Case Study Method - Amanda Guay

Dear Student,

The case-study method brings real-world situations into the classroom. When you discuss cases with your peers you will learn, as I did, that decision making is often a challenging activity involving people with different points of view; and you will learn how to work towards a compromise while dealing with differences of opinion. You have to develop the ability to apply the skills you obtain through the classroom to real world situations so you can learn how to (1) make decision making easier, (2) improve the analytical quality of decisions, (3) reduce the time required to make decisions, and (4) increase the occurance of correct decisions.

I was involved in a semester long case study in a Management class. Our task was to research a major corporation, but conduct our research as if we were a management team. We had to meet as a team on our own time and evaluate each other. This also meant that if someone was not doing their fair share, the "team leader" had the right to fire that member, and consequently their grade would suffer. It was a completely different approach from what I was used to, but I learned a lot more by participating in a "real life" situation rather than reading about it in a textbook. Using the case study method can take some "getting used to," but I have found that it is more effective.