Towards an Integrated Case Method in Management Education—Developing an Ecosystem-Based Research and Learning Journey for Flipped Classrooms

Jan-Philipp Büchler,Haijing Helen De Haan-Cao,Roger Sherlock,Gregor Brüggelambert,Asta Savanevičienė

doi:10.3390/admsci11040113

Abstract

In the field of management science and business administration, the case method is gaining ground in research and in teaching. Case studies support on the one hand exploratory research and on the other hand problem-based teaching. However, we find that case research and case teaching remain unchained in management study programs and propose to close this gap. We identify an untapped potential of boosting the case method by integrating case-based research and teaching into a discovery and learning journey of applied science. We suggest embedding the “integrated case method” (ICM) in the ecosystem of universities, with the aim of enhancing and intensifying the knowledge transfer between business and the higher educational sector, thereby achieving better learning objectives in higher education. As a result, this approach enables the development of a high level of contextual intelligence and thus helps to avoid the fallacies of teaching based on uniform theoretical content.

Highlights

Introduction to the Case Method inManagement EducationThe case method comprises a broad set of applications in the field of management research and teaching, and involves different types of case studies.In the field of management research, a case study is an “empirical method that investigates a contemporary phenomenon in depth and within its real-world context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context may not be clearly evident” (Yin 2018, p. 15)
The case study inquiry copes with the technically distinctive situation, in which there will be many more variables of interest than data points; relies on multiple sources of evidence, with data needing to converge in a triangulating fashion; and benefits from the prior development of theoretical propositions to guide data collection and analysis
The benefits are the immersion of students into a complex, messy, and context-specific situation

Summary

Introduction

Introduction to the Case Method inManagement EducationThe case method comprises a broad set of applications in the field of management research and teaching, and involves different types of case studies.In the field of management research, a case study is an “empirical method that investigates a contemporary phenomenon (the ‘case’) in depth and within its real-world context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context may not be clearly evident” (Yin 2018, p. 15). The case method comprises a broad set of applications in the field of management research and teaching, and involves different types of case studies. In the field of management research, a case study is an “empirical method that investigates a contemporary phenomenon (the ‘case’) in depth and within its real-world context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context may not be clearly evident” The objective of the case method is to identify the patterns and understand the causes of the identified issues. The case method is a predominantly qualitative research approach containing quantitative instruments such as cross-classified tables and analyses, as well as sampling protocols when the unit of analysis is, e.g., a complex organization (cf Gill 2011)

Methods

Results

Conclusion