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Introduction

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Abstract

In this introductory chapter of the book, the author defines the case study, explains the function of case studies, and explains the concept of the book. It gives an overview of the case universe, highlights some of the similarities and differences of different case studies and describes the use of geometric shapes to conceptualise the case writer’s toolkit. The author focuses on three genres of case studies in this book—the teaching case, research case and knowledge-capture case. There is a description of how each of these genres evolved, including some of their developments in Asia. The author gives a good background of how case studies came about. With this knowledge, case writers can better decide how they want to use the case studies that they write.

There is never just one path.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Husock, Howard (1997). “An Outline for Casewriters and Case Teachers”. Cambridge, MA: Kennedy School of Government.

  2. 2.

    Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods. 4th edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

  3. 3.

    Colorado State University, Writing@CSU: The Writing Studio, “Case Studies”. Retrieved on October 10, 2016 from http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/guide.cfm?guideid=60.

  4. 4.

    Johansson, Rolf (2003), “Case Study Methodology”, Keynote speech at the International Conference Methodologies in Housing Research organized by the Royal Institute of Technology in cooperation with the International Association of People-Environment Studies, Stockholm, 22–23 September 2003. Retrieved on October 10, 2016 from http://psyking.net/HTMLobj-3839/Case_Study_Methodology-_Rolf_Johansson_ver_2.pdf.

  5. 5.

    Naumes William and Naumes Margaret J. Naumes (2012), The Art & Craft of Case Writing, Third Edition, New York: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.

  6. 6.

    Eberly Center: Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation, Carnegie Mellon University. “Case Studies”. Retrieved on October 7, 2016 from https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/teach/instructionalstrategies/casestudies.html.

  7. 7.

    Hammond, John S. (2009). “Learning by the Case Method”. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Publishing. Retrieved on October 7, 2016 from https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/resources/marketing/docs/LearnCase_Mthd_M70235.pdf.

  8. 8.

    Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved on October 7, 2016 from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/case%20study.

  9. 9.

    Centre for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, Hong Kong University. “Types of Assessment Methods”, AR@HKU. Retrieved on October 7, 2016 from http://ar.cetl.hku.hk/am_case_study.htm.

  10. 10.

    UNSW Australia. “What is a Case Study?”. Retrieved on October 7, 2016 from https://student.unsw.edu.au/what-case-study.

  11. 11.

    Center for Teaching and Learning, Stanford University. “Teaching with Case Studies”, Stanford University Newsletter on Teaching, Winter 1994, Vol. 5, No. 2. Retrieved on October 7, 2016 from https://web.stanford.edu/dept/CTL/Newsletter/case_studies.pdf.

  12. 12.

    Naumes William and Naumes Margaret J. Naumes (2012), The Art & Craft of Case Writing, Third Edition, New York: M.E. Sharpe, Inc. Pg. 4.

  13. 13.

    Garvin, D. A. (2003). “Making the Case”, Harvard Magazine, September-October 2003, Volume 106, Number 1.

  14. 14.

    Ibid.

  15. 15.

    Barton, B.H. (2008). “A Tale of Two Case Methods”, Tennessee Law Review, Vol. 75, No. 3, University of Tennessee Legal Studies Research Paper No. 16.

  16. 16.

    Garvin, David A. (2003). “Making the Case”. Harvard Magazine, September – October 2003, Volume 106, Number 1.

  17. 17.

    Leenders, M.R., Maufette-Leenders, L. A. and Erskine, J. A. (1973, 1978, 1989, 2001). Learning with Cases. London: Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario. p.v.

  18. 18.

    Gill, T.G. (2011). Information with the Case Method: A Guide to Case Method Research, Writing, & Facilitation. California, USA: Informing Science Press.

  19. 19.

    Garvin, David A. (2003). “Making the Case”. Harvard Magazine, September – October 2003, Volume 106, Number 1.

  20. 20.

    Ewing, D. W. (1990). Inside the Harvard Business School: Strategies and Lessons of America’s Leading School of Business. Crown, first edition.

  21. 21.

