Case Studies

Case study reference sources

Business Case Studies

A key requirement for your studies on this course is for you to keep yourself up-to-date on the daily business news. At the start of each lesson, I will ask one student to present a summary of a breaking news article. We will then discuss the respective case study in order to identify relevant content and concepts as relevant to the course curriculum.

Below you can find a selection of web sites from the leading international business news broadcasters which you can use for your daily news updates.

Contextualised teaching through case studies and examples

While conceptual teaching supports students in understanding questions business organisations face with change, culture, ethics, globalisation, innovation and strategy, contextualised teaching helps them realise the importance of these questions; case studies and examples bridge the gap between theory and practice. As they enhance students’ motivation and interest in the subject, case studies and examples are a standard learning methodology in DP business management classes. Teachers also favour work with real-world applications, as it is conducive to student-centred activities, and in the process, students develop several important skills: working in groups, studying individually, communicating, solving problems and making decisions.

This section of the TSM offers some tips on case studies and examples as a teaching methodology, as well as some further guidance on preparing the pre-seen case study and case studies for the conceptual extended response questions of the DP business management external assessment.

Selecting case studies and examples

News articles and other real-world resources, such as annual reports, industry-level materials, non-governmental organization (NGO) publications and consumer opinion, offer many examples of business management concepts, tools, techniques and theories in action. Resources that reflect current debates are encouraged.

Some examples of organizations that provide free case study samples at the time of writing this TSM include The Times 100 (business case studies), CasePlace.org (http://caseplace.org) as well as management consultancies, such as McKinsey & Company, and Schroeder & Schroeder Inc. Publications/actors like The Stanford Social Innovation Review, the Duke University Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation offer case studies on social entrepreneurship and new approaches to business.

Developing case studies

Teachers’ research interests and experiences, students’ personal interests and experiences, and access to external stakeholders, such as industry experts, can guide development of case studies to replace more theoretical teaching of a topic. Engaging case study work can lead to initiatives beyond the business management class. Case studies may, for example, provide the impetus for entrepreneurial service learning projects in the local community as part of students’ creativity, action, service (CAS) requirement.

Integrating case studies and examples in teaching

How to integrate examples and case studies in business management teaching depends very much on the objectives of learning, topic covered and the issues at stake in the materials. It is helpful when teaching through case studies and examples to:

• identify the context and issues raised by the case study or example
• explain how these issues relate to different areas of the syllabus and the six concepts
• apply the business tools, techniques and theories that might be appropriate for understanding the issues raised in the case study or example
• identify solutions to the issues, discuss these, and if appropriate, formulate recommendations.

Other methods teachers may consider include:

• having students play the parts of the people involved in the case. A role-play not only actively engages students, but forces them to really understand the perspectives of the case characters.
• incorporating videos or even field trips (where applicable) showing the setting of the case can help students to visualize the situation that they need to analyse.
• case studies can be especially effective if they are paired with a reading assignment that introduces or explains a concept or an analytical method that applies to the case.
• motivating students to read the case study before class as well as stimulating attentiveness during class by grading student participation—in terms of quantity and especially quality—during the discussion of the case. In order to engage all students, teachers can divide students into groups, give each group several minutes to discuss how to answer a question related to the case and then ask a randomly selected student in each group to present the group’s answer and reasoning.

Preparing the pre-seen case study

Paper 1 of the DP business management external assessment is based on a pre-seen case study, issued by the IB well before the examination session. The pre-seen case study is the same for SL and HL students, but different questions can be set for each level. New stimulus material based on the prescribed pre-seen case study will be given in the examination paper for section B (HL and SL) and section C (HL). The purpose of the pre-seen case study is to assess, in depth and across a number of topics, the student’s ability to apply business management knowledge to a given situation.

No more than three weeks of class time should be spent on working with the pre-seen case study. The intention of this period is for students, under the guidance of their teacher, to:

• become familiar with the organization in the case study: its stakeholders, their interests, as well as the organization’s objectives, challenges and strategies
• build the terminology and some conceptual frameworks needed to discuss the case
• relate relevant business management tools, techniques and theories to their analysis of the case.

Consequently, the following kinds of activities are suitable when preparing students for paper 1.

Teachers could:

• require students to identify and define business management concepts and terminology present throughout the case
• require students to draw up an organizational chart to provide a structure on the people involved in the case
• require students to formulate a timeline of events as relates to the case
• assist students in identifying key business management tools, techniques and theories that are helpful for analysing the case and encourage students to attempt to apply these to the case study organization
• encourage modelling of the case study characters, events and activities through, for example, using role-play activities or organizing a seminar or a debate on the case.

Together, teachers and students could:

• formulate clarifying and probing questions that would help in understanding the issues facing the organization in the case study
• discuss the case to bring out unclear underlying issues
• raise learning points from studying earlier cases.

Senior examiners have frequently observed that many students respond to paper 1 questions not by answering exactly what the examination papers asks but rather by reproducing memorized responses to possible questions, probably prepared by their teachers or taken from commercially available study packs. Teachers should be aware that memorization leads to shallow understanding of underlying concepts and content, and when students reproduce memorized responses, they often do not address the questions directly and precisely. This approach is rarely successful in achieving the highest marks.

Preparing case studies for the conceptual extended response questions

Paper 2, section C of the DP business management assessment is a conceptual extended response question. Students are asked to use two of the six concepts of change, culture, ethics, globalization, strategy and innovation to discuss the situation and issues faced by real-life organization(s) they have studied during the course, making use of business management tools, techniques and theories.

Consequently, throughout their business management course, students need to identify real-life organizations to which these concepts apply. For example, they could identify organizations facing a period of significant change, cultural challenges, ethical dilemmas, issues related to globalization, strategic decisions or innovation opportunities. Although the examination questions in paper 2, section C will ask students to discuss only two of the concepts in the context of their chosen organization(s), students should select organizations to which several of the concepts apply so that they have flexibility to apply their knowledge in a way required by the specifics of their chosen examination question.

Although large multinational companies are likely to lend themselves well to paper 2, section C questions, suitably selected national or local businesses or social enterprises may be conceptually equally interesting.

After selecting an organization, students then need to study the change, culture, ethics, globalization, strategy or innovation aspects of the case holistically: what is going on in the organization with respect to, say, cultural clashes or responses to globalization? Researching answers through concrete events or decisions is strongly advisable. Students should also think which business management tools, techniques or theories would help them to understand the situation and issues facing the organization better, and use these to support their analysis. Finally, students need to identify and examine what other perspectives on the case are possible, from the viewpoint of different stakeholders within and outside the organization.

Methods encouraging holistic and integrated learning, such as mind mapping, preparing presentations and peer reviewing work, are likely to be helpful for preparing for the conceptual extended response questions.