Online

Case Solutions
Susan Harmeling
February 2016

Susan Harmeling is Associate Professor of Management at Howard University in Washington D.C. and Founder and Principal of the
International Case Method Institute (ICMI) LLC. She holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship and
Ethics from the University of Virginia. Susan is also a facilitator of the Harvard Business Publishing Case Method Teaching Seminars.

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O ver the course of his or her career, any experienced case instructor has
faced the situation in which the discussion is hijacked by a student who
has looked up the case solution online. Although frustrating, having students
bring up case solutions found online during—or worse yet, at the beginning of—
class shouldn’t keep you from teaching a particular case. This document
includes observations, anecdotes, and tips for navigating case analysis and
discussion in the era of instant information.

Some general observations about

online case solutions
 The case method is less about solutions than it is about analysis and
critical thinking. The interactive nature of case study discussion involves
real-time self-learning, the Socratic method of inquiry, and a constant
give-and-take between all participants. Asking and answering questions
to stimulate thought and illuminate ideas negates the concept of any one
right solution. Interactive facilitation leaves little room for students to
deliver a packaged solution in the form of a monologue, and students who
attempt to recite their talking points without being challenged will not be
able to engage in dialogue.

 Because there are essentially no “right” answers when it comes to case

discussions, there really is no such thing as a correct solution to a case.
You may be thinking, “What about financial analysis where there really is
one right answer? But even with quantitative case analysis, there are
often many different correct answers: What is the valuation of this
company? (The answer depends upon your assumptions at the outset.)
What are your five-year revenue and income projections for this startup
(Optimistic? Conservative? How did you decide what the baseline should
be?) And even when there is one right answer, there are almost always
 various ways to get there: As with everything in case analysis, the process
is as important as, if not more important than, the content or the result.

 There is a difference between a solution and an outcome. A case solution

involves the analysis itself—the way we examine actions taken and
decisions made by the case protagonist(s). An outcome is what actually
happened—for example, the merger went through, the company was sold,
or the protagonist brought the firm into bankruptcy. When a student
shares a canned solution, facilitators can respond more succinctly than
they would when sharing an outcome or recounting the epilogue to the
story.

 With the case method, it is actually quite difficult to “fake it ‘til you make
it.” Reading a canned case solution—the “CliffsNotes” version, if you
will—and then trying to memorize and regurgitate it in class is harder
than it looks (more on this below). Because the case method entails
reading a story, analyzing it, and then forming and stating your own
argument and opinions, it is difficult to skip the details of the case itself
and go straight to the answer. This is especially true when it comes to
verbal arguments (such as during class participation) as opposed to
written arguments or even exams. And with case-study exams, students
have no way of knowing which case you will give them to analyze, so they
can’t prepare an answer ahead of time.

Tips for handling debriefs when students Google the

outcome or epilogue
As I mentioned earlier, it is easier to deal with students who have looked up
the outcome or epilogue than when they have looked up entire case solutions
online (and obviously, students only knowing the outcome is easier to detect
than when they skip reading the case and go straight to online analyses). Here
are several tips for dealing with participants who share case outcomes at
various points in the class.
1 When a student shares the outcome at the beginning or the middle of a
case discussion. The best way to deal with this is to acknowledge the
comment, nod or say yes if what the student said is in fact true (because
they may or may not have gotten accurate information online), say “Well,
not exactly” if the outcome the student shared is not true, and then, “We’ll
go over that after we go through the rest of the analysis.” I once had a
student share the fact that a company had already been sold very soon after
our discussion had begun. I was frustrated because the discussion centered
around whether the protagonist should sell or not! I acknowledged the
student’s comment without saying whether it was true, said “We’ll talk
about the outcome a bit later,” and then quickly transitioned back to the
case discussion itself.

2 When a student shares the outcome toward the end of the case discussion.
This scenario can actually be a gift and can be used as to segue to your own
case wrap-up. If you had planned to provide students with the “moral of
the story” anyway and the student’s information is correct—or mostly
correct—stick with the spirit of the case method and allow him or her to be
the one who tells everyone what really happened. If the student’s
information is incorrect, ask where he or she got the answer, then quickly
pivot to share your understanding of the actual outcome. If you had also
planned to do a theoretical wrap-up of the day’s lessons, don’t let yourself
get derailed by spending a lot of time on the outcome. Just get it out, move
on, and then do your wrap-up.

