The Case Method at the Harvard Business School (HBS)

To create leaders, the Harvard Business School creates the context in which
leaders are formed: real-life challenges, wrapped in complicated and sometimes
insufficient information. Each challenge confronts its students with a rich web of
consequences - and a demand for a prompt, responsible plan of action.

These challenges are cases. Through the case method, every Harvard Business
School classroom becomes a crucible for participant-centered learning. A
crucible in which students not only assume responsibility for their education, but
exercise the fundamentals of leadership that they will practice the rest of their
lives.

The case method is rooted in Harvard Business School's original vision. Edwin
Gay, first Dean of HBS, called it the "problem method" and foresaw its value in
creating leaders able to adjust as necessary to ever-changing business climates.
From its inception a century ago, the school established two important
pedagogical principles. First, it would use cases as teaching vehicles and not
solely rely on lectures and readings. Second, it would engage the students in the
learning process by getting them to teach themselves and each other. Today,
although HBS also makes use of lectures, simulations, fieldwork, and other forms
of teaching as appropriate, more than 80 percent of classes are built on the case
method.

It's one thing to teach students how to perform a specific technique, such as a
break-even analysis. It's another to teach them why one should be executed,
how it should be interpreted - or even when it must be ignored. As decision
makers, managers must exercise judgment, not mere skills.

Judgment, based on sound analysis rooted in facts, is what students need to

absorb from their education. But, as the late HBS professor Charles I. Gragg
sagely noted, "We cannot effectively use the insight of others; it must be our
knowledge and insight that we use." By applying the case method to business
education, the boundaries of passive learning are broken to encourage students
to become active participants in their own progress. With each case, students
empathize with a decision maker, analyze varied and frequently ambiguous data,
and assume responsibility for an action plan that effectively resolves the case's
business challenge.

A different kind of teaching requires a different type of teacher.

By necessity, the role of a teacher changes as well. Rather than serve as a
conduit for knowledge, a teacher becomes the choreographer of a dynamic and
multi-faceted discussion. Instead of lecturing, teachers probe, encourage, and
sometimes cajole. Often they deliberately step aside to let the students assume
the lead roles - and openly challenge each other with contrary opinions and
analyses. A teacher in utilizing the case method doesn't provide answers; but
instead offers a pathway to greater experience and understanding.

How The HBS Case Method Works

When HBS students are presented with a case, they place themselves in the role
of the decision maker as they read through the situation and identify the problem
they are faced with. The next step is to perform the necessary analysis -
examining the causes and considering alternative courses of actions to come to
a set of recommendations.

To get the most out of cases, students read and reflect on the case, and then
meet in learning teams before class to "warm up" and discuss their findings with
other classmates. In class - under the questioning and guidance of the professor
- students probe underlying issues, compare different alternatives, and finally,
suggest courses of action in light of the organization's objectives.

In classroom case studies, students do 85 percent of the talking, as the professor

steers the conversation by making occasional observations and asking
questions. This classroom interaction is enriched by classmates familiar with
diverse industries, functions, countries, and experiences. At the end of the class,
students are amazed at what can be learned from exchanging ideas with his/her
classmates.

Class participation is so important to the learning model at HBS that 50 percent

of a student's grade in many courses is based on the quality of class
participation. This requires students and faculty to work closely together - another
hallmark of the HBS experience. During their time at the School, students study
and prepare over 500 cases.

Source: http://www.hbs.edu/teaching/inside-hbs/