    “Harvard Business School and a Short History of the Case Method”, https://globaleduc.wordpress.com/2013/09/10/the-harvard-business-school-and-the-case-study-method-like-a-horse-and-carriage/ (accessed on 5 Apr 2017).

  22. 22.

    Leenders, M.R., Maufette-Leenders, L. A. and Erskine, J. A. (1973, 1978, 1989, 2001). Writing Cases. London: Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario.

  23. 23.

    Based on email correspondence dated 2 May 2017 with Louise A. Maufette.

  24. 24.

    Andrew R. Towl Papers. HBS Archives. Baker Library Historical Collections. Harvard Business School. http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~bak00152, accessed on May 2, 2017.

  25. 25.

    Andrew R. Towl Papers. HBS Archives. Baker Library Historical Collections. Harvard Business School. http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~bak00152, accessed on May 2, 2017.

  26. 26.

    Marquard, Bryan. (July 15, 2012). Andrew R. Towl, 101, Harvard Business School Innovator. The Boston Globe. https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2012/07/14/andrew-towl-was-director-case-development-harvard-business-school/WmE7ya3cg2q2U8F1jQ5IeJ/story.html. Accessed on May 2, 2017.

  27. 27.

    Based on email correspondence dated 2 May 2017 with Louise A. Maufette.

  28. 28.

    Ibid.

  29. 29.

    Garvin, David A. (2003). “Making the Case”. Harvard Magazine, September – October 2003, Volume 106, Number 1.

  30. 30.

    Garvin, David A. (2003). “Making the Case”. Harvard Magazine, September – October 2003, Volume 106, Number 1.

  31. 31.

    Based on email correspondence dated 2 May 2017 with Louise A. Maufette.

  32. 32.

    Ibid.

  33. 33.

    The Case Centre. Our History. https://www.thecasecentre.org/students/aboutus/organisation/history, accessed on May 2, 2017.

  34. 34.

    Ibid.

  35. 35.

    The Case Centre, IE Business School. http://www.thecasecentre.org/educators/ordering/whatsavailable/collections/iebussch, accessed on April 7, 2017.

  36. 36.

    The Case Centre, IE Business School. http://www.thecasecentre.org/educators/ordering/whatsavailable/collections/iebussch, accessed on April 7, 2017.

  37. 37.

    The Case Centre. Our History. https://www.thecasecentre.org/students/aboutus/organisation/history, accessed on May 2, 2017.

  38. 38.

    Ibid.

  39. 39.

    Hatch, James E. and Mu, Fengli (2015). Use of the Case Method in Chinese MBA Programs. Indiana, USA: Archway Publishing.

  40. 40.

    ibid.

  41. 41.

    The University of Hong Kong, About ACRC, http://www.acrc.hku.hk/about/about_cabc.asp, accessed on April 9, 2017.

  42. 42.

    Nanyang Technological University, The Asian Business Case Centre, http://www.nbs.ntu.edu.sg/Research/ResearchCentres/AsiaCase/Pages/default.aspx/, accessed on April 9, 2017.

  43. 43.

    Singapore Management University, Case Writing Initiative, accessed on January 9, 2017 from http://casewriting.smu.edu.sg/about-us.

  44. 44.

    Ibid.

  45. 45.

    Garvin, David A. (2003). “Making the Case”. Harvard Magazine, September – October 2003, Volume 106, Number 1.

  46. 46.

    Harvard Business School, “HBX Launches HBX Live – Harvard Business School’s Virtual Classroom”, press release, 25 August 2015, http://www.hbs.edu/news/releases/Pages/hbx-live.aspx, accessed on April 9, 2017.

  47. 47.

    The Case Centre, IE Business School, accessed on January 10, 2017 from http://www.thecasecentre.org/educators/ordering/whatsavailable/collections/iebussch.

  48. 48.

    Starman, Adrijana Biba, “The case study as a type of qualitative research”, Journal of Contemporary Educational Studies 1/2013. Retrieved on October 10, 2016 from http://www.sodobna-pedagogika.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Starman1.pdf.

  49. 49.

