Research Center for Case Study Training and Development

Harvard Business School (HBS) is renowned for using its unique Case Studying Teaching Method to cultivate future business leaders. Some 20% of Fortune 500 executives are graduates from HBS. The concept behind the case method is that real-world business situations are not usually straightforward, and thus require a comprehensive solution that covers multiple causes. But the traditional business teaching is rather limited. For this reason, HBS developed the case method to prepare students for complex situations they might encounter in the world of practice.

Foundational Purposes

Harvard Business School (HBS) is renowned for using its unique Case Studying Teaching Method to cultivate future business leaders. Some 20% of Fortune 500 executives are graduates from HBS. The concept behind the case method is that real-world business situations are not usually straightforward, and thus require a comprehensive solution that covers multiple causes. But the traditional business teaching is rather limited. For this reason, HBS developed the case method to prepare students for complex situations they might encounter in the world of practice.

The case method is widely used in HBS. The school’s faculty and courses are divided into ten specialized academic units. Faculty members of each unit are organized into teaching groups to discuss teaching materials. Students, on the other hand, would form study-groups to discuss the cases before class. There are always active participation and lively discussions in class, and students are very positive about their case learning experiences.

Professor Jih-Hsin She, Hsin-Yo Shih, Hsiao-Fen Chen, Chien-An Wang, Chien-Hsiung Cheng and Po-Hsun Hsiao were among the first to introduce participant-centered learning and the case method into classrooms. In the future, the College of Management will continue to promote and extend the use of the method in teaching.

Center Personnel

Currently, the Center is still at an initial stage. Most of the members are from the College of Management, including:

Professor Jih-Hsin She and Hsin-Yo Shih of the Department of Business Studies

Professor Hsiao-Fen Chen of the Department of Information Management

Professor Chien-An Wang of the Department of Finance

Professor Chien-Hsiung Cheng of the Department of Leisure, Tourism, and Hospitality Management

A director is appointed to be in charge of the Center. If necessary, a person may be appointed to be a project coordinator.

What We Do

1. To organize classroom observation events in order to familiarize students and faculty in the College of Management with the case method.
2. To promote the use of case method in teaching. The Center encourages faculty who have participated in case method workshops to apply case-based teaching in class, and promotes the method to those who have not taken part in any training, in hopes that the method can be more widely used in all EMBA, graduate and undergraduate courses.
3. To facilitate exchanges on case method with other higher education institutions including National Taiwan University, National Chengchi University, National Taiwan University of Technology, as well as those in other regions, such as China, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Previous topics of discussions include case method in teaching and the selection of case-based teaching materials.
4. To develop more cases on local companies, and to train casewriters. The Center cooperates with local companies to establish industry-university cooperation programs, and collects information to write new case materials. The cooperation programs may be partially funded by the College of Management.

Funds and Spaces

1. Sources of Funds

• Funds from the College of Management
• Funds from various Industry-University Cooperation Programs
• Funds from corporate sponsors

2. Usage of Funds

Funds from the College of Management is used to improve equipment and facilities inside the office.

Funds from Industry-University Cooperation Programs and corporate sponsors are used to finance a research assistant who build and maintain the Center’s website and assist in other administrative tasks.

3. Office Location

The Research Center is located at R308 in the College of Management.

Center Performance Evaluation

The Center uses the following criteria as measures of the effectiveness:

• Offering courses on the case method and participant-centered learning
• The number of newly developed cases
• The number of published papers on case studies
• The number of industry-university cooperation programs
• The continued promotion of the case method and participant-centered learning

Currently, the Center is preparing to offer three case-based courses each academic year, and more will be available in the future. All interested faculty are welcomed to join our team.