The edited book Company Analysis and Risk Management Strategies in the Global Business Environment – A Case Study Collection is a joint work of academics, experts and students. The book is the result of many years of student-centred pedagogy practiced in the Risk Management courses taught at the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), University of Zagreb. Student-centred teaching strengthens the students' engagement, develops their self-confidence and motivation, and fosters interactive and interesting teaching dynamics.

The editor and co-author of the book is our Professor Danijela Miloš Sprčić, PhD, who mentored students in developing business case studies of seven multinational companies – Arena Hospitality Group, Coca-Cola, IntelCorp, Nestle, Netflix, Match Group and Starbucks – that are presented in this book. The readers should regard them as a platform for learning and gaining practical experience for the students of business economics, which is key to their future career development. Co-authors of the case studies are Julija Puškar (a FEB alumna), Senior Auditor at KPMG Croatia and twenty-one students of Integrated University Programme in Business Economics.

The most important students’ obligation in the Risk Management courses where student-centred pedagogy is most pronounced, is to participate in the development of business case studies from the Croatian and international markets to enable them to apply the knowledge acquired in the first part of the semester. The research-based methodology of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) was applied in all business case studies. The global economic and financial crisis, as well as the recent one caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, have had a significant impact on the changes in the corporate governance systems. In conditions of increased complexity and uncertainty, the need for a comprehensive strategic approach to risk management has emerged as a departure from traditional risk management that tackles different types of business risks individually within the corporate silos without assessing risks interrelations. The students analysed the macroeconomic environments and markets in which the selected companies operate, their positions within the industry, business models, financial situations and competitive strategies of the company which allowed them to create SWOT and TOWS analyses, identify the key business risks, evaluate their impact on company’s objectives and determine a comprehensive risk management strategy. This year, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the operations of the analysed companies was particularly emphasized, and hence the students considered the strategies for dealing with the resulting economic crisis.

The approach used in developing the business case studies originates from the Yale University and is known as The Yale Raw Case Approach. Unlike the traditional business case studies, which are prepared in advance in the form of several pages of analyses accompanied by student assignments, the raw business case is based on the information provided from sources in various forms. The students analyse the companies' financial and business reports and those of independent analysts, as well as the articles, interviews, videos, search the websites of numerous organizations and institutions, while learning how to search for the relevant information. In this way, unlike the pre-prepared business cases that often result in similar solutions, the raw case studies mimic the real world where information is scattered and sometimes contradictory. The raw business case study by design contains more information than the students can analyse individually and therefore they work in teams where they learn to organize work tasks, manage time, set goals, build a joint analysis and a solution proposal. The approach is compatible with interdisciplinary research that integrates knowledge from different disciplines in order to solve complex problems. Additionally, a culture of collaboration and support is built whereby students learn from each other by expressing opinions and views based on data analysis. In doing so, they acquire the skills of exchanging information, accepting divergent thinking, reaching group consensus and finding common solutions. Thus, the students can achieve more easily and effectively the planned learning outcomes related to the acquisition of knowledge and improvement of analytical and communication skills, and teamwork and decision-making skills. The book Company Analysis and Risk Management Strategies in the Global Business Environment – A Case Study Collection will be used in the practical part of the Risk Management courses, in order to improve the business cases that students will be tasked to develop in the coming academic years.