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Kansas State University

July 20, 2023

The Kansas Board of Regents demands that faculty be evaluated even after the conferral of tenure. In the face of strong faculty resistance, a special task force must decide how… READ MORE

Kathy Finnegan

This case describes several days in the life of a chief librarian at a small liberal arts college. Time management and delineation of responsibilities are key issues. How are personnel,… READ MORE

Miami-Dade Community College (A)

The president of the Miami-Dade Community College Kendall Campus spends eighteen months working for the passage of a referendum that would earmark property taxes in Dade County, Florida, to create… READ MORE

Miami-Dade Community College (B)

Despite the hurricane, voters pass the tax referendum creating an endowment fund for the college. Controversy erupts when the college uses half of the money for across-the-board salary increases for… READ MORE

The Library System at Elnora University

Having witnessed many failed attempts at strategic planning during her twenty-year tenure at Elnora University, College Librarian Angela Wilson embarks on an organizational change process that she hopes will result… READ MORE

The Library System At Palladia University

When Morgan Haley becomes Dean of Libraries at Palladia University, she finds a disjointed, building-centered system with five libraries acting in isolated organizational silos. Reporting relationships are hierarchical, and a… READ MORE

Morehouse College

Morehouse College, one of the nation’s oldest historically black colleges, has fallen behind in terms of technology infrastructure. To remain competitive, the new president demands that the institution initiate a… READ MORE

Oakdale City College

Two faculty members at Oakdale City College, both applying for a full-time position opening, file suit against the college, claiming that the hiring process is unfair. Despite meeting the qualifications,… READ MORE

River View College

Anne Williams, a student who is a born-again Christian, refuses to meet with her assigned counselor, who is Muslim. The provost must decide whether to reassign Anne to another counselor…. READ MORE

Riverside Community College

With state funding based on enrollment figures, President Charles Kane must devise a strategy for increasing retention rates. His plan calls for student centeredness, teaching excellence, a positive learning environment,… READ MORE

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• Teaching with Cases

At professional schools (like Harvard’s Law, Business, Education, or Medical Schools), courses often adopt the so-called "case method" of teaching , in which students are confronted with real-world problems or scenarios involving multiple stakeholders and competing priorities. Most of the cases which faculty use with their students are written by professionals who have expertise in researching and writing in that genre, and for good reason—writing a truly masterful case, one which can engage students in hours of debate and deliberation, takes a lot of time and effort. It can be effective, nevertheless, for you to try implementing some aspects of the case-teaching approach in your class. Among the benefits which accrue to using case studies are the following:

• the fact that it gives your students the opportunity to "practice" a real-world application;
• the fact that it compels them (and you!) to reconstruct all of the divergent and convergent perspectives which different parties might bring to the scenario;
• the fact that it motivates your students to anticipate a wide range of possible responses which a reader might have; and
• the fact that it invites your students to indulge in metacognition as they revisit the process by which they became more knowledgeable about the scenario.

Features of an Effective Teaching Case

While no two case studies will be exactly alike, here are some of those principles:

• The case should illustrate what happens when a concept from the course could be, or has been, applied in the real world. Depending on the course, a “concept” might mean any one among a range of things, including an abstract principle, a theory, a tension, an issue, a method, an approach, or simply a way of thinking characteristic of an academic field. Whichever you choose, you should make sure to “ground” the case in a realistic setting early in the narrative, so that participants understand their role in the scenario.
• The case materials should include enough factual content and context to allow students to explore multiple perspectives. In order for participants to feel that they are encountering a real-world application of the course material, and that they have some freedom and agency in terms of how they interpret it, they need to be able to see the issue or problem from more than one perspective. Moreover, those perspectives need to seem genuine, and to be sketched in enough detail to seem complex. (In fact, it’s not a bad idea to include some “extraneous” information about the stakeholders involved in the case, so that students have to filter out things that seem relevant or irrelevant to them.) Otherwise, participants may fall back on picking obvious “winners” and “losers” rather than seeking creative, negotiated solutions that satisfy multiple stakeholders.
• The case materials should confront participants with a range of realistic constraints, hard choices, and authentic outcomes. If the case presumes that participants will all become omniscient, enjoy limitless resources, and succeed, they won’t learn as much about themselves as team-members and decision-makers as if they are forced to confront limitations, to make tough decisions about priorities, and to be prepared for unexpected results. These constraints and outcomes can be things which have been documented in real life, but they can also be things which the participants themselves surface in their deliberations.

• The activity should include space to reflect upon the decision-making process and the lessons of the case. Writing a case offers an opportunity to engage in multiple layers of reflection. For you, as the case writer, it is an occasion to anticipate how you (if you were the instructor) might create scenarios that are aligned with, and likely to meet the learning objectives of, a given unit of your course. For the participants whom you imagine using your case down the road, the case ideally should help them (1) to understand their own hidden assumptions, priorities, values, and biases better; and (2) to close the gap between their classroom learning and its potential real-world applications.

