Summary of William Ellet's The Case Study Handbook

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

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#1 The case method is a new approach to learning that you may encounter in business school. It is a dynamic, unpredictable classroom where students discuss and disagree with each other about cases. The professor doesn’t lay out the correct response to the case, because you have to learn how to think.

#2 The lecture method is a great way to learn a lot of information in a short time. However, it can’t teach you how to think, and it can’t prepare you for the real world.

#3 The case method is a new approach to learning that you may encounter in business school. It is a dynamic, unpredictable classroom where students discuss and disagree with each other about cases. The professor doesn’t lay out the correct response to the case, because you have to learn how to think.

#4 MBA students have told me that there is a secret to the case method that some people get and some don't. If you get it, you do well; if you don’t, you scrape by as best you can.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Oct 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9798350039986

IRB Media

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Insights on William Ellet's The Case Study Handbook

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The case method is a new approach to learning that business students encounter every year. It is a straightforward narrative, but when you finish reading it, you may ask yourself questions such as What point is the case trying to make. and Is it trying to make a point at all.

#2

The lecture model is good for transferring information. It is an efficient way for an expert to deliver content to many individuals at once. However, it can’t teach you how to think. You must practice what you have learned in the real world, similar to how you would apply it in the real world.

#3

The case method allows you to make mistakes and learn from them, whereas the lecture method does not. This fundamental shift in the learning model causes many students to be confused, uncertain, and anxious.

#4

The case method requires a lot from you, but it isn’t a secret society in which a few fortunate individuals get it and outperform their peers. You must be able to read a case and give it meaning in relation to the key issues or questions that you have been asked about it.

Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The first two paragraphs of a column written by Steven Pearlstein of the Washington Post are an example of clear writing. They explain the subject clearly, and they carefully declare their main points.

#2

Cases are a great way to immerse yourself in the real world. They provide you with both the available facts and the fluidity and uncertainty that characterizes the real world.

#3

A business case is a verbal representation of reality that puts you in the role of a participant in a situation. It must have four characteristics: a significant business issue or issues, sufficient information on which to base conclusions about the issues, no objective conclusion, and a nonlinear organization.

#4

Cases are different from textbooks and articles because they contain noise, which is a characteristic of real-world situations. Cases provide valuable practice in filtering information according to its relevance and value to an issue.

#5

Cases have a logical structure. They have an opening section, a sequence of headings and subheadings, and a concluding section. They often have exhibits that look like those in textbooks or articles.

#6

The purpose of textbooks is to transfer knowledge, including the principles and conclusions that experts in a domain of knowledge accept. The organization of a textbook is logical, starting from basic concepts and progressing to more advanced concepts.

#7

Cases are meaningless until a reader gives them meaning. You must be able to filter the noise of irrelevant or relatively unimportant information. You must be able to focus on key tasks that allow you to put