Businessmen and governments in nearly all countries have recognized the need for capable administrators, trained to act in a complex, fast-changing, and increasingly interdependent world, as the best means of assuring economic strength.
Above quote from “The Worldwide Influence of Harvard Business School,” HBS Annual Report, 1965.1
Efforts by HBS to spread the teaching of case method instruction for the benefit of business education nationally led to the development of many of its international programs. In 1954, the School started the Summer Case Writing Program that offered an opportunity for faculty from U.S. colleges and universities to learn: the preparation of a case from gathering field notes to final draft; how to teach with cases; and grading and evaluation of student performance.
The program was supported by the Ford Foundation, which also helped establish the International Teacher’s Program (ITP) in 1958. ITP brought faculty from around the world to HBS to attend an intensive full-time educational program in teaching business administration using the case method. ITP is now sponsored jointly by the International Schools of Business Management, a consortium of nine business schools. It remains among the leading management faculty development programs today. HBS was also instrumental in helping establish numerous international business schools including INSEAD (Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires) in 1957.
Participants in the Summer Program on Using and Writing Cases, 1955. HBS Archives Photograph Collection.
International Teachers Program pamphlet (cover), 1958-1959. HBS Archives Vertical File Collection (E43).
International Teachers Program pamphlet (interior), 1958-1959. HBS Archives Vertical File Collection (E43).
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, HBS faculty introduced the case method to business educators in emerging free-enterprise markets in Central and Eastern Europe through the workshop for Central and Eastern European Teachers Program. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, HBS began a network of global research centers in Hong Kong, Buenos Aires, and Tokyo to foster faculty research and case development internationally.
Business administration programs around the globe have used the case method of instruction, incorporated HBS cases into their curricula, and even adopted the physical layout of the HBS classroom. Championed as a teaching method at HBS a century ago, the case method continues to influence the teaching of business administration and the education of business leaders around the world.
International Teachers Program participants on the steps of Baker Library, [1970]. HBS Archives Photograph Collection.
International Teachers Program classroom, Leysin, Switzerland, 1971. HBS Archives Photograph Collection (olvwork390659).
