harvard business review case study format

The Case Study Handbook: A Student's Guide

William ellet.

Revision includes study guides and new insight for students

The business case study is a powerful learning tool. This practical guide provides students with a potent approach to:

• Recognize case situations and apply appropriate tools to solve problems, make decisions, or develop evaluations
• Quickly establish a base of knowledge about a case
• Write persuasive case-based essays
• Talk about cases effectively in class

The Case Study Handbook comes with downloadable study guides for analyzing and writing about different types of cases, whether they require a decision, an evaluation, or problem diagnosis.

Individual chapters are available in PDF for purchase or to assign in a class.

Downloadable Study Guides

About the Author

William Ellet has worked with MBA students for over thirty years. He has taught at Harvard Business School, Brandeis University, George Washington University, and the University of Miami. He has facilitated case teaching seminars for Harvard Business Publishing and as a consultant in China, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Brazil. His publications include an online course (Management Communication), this book, cases, and a video, all published by Harvard Business School or Harvard Business Publishing.

With cases, you need to change how you read and, ultimately, how you think. Cases are a jigsaw puzzle with the pieces arranged in a confusing pattern. You need to take the pieces and fit them into a pattern that helps you understand the main issue and think about the optimal ways to address it. You need to be comfortable with less than perfect information and an irreducible level of uncertainty. You need to be able to filter the noise of irrelevant or relatively unimportant information. You need to focus on key tasks that allow you to put pieces together in a meaningful pattern, which in turn will give you a better understanding of the main issue and put you in a position to make impactful recommendations. The Case Reading Process Read the first and last sections of the case. What do they tell you about the core scenario of the case? These sections typically give you the clues needed to identify the core scenario. Take a quick look at the other sections and the exhibits to determine what information the case contains. The purpose is to learn what information is in the case and where. Avoid reading sections slowly and trying to memorize the content. Stop! Now is the time to think rather than read. What is the core scenario of the case? What does the main character have to do? What is the major uncertainty? Identify the core scenario by asking the 2 questions. Once you are reasonably certain of the core scenario—decision, evaluation, or problem diagnosis—you can use the relevant framework to ask the questions in the next step. Those questions will give you a specific agenda for productively exploring the case. What do you need to know to accomplish what the main character has to do or to resolve the major uncertainty? List the things you need to know about the situation. Don’t worry about being wrong. This is probably the most important step of the entire process. If you don’t know what you’re looking for in the case, you won’t find it. The right core scenario framework will prompt you to list things that you need to explore. For example, for a decision scenario case, you should think about the best criteria the main character can use to make the decision. To determine criteria, think about quantitative and qualitative tools you’ve learned that can help you. Go through the case, skim sections, and mark places or takes notes about where you find information that corresponds to the list of things you need to know. You’re ready for a deep dive into the case. Carefully read and analyze the information you’ve identified that is relevant to the things you need to know. As you proceed in your analysis, ask, How does what I’m learning help me understand the main issue? The most efficient and least confusing way to read and analyze is to peel the onion—to study one issue at a time. For instance, let’s say that a decision has financial and marketing criteria. Analyzing the financial issues separately from marketing is far less confusing than trying to switch back and forth. As your analysis moves from issue to issue, you may discover gaps in your knowledge and have to add items to your list of what you need to know. Your ultimate goal is to arrive at a position or conclusion about the case’s main issue, backed by evidence from the case. Remember, there are usually no objectively right answers to a case. The best answer is the one with the strongest evidence backing it. As you learn more, ask, How does what I know help me understand the main issue? When you are preparing a case for class discussion, consider alternative positions. Finally, take some time to think about actions that support your position. What actions does your position support or require? In the real world, analysis is often followed by action. A decision obviously has to be implemented. Usually the entire point of a problem diagnosis is to target action that will solve the problem. And even evaluation has an important action component: sustaining the strengths and shoring up the weaknesses that it has revealed.

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Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Case-Based Teaching & Learning Initiative

Teaching cases & active learning resources for public health education, the case study handbook, revised edition: a student's guide.

Publisher's Version

Using our case library

Access to cases.

Many of our cases are available for sale through Harvard Business Publishing in the  Harvard T.H. Chan case collection . Others are free to download through this website .

Cases in this collection may be used free of charge by Harvard Chan course instructors in their teaching. Contact  Allison Bodznick , Harvard Chan Case Library administrator, for access.

Access to teaching notes

Teaching notes are available as supporting material to many of the cases in the Harvard Chan Case Library. Teaching notes provide an overview of the case and suggested discussion questions, as well as a roadmap for using the case in the classroom.

Access to teaching notes is limited to course instructors only.

