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Mini Case Studies
Caselets, or short cases, are increasingly used as teaching
aids, both in B-Schools and in executive education programs. Being brief and
focused on a specific topic, a caselet is a useful supplement to a lecture. The
session plan for a B-School course is likely to be more effective when there is
a balanced mix of cases and caselets, along with other pedagogical tools.
A caselet is a shorter version of a case study, generally two to three pages in
length. Caselets are similar to case studies in that they may either describe a
sequence of events or put forth an issue or problem that requires decision
making. The use of caselets is gaining popularity as a pedagogical tool in
management teaching and executive education.
The basic objective of a caselet is to allow the learner to apply ideas and
insights from theory to the real-life issues and problems contained in the
caselet. This helps the learner obtain a deeper understanding of all the
relevant factors in a particular problem situation as well as gain insights into
the finer nuances of a topic in a particular field of management. The different
ways in which caselets aid the learning process are described below.
Teaching Approach
Caselets are an important teaching aid for the faculty to adapt the
teaching style to the needs of the situation. While discussing the topic of
management teaching and learning, experts distinguish between the 'Sage on
the Stage' approach and the 'Guide on the Side' approach. Comprehensive
cases are quite useful while following the 'Guide on the Side' approach of
facilitating a collective learning experience. However, a faculty member may
choose the 'Sage on the Stage' approach due to topic-specific,
class-specific, or faculty-specific factors. In such situations,
comprehensive cases can be replaced with caselets to help the learner in
applying the concepts gathered from the lectures. In short, while cases may
be used as a substitute for lectures, caselets may be used as a supplement
to lectures.
Logic and Opinion vs. Facts
A discussion leading to managerial decision-making is based on the interplay
of facts, logic, and opinion. A comprehensive case study encourages the
learner to sift through the information provided and identify the relevant
facts, and then use logic and opinion to arrive at a set of decisions. A
caselet, being brief and focused on the core issue, usually provides only
the relevant facts. This forces the learner to add value during the case
analysis by logically arguing his/her position based on stated opinions,
rather then spend time in identifying and summarizing the relevant facts.
However, it should also be made very clear to the learners that in real
life, such a precise statement of a problem would be an exception rather
than the rule.
Comparative Study
Caselets are also useful in comparative study as the faculty can give a
set of caselets on a particular topic or industry to illustrate the
variations in approaches adopted by different organizations.
For instance, a set of three caselets on segmentation could cover three
different sectors – consumer goods, industrial products, and services.
Specificity and Timeliness
A caselet helps the student to relate abstract models and theories to
concrete situations and practical experience, and this makes the job of a
faculty in the classroom easier. Due to its specificity, the faculty can
lead the students to focus on narrow issues within the topic – for example,
in a marketing class, the use of buzz marketing as a promotional tool. Due
to its smaller size, a caselet does not eat into the classroom schedule or
faculty's time and yet accelerates the learning process. Another advantage
that the caselet offers is its ease of development. To develop a caselet for
classroom discussion, the faculty need not spend much time due to its
focused approach and brevity. For instance, if a faculty member intends to
focus only on the finer nuances of the bidding process in e-procurement, a
caselet can be quickly developed on reverse auctions in the steel industry.
Cases and Caselets: A Portfolio Approach
The session plan for a B-School course is likely to be more effective when there
is a balanced mix of cases and caselets. Let us say an elective course on Sales
and Distribution Management has four modules, – Introduction to Sales and
Distribution, Planning and Organizing the Sales Effort, Distribution and Channel
Control, and Channel Institutions and Future Trends. For each module, the
session plan may include one or two cases, and about three caselets.
Guest Lectures and Special Situations
There would be occasions where the audience in the classroom is quite
heterogeneous, with learners of varying academic/ industry backgrounds with
different levels of competence and exposure to various teaching methodologies.
Or, the faculty may not have sufficient familiarity with the audience, as in the
case of a guest lecture. In such situations, a comprehensive case study may not
be able to achieve the intended results. Caselets are a convenient teaching aid
in such special situations.
Executive Education
When a faculty member or trainer conducts executive education programs,
there is a need to condense the entire learning experience into the limited time
available. Moreover, there may be a need to customize the teaching aids, keeping
in mind the target audience. Caselets are quite suited to fulfill these
requirements. Also, a caselet can be innovatively used as an ice-breaker at the
beginning of the program, achieving the dual objectives of 'working in a group'
and 'sensitization to the broader theme of the program'.
Conclusion
It is important to realize that the teaching approach has to be adapted to the
situation under consideration, and that the faculty should use a mix of teaching
aids to suitably tailor a course or a training session for the learner's
benefit. Variations in the case method of teaching should be explored and
utilized more widely if they lead to a better learning experience for the
student. The use of caselets is one such attempt to broaden the horizons of the
case method.
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