Note on the Case Method of Teaching in Marketing

In view of the comments made by first year students in the Marketing I course review as ' ..... cll as nonavailability of orientation experience provided to earlier batches. we in the marketing area selected views on the case method.

L What is "Case Discussion Method"?

Perhaps the best way to describe the case discussion method is to look at the "term itself. A "case" is a problem in our usage. a business problem. It is a description of a situation that has actually faced a businessman and requires his analysis and decision. It would be possible to read many such cases and attempt to draw conclusions, principles. or generalizations from them. This would be a "case method" of study. but it would be only a portion of the method advocated here.

The second vital term to consider is the word "discussion." for it is through group discussion of a case that realleaming is accomplished. The individual's experience and reasoning will carry him only so far. it remains for group discussion to put the problem in new perspective. to give additional insight. and to point out new and better solutions. Case discussion is more than just a pooling of experience. it is an exercise in cooperative and creative thinking. The old adage. "two beads are better than one". appears to have some pertinence here. Certainly, the work of the group acting together is something more than the sum of its individual parts. Thus it is important to bear inmind that this method of learning is based on two equally important elements-cases and discussion,'

ll. Philosophy/Rationale for Use of Case

Here are some excerpts on the philosophy and/or rationale for usil"!g cases for teaching Marketing.

"Undoubtedly it would be easier for you to acquire so-called knowledge by the route of the textbook and the lecture, The case method is the hard way. Nevertheless the case method makes the difference between real education and merely passively acquired words and ideas. The statement frequently is made that knowledge is power. Too frequently that is interpreted to mean that knowledge confers power. Nothing could be less true than the passively acquired knowledge confers any power on the recipient. The true meaning of the statement "knowledge is power" is that true knowledge consists of power, power to tackle a problem, break it down. sort out the facts. see what must be done. and then get it done. In other words, real education should" equip the student not just with book learning but with power to deal with situations. particularly power to deal with new and unfamiliar situations. Now that kind of power cannot be conferred. It has to be acquired. It has to be acquired by painstaking personal effort. Real education is hard work. It is a process of drawing out the studeru' s mind, not of pouring in the instructor's ideas. Under the case method you are expected to dig things out for yourself. Under the case method you play an active rather than a passive role. The instructor does not tell you; he expects you to study the case and tell him. Then he questions you to see whether you can

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Prepared by Professor M.N. Vera

The note draws heavily on the 'articles' written on the usc of C:lSC method. Appropriate excerpts are extracted and piecedtogether in this note.

Copyright © 1975 by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

1 David. S.R. Leighton-and Donald, H. Thain, Canadian Problems in Marketing (Toronto; McGraw-HilI Company of Canada Limited. 1965), p.l.

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logically justify the position which you take. You will find the case method hard at the outset-but it will pay dividends in the end. HI

_.Because Wisdom Can't be Told"

It can be said flatly that the mere act of listening to wise statements and sound advice does little for anyone. In the process of learning, the learner's dynamic cooperative is required. Such cooperation from students does not arise automatically, however. 11 has to be provided for and continually encouraged.

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It would be easy to accept the unanalyzed assumption that by passing on, by lectures and readings,

to young men of intelligence the accumulated experience and wisdom of those who have made business their study, the desired results could be achieved. Surely, if more carefully selected young men were to begin their business careers with the advantage of having been provided with information and general principles which it has taken others a lifetime to acquire and develop, they might be expected to have a decided head stan over their less informed contemporaries.

This assumption, however, rests on another, decidedly questionable one: namely, the assumption that it is possible by a simple process of telling to pass on knowledge in a useful form. This is the great delusion of the ages. If the learning process is to effective, something dynamic must take place in the learner. The truth of this statement becomes more and more apparent as the learner approaches the inevitable time when hemust go into action.

We are all familiar with the popular belief that it is possible to learn how to act wisely only by experience-sin the school of hard knocks. But everyone knows that, from a practical point of view, strict adherence to the literal meaning of this belief would have a decidedly limiting effect upon the extent of our learning. Time is all against it So we all try to tell others what we know or what we think we know. A great pan of our educational system, perhaps necessarily. rests on this basis. It is the simple. obvious way of passing the torch of culture from harid to hand.