• Teaching notes for cases available through  Harvard Business Publishing may be downloaded after registering for an Educator account .
• To request teaching notes for cases that are available for free through this website, look for the "Teaching note  available for faculty/instructors " link accompanying the abstract for the case you are interested in; you'll be asked to complete a brief survey verifying your affiliation as an instructor.

Using the Harvard Business Publishing site

Faculty and instructors with university affiliations can register for Educator access on the Harvard Business Publishing website,  where many of our cases are available . An Educator account provides access to teaching notes, full-text review copies of cases, articles, simulations, course planning tools, and discounted pricing for your students.

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• Harvard Business School →
• Christensen Center →
• Resources →

Please find below links to a variety resources on Case Method teaching resources and student-focused resources on learning by the Case Method.

Case Method Teaching

• Harvard Business School Press

Teaching with Cases: A Practical Guide

• McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Socrates' Muse: Reflections on Effective Case Discussion Leadership

• 15 AUG 1994

Teaching and the Case Method (3rd Ed)

• 01 JUL 1992

Education for Judgment: The Artistry of Discussion Leadership

• September 2007
• Academy of Management Learning & Education Vol. 6, No. 3 (Sep., 2007), pp. 364-374.

Teaching Executives and Teaching MBAs: Reflections on the Case Method

• October 2003
• Harvard Magazine

Making the Case

• 1995, rev. 1996

Choreographing a Case Class

• 1984, rev. 1985

Hints for Case Teaching

Use of cases in management education, because wisdom can't be told, learning by the case method.

• Harvard Business Review Press

The Case Study Handbook: How to Read, Discuss, and Write Persuasively About Cases

How to avoid getting lost in the numbers.

Please find below links to a variety of case writing resources from Harvard Business School Publishing. To order you must be signed into HBSP online as an educator. The "Sign In or Register Now" button is top right.

• 17 APR 2015
• Harvard Business Publishing

Key Elements for Excellence in Classroom Cases and Teaching Notes

• 2001, revised 2012

Developing a Teaching Case (Abridged)

Writing cases and teaching notes.

• 1990, revised 1994

Writing Cases: Tips and Pointers

Twenty five questions to ask as you begin to develop a new case study.

• 1975, revised 1984

Case Studies for Harvard Business School

Writing teaching notes for cases, teaching notes: communicating the teacher's wisdom.

Please find below links to Teaching and Learning Centers, Additional Case Resources, Professional Organizations and Journals.

The Christensen Center for Teaching and Learning is not responsible for content on external links .

Harriet W. Sheridan Center

Haas school of business, center for teaching excellence, the center for teaching and learning, columbia center for new media teaching and learning, cornell center for learning and teaching, dartmouth center for the advancement of learning, derek bok center for teaching and learning, mit teaching and learning laboratory, searle center for teaching excellence, stanford teaching commons, teaching resource center, center for teaching and learning, alfred west jr. learning lab, the case center, harvard business school publishing, pon clearing house, kellogg case collection, ivey publishing, stanford entrepreneurship case studies, darden business school publishing, pod network, the carnegie foundation for the advancement of teaching, chronicle of higher education, the organizational behavior teaching society, journal of management education, academy of management - learning and education, management learning, journal of education for business, christensen center tip sheets.

• Characteristics of Effective Case Method Teaching
• Elements of Effective Class Preparation
• Guidelines for Effective Observation of Case Instructors
• In-Class Assessment of Discussion-Based Teaching
• Questions for Class Discussions
• Teaching Quantitative Material
• Strategies and Tactics for Sensitive Topics

•   [email protected]
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• SNHU Library Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ: How do I cite a Harvard Business Review case study in APA Style?

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Last Updated: Jul 16, 2024 Views: 75620

The APA Manual does not include instructions on how to cite a Harvard Business Review case study. When citing case studies in APA style you will want to include the typical citation elements and apply general formatting guidelines. The following are examples of how case studies could be cited in APA style, but be sure to check with your professor about how they would like you to cite case studies in your work.

In-Text Citations

Kotter (1990) explains the steps British Airways took to reverse a horrible customer service atmosphere and financial crisis.

… as the case study concluded (Bisell & Tram, 2007).

Groysberg and Connolly (2015) concluded in their case study that….

Reference List

General format.

Author(s). (Year). Title of case study . HBS No. number of case study. Publisher.

Example, one author

Kotter, J. (1990). Changing the culture at British Airways . HBS No. 491-009. Harvard Business School Publishing.

Example, two authors

Groysberg, B., & Connolly, K. (2015). BlackRock: Diversity as a driver for success . HBS No. 415-047. Harvard Business School Publishing.

