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How does a
business "case study" differ from a "case story?"
A business "case
study" from Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, etc. is usually a 20-page
snapshot of a business dilemma faced by professionals. It
contains a synopsis of background information and presents a "what
should they do?" challenge to the reader that addresses a narrow range
of management topics. It's the preferred tool at most business programs
to promote discussion and demonstrate how the concepts presented in the
classroom can be applied in real life settings.
In their studies, business students are literally asked to read hundreds
of case studies. It’s usually pretty dry reading because case studies
aren’t intended to be books, so they’re not meant to be engaging.
Researchers, who did not live through the experiences, summarize the
information to present a management problem. While some case studies
written 20 years ago are still being used in classrooms, many more are
written every year to reflect current events. While the format may be
limiting in many ways, professors have an enormous variety to choose
from.
Like a case study, I wrote The Entrepreneurial Code to present a series
of management problems that occurred in a real life corporate setting.
However, I chose to write this in a story format (a “case story”) which
has certain advantages. In real life, problems are seldom presented
clearly and information is never summarized up front for you. So, the
flow of the story format is meant to help students appreciate how
erratically events can sometimes unfold. Also, by writing a case story,
I was able to write as many pages as I needed to share the lessons
learned. The fact that The Entrepreneurial Code is written by someone
who actually lived through the experiences also adds a level of insight
that can’t be had from a generic case study.
Copyright 2005 by Chris
Cononico
All rights reserved. No part of this manuscript may be reproduced in any
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author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. |