Entirely aside from the seemingly sound logic of this course, there exists a natural and strong tendency for people to tell others what is what-how to think, or feel. or act. Often this tendency seems, to the one having it, like an urge to duty ....

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It is possible that our desire to pass on our knowledge springs in pan from the fact that such activity places us, for the time being. in the superior position. From our earliest beginnings there have been people around to tell us what to do, to pass on to us their experience and wisdom. There is no little gratification in turning the tables. For a while we will be the parents and someone else can be the child. It is only necessary to listen to a six-year-old lecturing a three-year-old.to see vividly the

strength of this urge. ~

Teachers, since it is their avowed objective to extend the knowledge boundaries of others. are particularly beset by the temptation and action. The areas in which their help is called for are those they have penetrated many times. They have reflected. presumably, upon their subjects from all angles. They feel that they know the answers and, with unselfish abandon. they are willing to tell all. Tneir

Brown, England and Matthews. Problems in Marketing (McGraw-Hili Book Company, Inc., 1961), p, 18.

2 Malcolm P. McNair and Anita Ci Hersum; (Eds.), The Case Method at the Harvard Business School (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1954), pp. 6--14.

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students thus will be saved all the time and effort it would have taken them to work things out for themselves, even granted they ever could work out such excellent answers.

Yet no amount of in/ormation. whether of theory or fact, in itself improves insight and judgment or increases ability to act wisely under conditions of responsibility. The same statistical tables covering an aspects of a business may be available to every officer of the organization. Nevertheless, it does not follow that it makes no difference to the business in which officer makes the decisions. Likewise, the whole body of generally accepted business theory may be equally familiar to all executives, yet the decisions reached by the various individuals are unlilc~ to be the same or to have equal merit.

We cannot effectively use the insight and knowledge of others: it must be our own knowledge and insight that we use ....

m. What Happens to Students and Teachers under C;;;'::,z i','ifPihnd of Teaching?

The case plan of instruction may be described as democratic in distinction tc (i,~; i;<~ method which is, in effect. patriarchal. With the case method, all members of the academic group, teacher and students, are in possession of the same basic materials in the light of which analyses are to be made and decisions arrived at Each, therefore, has an identical opportunity to make a contribution to the body of principles governing business practice and policy. Business is not, at least not yet, an exact science. There is no single, demonstrably right answer to a business problem. For the student or businessman it cannot be a matter of peeking in the back of a book to see if he has arrived at the right solution. In every business situation. there is always a reasonable possibility that the best answer has not yet been found-even by teachers.

Exercise of mature judgement obviously is inconsistent witn a programme 0/ blindly carrying out someone else's instructions. Moreover, no matter how worthy those instructions may be, they cannot cover every exigency. 00.

A significant aspect of democracy in the classroom is that it provides a new axis for personal relationships. N9 longer is the situationthat or the teacher on the one hand no anybody of students on the other. The students find, their attention transferred from the teacher to each other. It is not a question of dealing more or less en masse with an elder, it is a question of dealing with a rather large number of equals and contemporaries whose criticisms must be faced and whose contributions need to be comprehended and used. Everyone is on a par and everyone is in- competition. The basis is provided for strong give and take both inside and outside the classroom. The valuable an of exchanging ideas is cultivated. with the object of building up some mutually satisfactory and superior notion. Such an exchange stimulates thought, provides a lesson in how to learn from others, and also gives experience in effective transmission of one's own ideas ....

For both teachers and students, the disciplines of the case. method of learning are severe. Sometimes the shock is devastating to young men who previously have been dominated by patriarchal instructors and thus have been faced merely with the relatively simple task of more or less passive reception and verbatim repetition of facts and Ideas. Not all students can bear the strain of thinking actively, of making independent judgments 'which may be challenged vigorously by their contemporaries. Many people will always prefer to have answers handed 10 them. Teachers, for their pan, particularly those unused to the system, sometimes find it straining to leave the safe haven of dogmatism and meet their students on a democratic plane. The inherent! y dramatic and challenging character of the Case system. however, although it may produce anxiety and confusion for the newcomer. also arouses his deep interest and leans him to make the effort required for adjustment.

