Abstract
The case method is a powerful student-centred teaching strategy that helps students to improve problem identification, decision making, critical thinking, communication and interpersonal skills. Discussing cases dealing with complex, ambiguous, real-world problems engages students in the class, inspiring them to ‘see it from an action perspective, rather than analyse it from a distance’ (Angelo & Boehrer, 2002). Multidisciplinary case studies, by their nature ‘allow the application of theoretical concepts … bridging the gap between theory and practice’ (Davis & Wilcock, 2003). The case method is recommended as one way to link theory to practice whereby students can apply and integrate knowledge, skills, theories and experience.
With a strong belief that a case will not find favour with management faculty if it is not linked to theory, SAJBMC is shifting its stance and moving away from cases which are just narration of events or description of a situation denuded of specific learning outcomes. Starting with the August 2019 issue of SAJBMC, readers will find most of the cases are designed to teach some theoretical concepts, framework or model.
In the opening case titled King George’s Medical University: Inculcating a Service Mindset, the process of creating a service mindset among doctors, nurses and paramedics with the help of communication interventions has been demonstrated by Payal Mehra. The key issues highlighted in this case are: How to make the doctors more responsive to the needs of the patient? What additional measures should be initiated to inculcate values of medical ethics and empathy within the doctors?
From the second case on Forum for New Initiative (FNI), written by Harsh V. Verma and Ekta Duggal, students can learn the concept of repositioning an irrelevant service like the traditional form of performative arts (dance, magic, rope and bamboo gymnastics etc.) and crafts (pottery, wood carving, carpet weaving and stonework) to create new opportunities. The case explores the options of building a sustainable model without the support of a charity or doles. It maps the learning outcomes of the marketing management course pretty well.
The third case about Pink Auto authored by Julie Vardhan and Madhuri Mahato deals with the personality trait of grit which Duckworth has defined as demonstration of passion and perseverance towards a long-term goal. The case is an attempt to exemplify as to how changes in society can be brought about by individuals if they have the will and determination to succeed in their endeavour.
A good case for organizational behaviour course.
The next case in the series, written with the learning outcomes of a strategy course in mind, titled ‘Golden Age Residential Healthcare: Opportunities in Thailand’ suggests a business model to tap the opportunity in Thailand.
The case on Green Kitchen Family Restaurant is an ideal fit to the Service Recovery section of a service operations management course. A tech-savvy customer gets irritated by the delayed service at the restaurant and posts comments on Google+. The owner of the restaurant wonders as to how to contain the damage created by negative word of mouth which has spread far and wide on the Internet.
The sixth case will facilitate a faculty of OB to explain the concept of Organizational Ambidexterity. The author Sulphey opines that NOKIA’s failure to adopt ambidexterity had pushed the firm into oblivion. Students will find rich arguments in the case to carry out a healthy discussion.
The next case by Sari Wahyuni, Kenji Onodera and Wahyuningsih present a collaborative framework to foster innovation. The case fits the learning outcomes of strategy and innovation courses.
In the eighth case authors Ashutosh Singh, Mohammad Asjad, Piyush Gupta and Jahangir Quamar argue that with the advent of reconfigurable machines based on the modular approach, the traditional form of the machine has been threatened. An apt case for the product and process chapters of an operations management course. The case will expose the students to reconfiguration mechanisms that might lead to a lowering of operational cost by optimising the use of machines.
The ninth case of the issue on EnviGreen Biotech authored by Preshita Neha Tudu and Rambalak Yadav will be useful to teach 4Ps of marketing for an eco-friendly alternative to plastic bags.
In the closing tenth case of the issue author Anuj Sharma uses the context of brand building of Del Monte in India to explain the framework of Kelly. The students can understand the steps of building a brand in a B2B market by populating the framework with the variables present in the case. To bring out the tectonic shift from mere descriptive to theory linked cases the journal received full cooperation from and coherent understanding of the purpose among the authors, reviewers and editorial team members. Many authors have revised their cases many times to align with the objectives of the journal. Kudos to reviewers for not compromising on the two basic tenets of the journal: review and improve and quick response.
We hope that management faculty will find these cases useful in the class to teach theoretical concepts. There could be many aspects which may require improvements. We will wait for your feedback at ak.