For more information...

Kim, Sara et al. 2006. "A Conceptual Framework for Developing Teaching Cases: A Review and Synthesis of the Literature across Disciplines." Medical Education 40: 867–876.

Herreid, Clyde Freeman. 2011. "Case Study Teaching." New Directions for Teaching and Learning 128: 31–40.

Nohria, Nitin. 2021. "What the Case Study Method Really Teaches." Harvard Business Review .

Swiercz, Paul Michael. "SWIF Learning: A Guide to Student Written-Instructor Facilitated Case Writing."

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Case Method Project

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Bringing case method teaching to high schools & colleges: U.S. History, Government, Civics & Democracy

About the project  .

The Case Method Project is an initiative formed to achieve two goals:

• Bring case method teaching to high schools and colleges
• Use this methodology to deepen students’ understanding of American democracy

Based on the highly successful experience of Harvard Business School and other graduate and professional programs that use case-based teaching, we believe the case method can be employed to strengthen high school and college education as well, ensuring a more exciting, relevant, and effective experience for students and teachers across a range of subjects. We also believe the case method can be especially effective at engaging students with topics in history and democracy and that it presents a unique opportunity to help reverse the broad decline in civic education – and civic engagement – in the United States.

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Connect to other educators in our network and download case materials via ShareVault .

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Find out how to bring the case method to your school.

Eleanor Cannon Houston, TX Eleanor Cannon Houston, TX

Maureen O’Hern Dorchester, MA Maureen O’Hern Dorchester, MA

Michael Gordon Munster, IN Michael Gordon Munster, IN

“ I have had few weeks in teaching that I enjoyed as much as doing this case....My biggest dilemma now is how many cases I want to fit into the year. ”

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What the Case Study Method Really Teaches

• Nitin Nohria

Seven meta-skills that stick even if the cases fade from memory.

It’s been 100 years since Harvard Business School began using the case study method. Beyond teaching specific subject matter, the case study method excels in instilling meta-skills in students. This article explains the importance of seven such skills: preparation, discernment, bias recognition, judgement, collaboration, curiosity, and self-confidence.

During my decade as dean of Harvard Business School, I spent hundreds of hours talking with our alumni. To enliven these conversations, I relied on a favorite question: “What was the most important thing you learned from your time in our MBA program?”

• Nitin Nohria is the George F. Baker Jr. Professor at Harvard Business School and the former dean of HBS.

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Cases with Teaching Plans

Teaching plans are available to teaching faculty members at degree-granting academic institutions. You must be a registered Educator to access teaching plans. Register here . 

A Fork in the Road: Simulating Lyndon Johnson's Choices in Vietnam in Early 1965

Publication Date: April 11, 2024

This historical role-play simulation is set on March 28, 1965. The scenario places students within the context of that time, a point at which, after months of increasing tensions and contentious debate, President Lyndon Johnson appears to be...

Getting Out the (Missing) Vote: Ohio Organizers Experiment with 'Relational' Contacts

Publication Date: April 8, 2024

In the first two decades of the 21st century, community organizers were increasingly enlisted by progressive foundations to help increase voter turnout among the “low propensity” voters in their communities, especially people of...

The Mosquito Network: Global Governance in the Fight to Eliminate Malaria Deaths

Publication Date: April 5, 2024

Malaria, a deadly disease transmitted by the bites of infected mosquitoes, had been effectively eliminated from the developed world since the end of the World Health Organization’s Global Malaria Eradication Campaign in 1969. In Africa,...

Mayor Curtatone’s Culture of Curiosity: Building Data Capabilities at Somerville City Hall Epilogue

Publication Date: February 21, 2024

This epilogue accompanies HKS Case 2255.0. A practitioner guide, HKS Case 2255.4, accompanies this case. For sixteen years, longer than any mayor in the city’s history, Mayor Joseph Curtatone has led his hometown of Somerville,...

Mayor Curtatone’s Culture of Curiosity: Building Data Capabilities at Somerville City Hall Practitioner Guide

This practitioner guide accompanies HKS Case 2255.0. An epilogue, HKS Case 2255.1, follows this case. For sixteen years, longer than any mayor in the city’s history, Mayor Joseph Curtatone has led his hometown of Somerville,...

Mayor Curtatone’s Culture of Curiosity: Building Data Capabilities at Somerville City Hall

For sixteen years, longer than any mayor in the city’s history, Mayor Joseph Curtatone has led his hometown of Somerville, Massachusetts. The case begins in January 2020 when the mayor is looking ahead at his recently won,...

Leadership in Moral Conflict Simone Veil and Abortion Reform in France

Publication Date: April 1, 2003

This case tells the 1974 story of a French health minister, Simone Veil, and her ultimately successful effort to liberalize France's abortion law. It serves as a vehicle for exploring leadership in a legislative setting, in this instance a...