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In making the adjustment to the democratic disciplines of the case system, students typically pass through at least three objectively discernible phases. The first phase is that of discovering the inability of the individual to think of everything that hisfellow students can think of. In many instances, to be sure. the challenge to original thought is pleasing from the first. Yet perhaps more often confusion and a feeling of helplessness set in: "But it's so discouraging to prepare a case as well as I can and then listen for an hour in class to other students bringing out all sorts of interpretation and arguments that I had never thought of."

The second phase is that of accepting easily and naturally the need for cooperative help. During the last half of the first year and the first half of the second year, students learn to draw more and more fully upon each other's ideaS in working out of problems. Competition for high academic standing grows more keen. to be sure, but the mutual giving and taking of assistance ceases to be a matter of secret anguish. The young men are making common cause and thereby learning the pleasure of group

pooling of intellectual efforts. .

The third and final phase in the march toward maturity usually comes well on in the second year with the recognition that the instructors do not always or necessarily know the "best" answers and. even when they do seem to know them, chat each student is free to present and hold to his own views. When this phase is reached, the student is ready to make independent progress and break new ground on his own account. He is operating as a responsible member of the community, taking help', to be sure. from both contemporaries and elders. but making his own decisions without fear of disapproval or search for an authoritative crutch to lean upon. An outstanding effect of the case systems. in other words, is to put upon students the burden of independent thinking.

No method is foolproof. t\ badly handled case system cannot bur be an academic horror. Improperly handled, a case is merely an elaborate means for confusing and boring students. If. moreover. the teacher insists on being a patriarch-if he is sure he has the right and only answers and visualizes his task as one of forcing the students. the case facts. and his answers into an affectionate report-it will be found that the out-and-out lecture system is infinitely less costly and less straining to everyone concerned. Such authoritarian use of casesperverts the uriique characteristics of the system. The opportunity which this system provides the students of reaching responsible judgements on the basis of an original analysis of the facts is sacrificed ....

"At the beginning of the program there was a widespread feeling that we were not making progress. What were we learning? There seemed but little increase in our usable knowledge. The discussion of a case assigned today did not seem to build upon conclusions we collectively reached yesterday. We felt that many issues involved in panicular cases were not resolved and not fully understood as we went on to our next assignment. From time to time our instructors assured us that we were not expected to be able to resolve all phases of each case so early in the programme. TIle result was that many questions were in our minds concerning what we were trying to learn from these cases. Interest in the daily work was actually stimulated. Later. as we gained power in discussion problems, fewer issues remained unresolved."!

Malcolm P. McNair and Anita C. Hersum (Eds.), The Case Method at the Harvard Business School (New York; r.1CGGIw-HiU Book Company, 1954), p. 83.

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IV. How to Analyze and Prepare a Case?l

There is no formula for the analysis of cases; each must be handled as a new and unique situation. TIle approach that appears to be appropriate for one case is more than likely quite inappropriate Ior another, There are, however. certain general procedures that C31l be followed in the preparation of cases.

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A prerequisite to analysis of many cases is an understanding of the language of the trade. Marketing, in common with most other fields, has some conventional terms and symbols of its own. The definition of marketing terms may be found in the booklet, Marketing Definitions? Attainment of a familiarity with these terms early in the process of working on cases is strongly recommended.

Each case poses a marketing issue requiring a decision. Obviously, decisions should be based on a sound grasp of the facts of the case. A vital first step in approaching any case, then. is to read and reread carefully the case itself. It is seldom possible to assimilate the/acts in a first reading: indeed, the first reading is useful primarily as a means 0/ isolating leading issues and sketching rJu: background. A ,second reading is generally necessary to fill in the derails.