Tips for handling debriefs when students Google the

entire case analysis
1 Have a plan and stick to it as closely as you can. Have a teaching plan or
teaching note and then stick to the main areas of discussion you have
envisioned, including the questions you will use to introduce each topic
area. This will help you limit students’ ability to recite canned analyses.
Much like debaters who wait for their moment to share prepackaged
applause lines, students who raise their hands and share prepackaged
analyses typically stand out, particularly when compared to students who
 have read the case themselves and therefore answer questions in a more
thoughtful, spontaneous way.

2 Don’t allow students to simply make their point(s) without being

challenged. My students know they won’t get away with giving an
unchallenged answer in my class. I almost always ask them to clarify
certain points, tell me what they think of an argument that is counter to
theirs, or follow up with a question about another aspect of the case itself.
These techniques are effective because students learn that they need to
know what they are talking about, and more importantly, they need to
read and be familiar with the entire case, not just the one aspect of it that
they found on the Internet.

3 Ask another student whether he or she agrees or disagrees with what his
or her classmate has just said. By encouraging dialogue not just with you
as the instructor, but with peers, colleagues, or classmates, you make it
harder for an unprepared student, or for one who has Googled his or her
talking points. There is stark contrast between a thoroughly prepared
student and one whose answers are more superficial.

4 “What if” questions can help. I often ask students to think about the
counterfactual: “What if this decision had been made rather than that
one? Then what would have happened?” This tactic can force students to
think on their feet and show an understanding of the case and what it
stands for, not just knowledge of its eventual outcome. Similarly, if you
change the case questions, supplementary material, and teaching plans
from semester to semester, online case solutions become obsolete and
irrelevant to the current discussion.
Some final observations
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
One idea for dealing with online solutions is to integrate them into some of
your assignments. For example, you could offer students links to three
different case analyses and ask them to compare and contrast them, choosing
the one they think makes the most sense and explaining why. Then you can
encourage discussion between students who have chosen different solutions.

Technology in the classroom can exacerbate the problem.

I do not allow technology in the classroom. I realize this is a controversial
policy and that I am more and more in the minority, but it does make it more
difficult for students to Google outcomes and solutions during the class
discussion. When students have to prepare in advance and have no access to
the Internet in the classroom, they cannot gain any additional information
about the case or its outcome.

For online case discussions.

If you suspect that a student is posting an answer that he or she downloaded,
you can immediately ask him or her for further explanation or to email backup
calculations directly to you. This will provide an opportunity for you to have a
side conversation that doesn’t affect the flow of the class discussion.

Different audiences, different solutions.

As I mentioned earlier, I do not allow technology in the classroom. With
undergraduates, some instructors walk around the room to see what is
displayed on any open laptops. (It’s often Facebook). But MBA students often
work in groups. Therefore, there will likely be several with the same, or a
similar, solution. By opening up the discussion to the class and asking for
others to elaborate, you can steer the potential disruption into a favorable
dialogue. If others also used an online solution, they will be reluctant to speak
up, creating a tension that MBA students really don’t like—either getting
caught unprepared or not standing up for one another. In my experience, mid-
career students are typically less likely to cheat. They might look for answers
online, but then stay up all night doing an analysis that disproves the answer
they found.

The learning contract is all-important.

Make your policies clear right from the beginning when you and your students
enter into a learning contract. This is perhaps the most important idea of all.
The strategies and tactics I have outlined here are largely meant to deal with
the problem of students relying on online case solutions, but will not cure it.
However, you can avoid the problem altogether by making your policy clear
right from the beginning. If you do not want students Googling solutions or
outcomes, then say so clearly in the syllabus and stick to it! Tell students that
you consider using answers from other class sections cheating. Norms around
cheating should be spelled out especially clearly, as increasingly diverse classes
include more international students from cultures with different rules and
expectations. Explain the case method, its emphasis on process rather than
solutions, and its increased effectiveness when cases are discussed using only
the information provided. Explain that students will be expected to back up
their answers with calculations, case facts, and analytical details. Tell your
students both in writing and verbally during the first class session that you do
not want them researching case information, analysis, or results ahead of time,
and that you expect them to adhere by your rules and the honor code of your
class. This may not prevent the problem entirely, but it will allow you much
greater control not just with regard to Googled solutions, but in terms of
running your class in general.

SEE MORE CASE METHOD TEACHING TIPS:

casemethod.hbsp.harvard.edu