More Information

• APA Guide  (Shapiro Library)
• APA Style Blog This link opens in a new window (APA)
• APA Style This link opens in a new window (APA)

This information is intended to be a guideline, not expert advice. Please be sure to speak to your professor about the appropriate way to cite sources in your class assignments and projects.

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Finding Harvard Business Cases

Finding harvard business review articles, limitations on selected articles from the harvard business review, limitations on all articles from the harvard business review.

• Open Educational Resources in Business
• Citing Sources from Business-Specific Databases in APA

Subject Librarian

Harvard publishes two types of case studies and these appear in two different sources:  

The Wayne State University Libraries do  NOT  subscribe to the Harvard Business School Press case studies as the cost to do so is prohibitive for a university of our size.  However, these case studies are actually quite inexpensive to buy individually.

Cases can, however, be purchased individually at  Harvard Business School Press - Cases   These cases usually cost approximately $8-10 when purchased directly from Harvard.  

• Harvard Business Review
• Look for the link "Search within this publication" on the left, above Publication Details. Then search either for the title provided or for something like: " [business topic keyword]  and case studies".

It's quick and easy to find Harvard Business Review articles in the Business Source Complete databases. The ONE issue is that the magazine produces 2 types of articles--those published in the print version of the magazine and those that only appear on the website.  Business source complete has these two sources in separate files (links provided below) and the two cannot be searched at the same time. if you have located a title on the HBR.com website and are interested in retrieving it  you may need to search both files to locate it as it is very difficult to determine whether the article on the HBR.com website is also in the print magazine or is digital only content.. 

• For articles that appeared in the print edition of the magazine.
• To search for specific articles:  look for the link "Search within this publication" on the left, just above the journal title. 
• For articles that only appeared on the hbr.com website, i.e. digital only content.  
• To search for specific articles:  look for the link "Search within this publication" on the left, just above the journal title.

The Wayne State University Libraries provide access to the Harvard Business Review through the Business Source Complete database for 2 reasons.  First, the HBR is simply one business publication and, while it is an important source of management information, students and faculty should generally search for research topics across all available business publications. It is also the case that buying online access to HBR directly from Harvard Business Publishing would be considerably more expensive for an institution of Wayne State's size. 

There are, however, some limitations that Harvard Business Publishing imposes on the Business Source Complete database and, by extension, on the students and faculty of Wayne State and other universities that subscribe to the database. (The publisher is actually quite open about the fact that they are doing this to preserve their revenue stream from the articles.) 

For approximately 500 of the most popular, most assigned Harvard Business Review articles  Harvard Business Publishing limits what users can do with the articles. For these ~500 articles in Business Source Complete:, 

• The articles CANNOT be printed
• The articles CANNOT be saved to an individual's Business Source Complete account or emailed to an individual
• Permalinks to a specific article may not work from a course assignment listing in the WSU Canvas course management system

Note, the image below shows how Business Source Complete identifies an article which is under this restriction.  In the yellow box above tha article title the text reads:

The publisher offers limited access to this article. The full text cannot be printed or saved.

Harvard Business Publishing prohibits the use of  ALL  HBR articles accessible through Business Source Complete in class reserves systems including assignment lists in course management systems such as Canvas.! 

The following statement appears at the bottom of all HBR articles.:

Harvard Business Review and Harvard Business Publishing Newsletter content on EBSCOhost is licensed for the private individual use of authorized EBSCOhost users. It is not intended for use as assigned course material in academic institutions nor as corporate learning or training materials in businesses. Academic licensees may not use this content in electronic reserves, electronic course packs, persistent linking from syllabi or by any other means of incorporating the content into course resources. Business licensees may not host this content on learning management systems or use persistent linking or other means to incorporate the content into learning management systems. Harvard Business Publishing will be pleased to grant permission to make this content available through such means. For rates and permission, contact [email protected].

They are serious about this.  As such, the Wayne State University Library system maintains a print subscription to the Harvard Business Review.  If you need an article from this publication, please use the Libraries' InterLibrary Loan/Document Delivery service to request a copy of the article.  I would suggest placing the following statement in the Notes field of the request: 

Please fulfill this request using the Libraries' print subscription.

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Business Case Studies

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Licensing Restrictions

Harvard business review.

• Diverse Business Cases
• Databases with Cases
• Journals with Cases
• Books with Cases
• Open Access Cases
• Case Analysis
• Case Interviews
• Case Method (Teaching)
• Writing Case Studies
• Citing Business Sources

Due to licensing restrictions, Harvard Business School Case Studies are limited to classroom use by individual students. The BU Libraries (including Pardee Library) cannot purchase cases for the library’s collections, or obtain cases through Interlibrary Loan. Individuals may purchase copies of cases for their own personal use directly from Harvard Business Publishing .

