Comments on: the business case study: raw versus cooked http://cultureby.com/2008/05/the-business-ca.html This Blog Sits At the Intersection of Anthropology and Economics Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:06:55 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: srp http://cultureby.com/2008/05/the-business-ca.html/comment-page-1#comment-1639 srp Tue, 06 May 2008 00:11:01 +0000 http://grantmccracken.com/cco/http:/grantmccracken/page-title#comment-1639 <p>The trend in Harvard cases has been to make them more directed and focused. The older cases had scattered data all over the place and often you could do lots of things the authors of the cases never contemplated (as judged by the teaching notes they wrote). </p> <p>Classic Harvard cases involved an obvious, but wrong, analysis and a hidden "Easter egg"--a surprising calculation or comparision--that, once performed, revealed what was really going on. The theory behind this is that the big "aha!" moments are more memorable and striking and so are more likely to be integrated into the student's routine thought processes. Also, this style taught students to look beyond the obvious.</p> <p>Today's cases are more obviously directive, often serving as examples of some theoretical point covered in the readings for that day. The old whipsaw still comes out on occasion, though.</p> The trend in Harvard cases has been to make them more directed and focused. The older cases had scattered data all over the place and often you could do lots of things the authors of the cases never contemplated (as judged by the teaching notes they wrote).

Classic Harvard cases involved an obvious, but wrong, analysis and a hidden "Easter egg"–a surprising calculation or comparision–that, once performed, revealed what was really going on. The theory behind this is that the big "aha!" moments are more memorable and striking and so are more likely to be integrated into the student's routine thought processes. Also, this style taught students to look beyond the obvious.

Today's cases are more obviously directive, often serving as examples of some theoretical point covered in the readings for that day. The old whipsaw still comes out on occasion, though.

]]> By: Tom Guarriello http://cultureby.com/2008/05/the-business-ca.html/comment-page-1#comment-1638 Tom Guarriello Sun, 04 May 2008 02:41:27 +0000 http://grantmccracken.com/cco/http:/grantmccracken/page-title#comment-1638 <p>Somewhere in the universe, Claude Levi-Strauss is awestruck. </p> <p>I wrote of him here: <a href="http://www.truetalkblog.com/truetalk/2006/09/user_generated_.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.truetalkblog.com/truetalk/2006/09/user_generated_.html</a></p> Somewhere in the universe, Claude Levi-Strauss is awestruck.

I wrote of him here: http://www.truetalkblog.com/truetalk/2006/09/user_generated_.html

]]> By: Peter http://cultureby.com/2008/05/the-business-ca.html/comment-page-1#comment-1637 Peter Sat, 03 May 2008 15:47:01 +0000 http://grantmccracken.com/cco/http:/grantmccracken/page-title#comment-1637 <p>Is this: The Business Case goes Po-Mo?</p> <p>In addition to being cooked, I always viewed HBS case studies as being pre-digested. As a result, HBS graduates I've encountered often lack their own independent mastication capabilities. </p> Is this: The Business Case goes Po-Mo?

In addition to being cooked, I always viewed HBS case studies as being pre-digested. As a result, HBS graduates I've encountered often lack their own independent mastication capabilities.

]]> By: Virginia Postrel http://cultureby.com/2008/05/the-business-ca.html/comment-page-1#comment-1636 Virginia Postrel Sat, 03 May 2008 03:26:09 +0000 http://grantmccracken.com/cco/http:/grantmccracken/page-title#comment-1636 <p>From what I can tell at something of a distance, the "new intellectual and problem solving style" of b-school students is to demand clear-cut, predigested "take aways," preferably in written outline form (PowerPoint is nice), and to go absolutely crazy when problems don't present themselves in clearly defined ways. The Yale approach sounds like a guaranteed ticket to low, low teaching ratings.</p> From what I can tell at something of a distance, the "new intellectual and problem solving style" of b-school students is to demand clear-cut, predigested "take aways," preferably in written outline form (PowerPoint is nice), and to go absolutely crazy when problems don't present themselves in clearly defined ways. The Yale approach sounds like a guaranteed ticket to low, low teaching ratings.

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