This September the Global Business School Network is excited to be taking an in-depth look at the use of case method in business education. We’ve got featured bloggers lined up, faculty development webinars on the schedule, a revised case study database and a new working group to keep the conversation going.
Since our inception, GBSN has promoted the use of case studies to strengthen management education for the developing world.
In 2005 GBSN worked with GIBS, Johannesburg’s Gordon Institute of Business Sciences, to produce the first week-long “Teaching the Practice of Management” case teaching program. This program was later taken on by the Association of African Business Schools, a GBSN partner organization, and has been run annually ever since. At this point over 350 African faculty have taken the course, a number of whom have became “Master Teachers,” mentoring junior faculty in case teaching.
This poster celebrates GBSN’s first cooperative case writing project, which was undertaken at the request of the United States International University of Nairobi. Its success prompted the Government of Kenya to use World Bank funding to extend GBSN’s project to three other Nairobi business schools. By now over 200 local cases, mostly of small companies, are available to faculty and students, and thanks to the enhanced capacity of Kenyan business schools, new cases continue to be written.
Of course, cases are only one of the arrows in a management school’s quiver. Very few business schools use only cases. So, why has GBSN emphasized case teaching?
First and foremost, the focus on cases responds to the local business schools’ requests for assistance in this area.
Second, traditional higher education in many developing countries is heavy on theory and not focused enough on practice. Business schools in particular felt a need better to meet the need of potential employers for graduates able to solve real-world management problems. Cases are an excellent way to integrate practice and theory. They also serve a much-needed function in strengthening links between academia and business communities.
Third, there was (and still is in most developing countries) a great dearth of local pedagogical materials. Cases are an excellent way to inject local realities into business curricula.
Last but not least, student-focused interactive teaching methods seem to work well in cultural environments steeped in oral traditions, which is a reality for many of the schools working in developing nations.
I share this to usher in Case Method Month. I hope you will join us as we explore the challenges and opportunities in using Case Method for teaching management for emerging markets. We welcome you to invite your doctoral students, colleagues and friends to engage in the discussion and take advantage of the resources this unique network provides.
