The document discusses the case study methodology for business education. It provides a history of case studies, describing how they emerged in the late 19th century in response to criticisms of abstract theorizing. The document then outlines how case studies work, the competencies they develop, and how to prepare a case study analysis. An example case study analysis of Marks & Spencer is presented with questions to illustrate the process.

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 Master of Science in Finance
Wednesday 22nd September 2010
Case study methodology
Adapted from Patrick O Sullivan

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 My objective is to…
Prepare you for case study
assignments

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 The agenda
 History of the case study methodology
 Description of the methodology
 Benefits & downsides of case studies
 How to prepare a case study
 An illustration with Marks & Spencer

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 History of management science
 Until 1900: no business in education
 Late 19th century: management science in
the US (based on “positivism”)
science logics
abstract theorising
example: Taylorism

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 History of management science
Critics of abstract theorising:
Human beings are complex and free
creativity VS logics
uncertainty is everywhere
 Late 19th century: German historical
school
No permanent economic laws
Historical perspective

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 History of management science
 Early 20th century: Harvard business
school
Case study methodology

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 Description of the methodology
Tells stories of business episodes
“Once upon a time….”
++ closer to reality
++ includes uncertainty
++ easier to remember
-- specific to a company, at a certain time…
draw lessons = abstracting from cases

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 How does it work?
 A case study allows you to:
 Discover theories (inductive)
 Illustrate theories
 Challenge theories
 Student centered learning
Teacher centered learning

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 Competences developped?
 Analysis
 Synthesis
 Decision making
« This is the context: what would you do?
And why? »

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 Various types of cases
 Whole story
 Half story
 With or without questions

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 How to prepare a case study?
 “Quick” read:
 Who’s who?
 What’s what?
 “Slow” read a few days later:
Find “clues” to understand the context
 Environment (general economy, politics)
 Position (sector, products, geography)
 Identity (Who are we? How are we?)
 Competition

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 How to prepare a case study?
 List issues as if you were the CEO
 Group discussion on issues
 Group discussion on recommendations
 Write a one page paper
 Issues
 Recommendations
No right or wrong answer as long as you can
support your answer

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 An illustration: Marks & Spencer
1. How would you characterize the strategic
decisions taken under L. Vandevelde?
2. Were there multiple strategies?
3. How effective were means of implementation?
4. How would you describe M&S approach to
globalization?
5. What do you think of M&S approach to HRM?
6. What can you say about financial services?
7. Why was there such a contrast between the
clothing & food divisions?
8. How ethical is the M&S approach?