Videos
Videos
Faculty Reflections
InvigoratingInvigorating
Emeritus Professor Jim Austin
James E. Austin is the Eliot I. Snider and Family Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus. Working with colleagues on the case method pedagogy has been a treasured part of his long HBS tenure. He describes the case method as part science, part art, and part craft—sometimes intimidating, but also invigorating and fun.
StrengthenStrengthen
Professor David Moss
David A. Moss, the Paul Whiton Cherington Professor of Business Administration, discusses how to strengthen the case method by implementing uses beyond business school curriculum. His “History of American Democracy” cases and teaching plans have been shared with more than 1,000 high school teachers. Bringing case method teaching and learning to high schools around the country has empowered high school students to think like decision makers and has increased their engagement in politics, government, and civic issues. And, high school teachers report greater professional growth and job satisfaction.
PivotsPivots
Professor Cynthia Montgomery
Timken Professor of Business Administration Cynthia A. Montgomery finds that the unexpected insights in case method teaching and writing—the pivots along the way—often grow into something bigger, such as a new stream of research. The case she developed about Steve Jobs brings together her two most prominent research areas: corporate-level strategy and the human dimension of leading strategy.
ListeningListening
Professor Jay Lorsch
Jay W. Lorsch is the Louis Kirstein Professor of Human Relations. He believes an important skill the case method teaches students is to listen, and cites the “Dashman Company” case, originally published in the 1940s, as an example of a company whose leadership team makes hiring decisions without first listening to each other and their employees. It presents students with a unique problem and incites active discussion about how to solve it.
MemorableMemorable
Professor Amy Edmondson
Professor Amy C. Edmondson, the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management, discusses how writing and teaching her “Children’s Hospital and Clinics” case has put her psychological safety research into a broader context and increased its impact. She believes the case method brings memorable stories and characters to life.
InnovatingInnovating
Professor Regina Herzliner
Regina Herzlinger, the Nancy R. McPherson Professor of Business Administration, and her former student Duke Rohlen (MBA 2001) talk about the case she developed about his company, “CV Ingenuity: How to Evaluate the Commercial Viability of New Health Care Technologies,” as well as the role the case method has played in his life and career as a CEO.
NarrativeNarrative
Professor Rosabeth M. Kanter
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor of Business Administration, sees cases as stories whose narratives unfold from defining the problem to describing possible outcomes and ending with next steps. She uses three cases to illustrate this compelling narrative arc: “The Weather Company,” “Monique Leroux: Leading Change at Desjardins,” and “Haier: Incubating Entrepreneurs in a Chinese Giant.”
EmpowerEmpower
Assistant Professors Natalia Rigol and Benjamin Roth
Assistant Professors Natalia Rigol and Ben Roth are development economists who study how to empower small businesses in the developing world. Their case, “Husk Power: Scaling the Venture,” about a clean energy company helping entrepreneurs overcome challenges they face in a poor country—and how to do this sustainably over time—spurred a new research agenda based on questions students raised in the classroom. Rigol’s “Collab Capital” case similarly explores how to empower Black entrepreneurs and make venture capital more inclusive. They agree that a great case often raises more questions than answers.
EngagementEngagement
Professor Robert Dolan
Baker Foundation Professor Bob Dolan talks about his case, “Sealed Air Corporation,” and how the most powerful aspect of the case method is the engagement it generates in the classroom.
ComplexityComplexity
Professors Josh Lerner and Shai Bernstein
Josh Lerner, the Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking, developed the School’s Venture Capital and Private Equity course. Shai Bernstein is the Marvin Bower Associate Professor in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit and teaches Entrepreneurial Finance. The case method, they say, allows them to bring the complexity of entrepreneurial management and finance to light.
UnexpectedUnexpected
Professor Arthur Segel
Arthur Segel is a Baker Foundation Professor of Management Practice and the retired Poorvu Family Professor of Management Practice. He’s been teaching at the School since 1996 and has written more than one hundred cases on issues in real estate accounting, finance, valuation, investment, development, affordable housing, slum redevelopment, sustainability, infrastructure, and urbanization. He believes that teaching by the case method means letting go and trusting students to find the answers—to expect the unexpected.
IntegratedIntegrated
Professor Krishna Palepu
Krishna Palepu, the Ross Graham Walker Professor of Business Administration, discusses how the case method provides an integrated experience for faculty by acting as a bridge between research and teaching. His most effective cases, he notes, are developed as interconnected collections, such as his long-spanning research on “House of Tata,” “Alibaba,” and “Amazon in China and India.” He believes these integrated cases have been instrumental to his work building businesses in emerging markets.
SymphonicSymphonic
Professor Debora Spar
Debora Spar is the Jaime and Josefina Chua Tiampo Professor of Business Administration and Senior Associate Dean for Business and Global Society. Her research and teaching has been shaped by the case method. She compares it to conducting an orchestra—when it works there is a symphonic quality. Her case, “Gerber Products Co.: Investing in the New Poland,” surfaces many viewpoints as students investigate Gerber management’s difficult decision-making under a high level of uncertainty.
FrameworkFramework
Professor Sunil Gupta
Sunil Gupta, the Edward W. Carter Professor of Business Administration and co-chair of the executive program on Driving Digital Strategy, describes how his case method research on digital transformation at several companies including Amazon, Adobe, and the New York Times enables a framework to emerge, which he can then take into the classroom.
OriginsOrigins
Professor Bob Kaplan
Robert S. Kaplan, the Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development, Emeritus, and known for activity-based costing and the balanced scorecard, discusses how those innovations in measurement have their origins in cases. He believes that case writing and teaching transformed his career and keeps him excited even today.
EnlighteningEnlightening
Professor Kash Rangan
Kash Rangan, the Malcolm P. McNair Professor of Marketing and co-chair of the Social Enterprise Initiative, discusses how his cases about Magic Bus, Year Up, and Health Leads give a bird’s-eye view of how social entrepreneurs zig-zag their way through the system in order to scale and achieve impact.
CuriosityCuriosity
Professor Linda Hill
Professor Linda Hill’s innate curiosity allows her to learn every day and dig deep into the ideas and people she studies. Her research focuses on leadership, globalization, and innovation, and her, “Michael Ku and Global Clinical Supply at Pfizer Inc.: Bringing Hope to Patients,” case series is an illustration of her work studying leadership over time and in building strong relationships with the executives she studies.
ExperientialExperiential
Senior Lecturer Kristin Mugford
Kristin Mugford, the recipient of numerous MBA teaching awards, describes the case method as experiential learning at its best. In her case, “Bankruptcy in the City of Detroit,” she challenges students to consider: What does it mean to restructure a city?
StorytellingStorytelling
Professor Anita Elberse
Anita Elberse talks about the case method as storytelling, giving students the facts, but also the atmosphere. She brings her entertainment, media & sports cases to life by often inviting the protagonists, like Dwyane Wade and Chip and Joanna Gaines to join her in the classroom for the case discussion.
Foundational Foundational
Professors Earl Sasser & Ryan Buell
“Benihana of Tokyo” case author W. Earl Sasser and Ryan Buell discuss the case, its importance to the field of service operations, and the joy of teaching it today 50 years after it was first written and taught.