quite which way the conversation might turn. Recent events in the business world may cast the case in an entirely new light. Thus, just as students must prepare intensely for every class, HBS faculty spend a great deal of time preparing for each class as well, alone and in teaching teams, even for cases they wrote themselves or have taught many times before. And because students bring so much new energy and insight to every discussion, case teaching is a process of constant intellectual renewal and growth in which the teachers can learn as much as the students do. The hallmark of the HBS faculty—and what students remember and value most—is their extraordinary passion, commitment, and skill as teachers. Our faculty members are famously "close to practice": Many serve as business leaders, entrepreneurs, consultants, and board members in their own right. Drawing on that experience as well as their intellectual rigor, they have produced some of the most influential business research in the world, and they write by far the greatest number of cases used in business classrooms around the globe. Yet they truly come alive in the classroom, pursuing their mission to educate the next generation of leaders who will make a difference in the world. Is the Case Method Effective? The HBS approach to the case method of teaching may represent the most demanding, engaging, and provocative way to learn about the skills of leadership, short of actually serving as a CEO. But does that preparation lead to significant results in the real world? Perhaps the best measure is the extraordinary success of our alumni. HBS graduates have gone on to positions of leadership in an exceptional range of entrepreneurial firms, established companies, governments, and nonprofit organizations in countries across the globe. And many of them have maintained that their experience with the case method at HBS has been crucial to their success, giving them the knowledge, the skills, and confidence to deal effectively with the wide array of difficult decisions they have faced throughout their careers. Although there is no substitute for experience, the education students receive at HBS helps them make the most of that experience, providing a solid foundation that serves them for a lifetime, no matter what path they choose to follow |
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