    Merriam, S. B. (1988). Case study research in education. San Francisco, London: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

  50. 50.

    Yin, R.K., (2009). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Fourth edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

  51. 51.

    Yin, R.K., (2009). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. 4th edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

  52. 52.

    Yin, Robert K., and Karen A. Heald 1975 “Using the case survey method to analyze policy studies.” Administrative Science Quarterly, 20: 371–381; Yin, Robert K., Eveleen Bingham, and Karen A. Heald, 1976 “The difference that quality makes: The case of literature reviews.” Sociological Methods and Research, 5: 139–156. Yin, Robert K., and Ingrid Heinsohn 1980. Case Studies in Research Utilization.” Washington: American Institutes for Research.

  53. 53.

    Mariano, Carla (1995). The qualitative research process. In L.A. Talbot (Ed.), Principles and practice of nursing research (pp. 463–491). St. Louis, MO: Mosby. Retrieved on October 10, 2016 from http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/130594/case_and_grounded_theory_as_qualitative_research_methods/#9vvy1jkXvsCUMsqe.99.

  54. 54.

    McDonough, J. and McDonough, S., (1997). Research Methods for English Language Teachers. London: Arnold.

  55. 55.

    Lundberg, C. C. Rainsford, P., Shay, J., & Young, C. A. (2001) “Case writing reconsidered”. Journal of Management Education, 25(4): 450–463.

  56. 56.

    Mitnick, Barry, “The Case Against the Case Method”, Harvard Business Review, April 29, 2009, accessed on January 23, 2017 from https://hbr.org/2009/04/the-case-against-the-case-meth-1.

  57. 57.

    Yeaple, Ronald, “Is the MBA Case Method Passé?”, Forbes, July 9, 2012, accessed on January 23, 2017 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ronaldyeaple/2012/07/09/is-the-mba-case-method-passe/#f0eba4f31459.

  58. 58.

    Daniels, Mechan, “Why HBS Developed the Case Method – and What It’s Like Today”, The Knewton Blog, accessed on January 23, 2017 from https://www.knewton.com/resources/blog/test-prep/why-harvard-developed-the-case-method-and-what-its-like-today/.

  59. 59.

    Kirkpatrick, Jerry, “Why Case Method Teaching Does Not Make Good History”, accessed on January 23, 2017 from https://www.cpp.edu/~jkirkpatrick/Papers/CaseHist.pdf.

  60. 60.

    Yeaple, Ronald, “Is the MBA Case Method Passé?”, Forbes, July 9, 2012, accessed on January 23, 2017 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ronaldyeaple/2012/07/09/is-the-mba-case-method-passe/#f0eba4f3145.

  61. 61.

    Simons, John, “Business Schools Tackle ‘Messy’ Real-Time Corporate Issues’, The Wall Street Journal, accessed on January 23, 2017 from http://www.wsj.com/articles/business-schools-tackle-messy-real-time-corporate-issues-1478102923.

  62. 62.

    Yin, R.K., (1984). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Beverly Hills, Calif: Sage Publications.

  63. 63.

    Garvin, D. A. (2003). “Making the Case”, Harvard Magazine, September-October 2003, Volume 106, Number 1.

  64. 64.

    Ziming Liu, “Reading behavior in the digital environment: Changes in reading behavior over the past ten years”, Journal of Documentation, Vol. 61 Iss: 6, pp.700–712.

  65. 65.

    Boot WR, Kramer AF, Simons DJ, Fabiani M, Gratton G. “The effects of video game playing on attention, memory, and executive control.” Acta Psychol (Amst). 2008 Nov;129(3):387–98. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2008.09.005. Epub 2008 Oct 16.

  66. 66.

    Microsoft Canada, Consumer Insights (Spring 2015), Attention Spans, https://advertising.microsoft.com/en/wwdocs/user/display/cl/researchreport/31966/en/microsoft-attention-spans-research-report.pdf.

  67. 67.

    Ibid.

  68. 68.

    Ibid.

  69. 69.

    Ibid.

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Gwee, J. (2018). Introduction. In: The Case Writer’s Toolkit. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7173-7_1

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