Throughout his reading of the case, the. student should be constantly asking himself: 'What is the problem? What is the point (or points) on which action is required? What has. caused this situation? In many cases, the issue will be quite simple and direct: in others, it will be complex and obscure. In many cases, what seems like me issue on first reading may upon reflection be only a symptom of some deeper, more basic problem. This stage in the handling of a case is analogous to the physician attempting to diagnose his patient's illness. He develops an hypothesis by observing a-number 0/ symptoms. In effect, the student here is doing the same. As in a medical case, this stage of diagnosis is crucial. forit is on the diagnosis of the problem mat recommendations for action will depend. Skill in diagnosis seldom comes from reading textbooks, it comes from repealed observation of actual cases.

Having diagnosed the central problem and its likely causes, the student is generally faced with several alternative courses of action. It is frequently useful at this stage to make a complete listing of all the possible courses of action. Then each may be considered individually, and the implications and likely results examined. In this process, me effects of each action, not only upon the internal operations of the firm.ibut upon consumers, competitors. and the economy as a whole. should be carefully weighed. Some alternatives may then be quickly eliminated from further consideration.

The case has now been read, diagnosed. and alternatives considered. Let us suppose that this procedure has succeeded in reducing that feasible alternatives to two or three in number. all fairly evenly balanced. It may be useful at this point to break down the central problem into a series of questions which required answers before any definite decisions can be made. If the central issue is: Should me company add a new product to the line? men a series of sub-questions may be developed, such as:

What additional costs would be involved in adding the product?

What additional revenues would it be likely to yield?

Would the addition of the product yield more profit man some other use of the funds?

1 David, S.R. Leighton and Donald H. Thain, Canadian Problems in Marketing (Toronto; McGraw-Hill Company of Canada Limited, 1965), p. 11.

2 Marketing Definitions, (Chicago: American Marketing Association, 1960).

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In addition. each of the questions listed might be broken down still funher. For example. the question

involving additional revenues might be broken down into such sub-questions as: .

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What would people use this product for?

What advantages would this product offer them that existing products do not?

Would these advantages be sufficient to induce them to· buy it in preference to existing products?

And so on. The list could be extended almost indefinitely. but this example should suffice to show the usefulness of the approach. It should also emphasize what was said earlier about there being no formula for the analysis of cases. •

At many points, no definite answers will be forthcoming in response 10 questions. Of len there will not be sufficient in/ormation in the case to enable the student to answer the questions. While this may prove frustrating. the student should realize that the same situation is often the case in business itself. The vast majority of business decisions are made on the basis of incomplete information. Businessmen often do not have the necessary facts and cannotget them with the time and money available .. They must make informed guesses. or even play hunches. Thus. while the case writer has attempted to include all of the.Information that was available to the businessman. in many cases the desired facts were not known. In attempting to make do with limited information the student will be experiencing some of the very real difficulties thai face businessmen every day.

At this stage of his analysis and in spite of incomplete facts. the student should be nearing a decision. TIlls is another of the crucial stages of preparation. It will often be tempting, where several alternatives seem closely matched. to put off making a definite choice. If this is done. then the purpose of the whole procedure is defeated. It will often be extremely difficult to make a decision, buta decision must be made. In business. in- decision can be fatal. The most brilliant analysis in the world is to no avail if not carried through to action.

Action is the goal in all these cases. It will be found .well worth the effort to make a definite decision. no matter how difficult. Skill in decision-making like most other skills. comes only after hard practice.

V. What is Expected in the Clnssroom?'

With the case analyzed and a decision reached. the second major phase of the case method is reached. It is now time to test the analysis in the crucible of the classroom.

While there are undoubted rewards from individual study of cases, the give and take of the classroom brings the case method to true fruition. Some students will foul this the most difficult step of all; some who are most brilliant in their individual work become quite ineffective when called on 10 present and defend their thinking before others. The reverse is also true, of course.

Presumably, most of you are here because you plan to enter a management career. Management is not carried on in a vacuum; it is run by people for people. The ability to communicate with others and to work with others stands high on the list of qualities necessary for effective management.

