Case Method 100 Years

The first standalone case, “General Shoe Company,” by Clinton P. Biddle is published by the Bureau of Business Research.

Faculty vote that the School’s plan of instruction should be called the case system.

One or more of the first five HBS casebooks have been adopted at 93 universities, signaling increasing popularity of discussion-based teaching in business education.

General Electric pays for HBS to research cases at GE, demonstrating the connection between the School and industry.

Two-thirds of the School’s courses are now taught by the case method.

Members at the American Collegiate Schools of Business (ACSB), now the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) convention debate use of the case method, now in use by 217 schools in U.S. Future HBS Dean, Professor Donald K. David, speaks in favor of it.

HBS assists Radcliffe College with the new “Training Course in Personnel Administration” using the case method for teaching.

In the 18 years since the case method’s inception, nearly 15,000 cases have been produced.

As the US enters WWII, the MBA Program is paused and the transition to Wartime Schools begins with the creation of the Navy Support School. Dean Donham writes that the flexibility of the case method has allowed the "successful conversion of our curriculum to war conditions."

Faculty writes 600 cases for classroom instruction of military personnel

HBS introduces the use of industrial films into case teaching.

The Central Task Force for training case writers is created.

The Office of Case Development is established to assume responsibility for all case research activities at HBS. A Case Development Policy Committee of the Faculty, and a Director of Case Development, are appointed.

The School’s new classroom building, Aldrich, is dedicated. Classrooms are specifically designed for teaching by the case method.

With Ford Foundation funding, HBS begins to conduct the Summer Case Writing Program, which encourages professors from other universities and colleges to learn more about the case method and to contribute information about their own cases.

With Ford Foundation funding, HBS enters into its first formal overseas relationship with the Institute of Business Administration at the University of Istanbul, Turkey.

There are now 21 case collections in print as well as 50,000 individual cases.

School sets target of having one-third of faculty engaged in case development or project research each year.

While teaching at IMEDE, Kenneth Andrews conducts research into secretive Swiss watch industry and then writes about it in a groundbreaking case series.

Division of Audio-Visual Education starts to produce "filmed cases".

Ford Foundation gives $120,000 to help support development of an Intercollegiate Clearing House for the distribution of cases, through which cases developed at HBS and other schools were cleared for use in any school.

The first director of case distribution, Harvey Bishop, coordinates case distribution across multiple schools of business, and the first directory of cases is published, including 32 schools.

International Teachers Program begins, enrolling teachers from around the globe to learn teaching by the case method.

Volume IV of the Intercollegiate Case Bibliography published. It contained 710 cases from 63 institutions and a supplement of 242 cases in languages other than English.

School experiments with the Individual Case Discussion Simulator (INCADIS) to determine whether the case method could be adapted for use with individuals who could not travel to campus.

The Division of International Activities established. One goal is to “stimulate the collection of case materials and project research in various parts of the world.”

Intercollegiate Case Clearing House sells $107,000 worth of mimeographed cases, approaching break-even point.

First-year students participate in first run of the "Business Game," a dynamic case series created by Professor James McKenney.

The first computer at HBS, an IBM 1401, is installed on campus. Part of the computer’s purpose is supporting “business games,” a new facet of case teaching.

HBS receives a grant of $170,000 from the Ford Foundation to support the preparation of a series of bibliographies of cases and other teaching materials for use in developing countries overseas.

“Tele-Case Discussions” concept was used successfully for the first time to present a series of eight seminars on “Personnel Appraisal.” These seminars were part of the Alumni Association’s continuing education program.

Ruth Cummings Hetherston, Associate in Research, retired after 37 years at HBS. She began her career at HBS as a grader becoming one of the School’s most prolific developers of cases and teaching materials.

The International Teachers Program receives $1.2 million from the Ford Foundation to support training of case method teachers.

African-American Student Union is founded with one of its goals to increase the number of cases featuring Black businesspeople.

C. Roland Christensen initiates a series of annual seminars for doctoral students on case method teaching.

Groups of related cases with a teaching guide called course modules are introduced to help structure segments of courses.

Two 1st-year sections participate in experiment with the use of personal computers to analyze case materials.

The internal case-publishing enterprise, which in 1980-1981 shipped 100 million pages to 6,000 customers around the world, but lost money, shifts to computer-based fulfillment.

Teaching by the Case Method by C. Roland Christensen is published.

C. Roland Christensen is named a University Professor, Harvard's highest academic honor, in recognition of his work promoting the case method throughout Harvard.

HBS and Xerox begin multi-year effort, headed by Director of Cases Judy Uhl, to put the School's 7,000 active cases online.

HBS Publishing is created as wholly-owned subsidiary of Harvard University.

First multimedia case, on Beijing-based sock manufacturer Pacific Dunlop, released, featuring video of the case protagonist and interactive exhibits.

Educational Technology Group founded to facilitate production of additional multi-media cases.

California Research Center established to support faculty research and writing on West Coast companies.

This first group of so-called “pooled” case writers supported faculty teaching and innovation, including in the then-nascent custom programs and for early experiments with online learning, such as the “distance learning modules” in the Program for Global Leadership. Novartis was one of the first big custom programs, and the “Novartis: Being a Global Leader” case was the first by Dean Srikant Datar.

Early attempts to diversify case protagonists received a lot of press. A special fund was created by Marjorie Alfus, a retired Kmart executive; the Committee of 200 (C200), a national organization of women business executives; and HBS to encourage women to pursue high-level careers in management and to identify women who are key decision-makers and asking them to serve as subjects in HBS case studies.

The Research & Development Group becomes the Global Research Group, extending its case writing support to the faculty across all academic programs, focusing on international cases.

The C. Roland Christensen Center for Teaching and Learning founded to promote and support case method teaching and participant-centered learning for HBS faculty and instructors at institutions around the world.

As part of the School's centennial celebration, six cases developed to spur discussion on future of management education.

Harvard Center Shanghai (HSC) opens a 90 seat HBS classroom for case method teaching; the space features equipment for simultaneous translation to allow instruction in English for Chinese-speaking participants.

HBX (now HBS Online) founded with goal of replicating dynamic, participant-centered learning experience of in-person HBS classrooms.

In August 2013, with the overseas offices firmly established, the Global Research Group adopts the new name of Case Research & Writing Group (CRG). Its mission remains to support faculty by providing high quality, high value, efficient, and innovative case research, development, and writing. The CRG has worked with over 240 faculty members on 2,600 projects across all academic units at the School.

Cold Call podcast created, each episode features a case and an interview with the faculty author.

Cases with Female Protagonists collection developed in partnership with the Gender Initiative.

Advancing Racial Equity plan includes goal of developing more cases with Black and other under-represented minority protagonists.

HBS develops a hybrid classroom model to maintain teaching and learning by the case method during a global pandemic.

During the 2021-2022 academic year, HBS celebrates 100 years of teaching and learning by the case method at the School.