Denis Gromb

Antin I.P. Chair Professor of Finance
at HEC Paris

• 1

  CRC: Why, according to you, is the case method of teaching so popular in Management education?

  Denis: To me, the method serves different purposes to different people. For pre-experience students, it allows them to get a sense of practice and relevance of the concepts covered, which motivates them to learn. For more experienced students, like MBAs or executives, it invites them to make connections between the concepts and their own experience and, in successful sessions, to share those connections with other participants.
  
  There is another aspect of cases that I often take advantage of. People learn in different ways. For some, generality and concepts come first and allow them to make sense of practice. For others, a practical framing allows them to see a problem’s structure and to generalize. I find that case discussions that go back and forth between theory and practice can work for a diversity of learning profiles.

• 2

  CRC: You have years of experience in writing cases, teaching with cases, and mentoring other teachers on the case method. Please share with us your experience.

  Denis: I’m an opportunistic case writer: I write the cases I need for my courses and that can be used equally – though differently – with undergrads or executives. They tend to follow a simple structure. They are relatively short and start with a lecture of sorts on a given topic – IPOs, private equity, franchising, etc. – albeit in the context of a given company. Then, there’s a problem, often a technical one, around a specific issue the company is facing. The case is simple and revolves around only one or two main issues. However, it also mentions side issues, “drawers” that can be opened depending on how the class discussion evolves.
  
  In terms of teaching, I tend to use the board quite a lot. I have found, by accident, that whenever possible using a similar board structure for several cases (e.g., business issues on the left, finance issues on the right), helps participants organize their thoughts. I also speak much less than in the early days and let others speak more, which is better for everyone.

• 3

  CRC: How important is case writing to effective teaching of Management subjects, in particular, Finance/Banking/Economics?

  Denis: I am not sure how important it is in general but to me, it has been very gratifying to be able to teach my own cases. Writing cases has also forced me to think more clearly about course content and course plan: What are the main things students should walk away with?

• 4

  CRC: Is teaching of cases in subjects like Finance different from that in, say, Strategy/ Marketing? Why (not)?

  Denis: I’m not sure. One thing however is that some students come to class with an a priori that finance is “abstract”, “about numbers”, “not linked to reality” which makes them nervous. I teach mostly corporate finance courses so I tend to start the first session talking mostly about a business, leaving finance questions aside. Check out my cases here.
  
  The case allows me to do that and to thus draw in students by gradually illustrating how finance is connected in essential ways to the company’s business and strategy, how you cannot talk about corporate finance in thin air.

• 5

  CRC: Do you think the case method will undergo change due to the Covid-19 pandemic? If so (not), how and in what way?

  Denis: My sense is that the pandemic will only accelerate trends that were already underway in higher education in general and in case teaching in particular, like more online resources, movies, gamification, a different organization on group work and presentations. I am yet to teach online, but that’s about to change. I’m looking forward to the great new tools creative people will come up with.