Instructors that assign Harvard Business School cases to their students can set up course packs directly with Harvard Business Publishing . Students will need to pay a fee to access the course pack and cost will vary depending on number of cases involved.

If you would rather not pay a fee for cases, please review this guide further for cases available through existing library resources or Open Access Cases (free).

A small number of case studies can be found in Harvard Business Review via our Business Source Complete subscription (1922-present) or in print at Pardee Library (1990-present). To limit your search results in Business Source Complete to case studies, select "Case Study" for the Document Type. Another source for business cases is Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (2007-present). You should also select "Case Study" for the Document Type to limit search results to case studies.

In August 2013, HBR designated 500 of their most popular articles as "read-only" and restricted the ability to print or download those articles in Business Source Complete. While it may change over time, the original list of articles is available here: HBR 500 . If you need an article that is part of the HBR 500, you may be able to access it through our Harvard Business Review print subscription at Pardee Library.

*Faculty: Please note that HBR articles from our Business Source Complete subscription may not be linked to course management systems due to licensing restrictions, however, articles can be purchased directly from Harvard Business School Publishing for inclusion in course packs.

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Case collection: Harvard Business Publishing

About Harvard Business Publishing

Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Harvard Business Publishing (HBP) is the leading provider of teaching materials for management education.

HBP was founded in 1994 as a not-for-profit, wholly-owned subsidiary of Harvard University, reporting into Harvard Business School. HBP's mission is to improve the practice of management in a changing world. This mission influences how they approach what they do and what they believe is important.

With approximately 450 employees, primarily based in Boston, with offices in New York City, India, Singapore, Qatar and the United Kingdom, HBP serves as a bridge between academia and enterprises around the globe through its publications and multiple platforms for content delivery, and its reach into three markets: academic, corporate, and individual managers. HBP has a conventional governance structure comprising a  Board of Directors , an internal  Executive Committee , and Business Unit Directors.

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Answered By: Katie Hutchison Last Updated: Oct 26, 2016     Views: 353397

Harvard Business Review - Case Studies

This format would apply to any business case including Harvard Business Review, Ivey and MIT Sloane cases:

Author(s). Name of the case. Business Case. City. Publisher. Date. Format (Print or Web) If your format is Web include the date it was accessed. EXAMPLE: Yoffe, David B. and Renee Kim. Apple Inc in 2010. Case Study. Boston. Harvard Business Publishing, 2010. Web. 28 October 2010.

  APA Format

Harvard Business School Case Study

Citation elements required and general format:

Author(s). (Year). Title of case study . HBS No. number of case study. City, State abbreviation or Country of publication: Publisher. EXAMPLES:

One Author:

Smith, S. (2003). Leadership. HBS No. 7-806-122. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing.

Two Authors:

Eisenmann, T., & Herman, K. (2006). Google, Inc. HBS No. 9-806-105. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing.

  In-text citation examples – Harvard Business School Case Study

APA in-text citations include the author’s last name, the year of publication, and the page number (for quotes), either as part of the text of your paper or in parentheses.

…as the case study concluded (Smith, 2003, p. 6).

Smith reported (2003, p. 6) that the data was flawed.

Eisenmann and Herman did agree on the research findings (2006, p. 11).

… as both researchers agreed (Eisenmann & Herman, 2006, p. 11).

Chicago Manual of Style ( PDF selections copied from Grove City College Henry Buhl Library)

CASES (PRINTED)   

Footnote   

Mikołaj  Jan  Piskorski  and David Chen, “Twitter,” HBS No. 710-455 (Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2010), p. 8.   

Bibliography   

Piskorski ,  Mikołaj  Jan, and David Chen. “Twitter.” HBS No. 710-455. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2010.   

CASES (ONLINE)   

On the Web   

Amy C. Edmondson and Laura R. Feldman, “Group Process in the Challenger Launch Decision (A),” HBS No. 603-068 (Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2002), http://hbsp.harvard.edu, accessed October 2012.   

Edmondson, Amy C., and Laura R. Feldman. “Group Process in the Challenger Launch Decision (A).” HBS No. 603-068. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2002. http://hbsp. harvard.edu, accessed September 2007.   

Michael J. Enright et al., “Daewoo and the Korean Chaebol,” University of Hong Kong case no. HKU143 (University of Hong Kong, August 2001), via Harvard Business Publishing, http://hbsp.harvard.edu/, accessed March 2007.   

Bibliography   

Enright, Michael J., et al. “Daewoo and the Korean Chaebol.” University of Hong Kong case no. HKU143 (University of Hong Kong, August 2001). Harvard Business Publishing. http://hbsp.harvard.edu/, accessed March 2007.   

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