For these reasons. the classrooms can provide Valuable training quite aside from the training obtained by individual case study. i[ is certainly possible to attend class sessions merely to listen, but in doing

David S.R. Leighton. and Donald H. Thain. Canadian Problems in Marketing (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Company of Canada Limited. 1965). p.13.

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so the student benefits neither himself nor his classmates. Class participation is not only beneficial. it is the responsibility of all who undertake 10 study by the case method. He who cannot overcome this hurdle in a friendly setting faces a serious handicap when he sets out to cope with the problems of management in organizations.

With so many practical business problems the final decisions are reached only after discussion among smaller or larger groups. I have felt that each class is in essence a practical experience in group behaviour and in the benefits of group discussions in arriving at business decisions. As a part of this process, but in part distinct from it. each class provides an experience in learning to listen to the views of one's peers and in learning how to express one's self and perhaps to persuade others to one's point of view. The method provides an opportunity to gain confidence in one's own judgement. but also a degree of humility as well. It also provides a most invaluable opportunity to learn how far one can go by rigorous logical analysis of one or another dimension of the problem and the extent to which judgment comes into play when many factors which have no common denominator must be weighed.'.

VI. Limitations of Case Method"

The case method, however, has its disadvantages. First. progress in developing administrative skills is slow, and student and teacher alike feel thwarted, especially in the early months, when the student first comes into contact with the case method and is seeking to comprehend his changed position and responsibilities under the case method of instruction.

Secondly, the case method as applied to instruction in business administration assumes a basic knowledge of facts as well as a maturity-a readiness for acceptance of responsibility=tnat, if the results are to be realistic. puts a lower limit to the youthfulness of the student. I am referring not necessarily to chronological age nor merely to an intelligence quotient but also to biological development and to the combination of characteristics that we term "personality." Deeper analysis and the precise determination of the minimum requirements. however, I leave for others more competent than myself.

A more important 'limitation ofthecase method is that it oversimplifies the business situation. Recognition of a problem is simplified because the areas to be searched are limited by the case itself. a condition not typical of business. Furthermore, the factors involved and much of the information needed for analysis and planning have been incorporated in the case by the case writer. whereas in the business situation, deciding what information is required and getting it (if it is available with an appropriate expenditure of effort) are an important part of the task of the administrator. At least a partially offsetting gain, however. is that this short cut gives the student time to consider a great many more problems than would otherwise be possible. By the time a graduate has reached an administrative post. he is likely to have absorbed many factual details and much background material thathe can call upon to help him in a given business situation.

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Another important limitation of the case method is that it cannot synthesize the whole administrative process. After analysis is completed and plans have been laid. there is the actual carrying-out process. the daily supervision of details on a face-to-face level. and the checking up on results. in preparation for which the case method can Be 0'£ limited help.

1 Melvin T. Copeland. Mark an Era: The Story of the Harvard Business School.

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Malcolm P. McNair and Anita C. Hersurn (Eds.), TM Case Method at 1M Harvard Business School (New York: McGraw-Hili Book Company, 1954).

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Work Sheet for Everyday Case Preparation

Name of Panicipant/Group ; Name of the Case _

Section ~.

Class Discussion Date _

I. "Maners" about which action recommendations need to be evolved. (This refers to what is the problem? What is the point (or points) on which action is required?)

(Quick search)

1. 2. 3.

4. 5. 6.

II.

Critical areas for action recommendations where substantial analysis, significant marshalling of evidence, evaluating and balancing of pro and con arguments are needed.' (Diagnosis-scanning of clues) (prioritization).

1. 2.

3 .

. ....

III. Critical questions needing answers: What has caused the situation? What favourable and unfavourable considerations could be observed or inferred? What final stand (conclusion) would you like to take in answering each question?

IV. What new or significant "marketing concepts" became relevant and useful for analyzing this situation?

1.

3.

V. Is there any furthering of your learning derived from earlier cases? In what way?

VI. After class discussion comments.