Fallen Idol? Aung San Suu Kyi & the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis Epilogue

Publication Date: January 25, 2024

This epilogue accompanies, "Fallen Idol? Aung San Suu Kyi & the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis," HKS Case Number 2139.0. Soon after Myanmar’s longtime democracy crusader and opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was...

Confronting Constraints: Shashi Verma & Transport for London Tackle a Tough Contract Sequel

Publication Date: December 19. 2023

This sequel accompanies HKS Case 2275.0, "Conflicting Constraints: Shashi Verma &Transport for London Tackle a Tough Contract."  The case introduces Shashi Verma (MPP 97) in 2006, soon after he has received a plum appointment: Director...

Confronting Constraints: Shashi Verma & Transport for London Tackle a Tough Contract

The case introduces Shashi Verma (MPP 97) in 2006, soon after he has received a plum appointment: Director of Fares and Ticketing for London's super agency, Transport for London. The centerpiece of the agency's ticketing operation was the Oyster...

Leading Pension Reform in Rhode Island: Building Holding Environments to Achieve Change

Publication Date: December 12, 2023

In 2010, Rhode Island’s public employee pension system was on the verge of collapse: it was just 48% funded and represented a $4.7 billion liability – the largest such pension liability in the nation. For many state employees and...

Climate Resilience in New York City: The Battle over East River Park

Publication Date: November 28, 2023

What makes climate change different as a policy challenge? Why is it so hard to solve? And how can we balance the need for the right technical solutions with the importance of having the process be as democratic and participatory as possible?The...

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• 26 Mar 2024
• Research & Ideas

How Humans Outshine AI in Adapting to Change

Could artificial intelligence systems eventually perform surgeries or fly planes? First, AI will have to learn to navigate shifting conditions as well as people do. Julian De Freitas and colleagues pit humans against machines in a video game to study AI's current limits and mine insights for the real world.

• 12 Mar 2024

Publish or Perish: What the Research Says About Productivity in Academia

Universities tend to evaluate professors based on their research output, but does that measure reflect the realities of higher ed? A study of 4,300 professors by Kyle Myers, Karim Lakhani, and colleagues probes the time demands, risk appetite, and compensation of faculty.

• 25 Jan 2024

Being a Team Player: Why College Athletes Succeed in Business

Forget rocks for jocks. A study by Paul Gompers of more than 400,000 Ivy League athletes probes how the rigors of college sports can help people climb the corporate ladder faster and into higher-paying positions.

• 19 Dec 2023

$15 Billion in Five Years: What Data Tells Us About MacKenzie Scott’s Philanthropy

Scott's hands-off approach and unparalleled pace—helping almost 2,000 organizations and counting—has upended the status quo in philanthropy. While her donations might seem scattershot, an analysis of five years of data by Matthew Lee, Brian Trelstad, and Ethan Tran highlights clear trends and an emerging strategy.

• 21 Nov 2023
• Cold Call Podcast

Cold Call: Building a More Equitable Culture at Delta Air Lines

In December 2020 Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian and his leadership team were reviewing the decision to join the OneTen coalition, where he and 36 other CEOs committed to recruiting, hiring, training, and advancing one million Black Americans over the next ten years into family-sustaining jobs. But, how do you ensure everyone has equal access to opportunity within an organization? Professor Linda Hill discusses Delta’s decision and its progress in embedding a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion in her case, “OneTen at Delta Air Lines: Catalyzing Family-Sustaining Careers for Black Talent.”

• 16 Oct 2023

Advancing Black Talent: From the Flight Ramp to 'Family-Sustaining' Careers at Delta

By emphasizing skills and expanding professional development opportunities, the airline is making strides toward recruiting and advancing Black employees. Case studies by Linda Hill offer an inside look at how Delta CEO Ed Bastian is creating a more equitable company and a stronger talent pipeline.

• 26 Jul 2023

STEM Needs More Women. Recruiters Often Keep Them Out

Tech companies and programs turn to recruiters to find top-notch candidates, but gender bias can creep in long before women even apply, according to research by Jacqueline Ng Lane and colleagues. She highlights several tactics to make the process more equitable.

• 14 Jun 2023

Four Steps to Building the Psychological Safety That High-Performing Teams Need

Struggling to spark strategic risk-taking and creative thinking? In the post-pandemic workplace, teams need psychological safety more than ever, and a new analysis by Amy Edmondson highlights the best ways to nurture it.

• 23 May 2023

The Entrepreneurial Journey of China’s First Private Mental Health Hospital

The city of Wenzhou in southeastern China is home to the country’s largest privately owned mental health hospital group, the Wenzhou Kangning Hospital Co, Ltd. It’s an example of the extraordinary entrepreneurship happening in China’s healthcare space. But after its successful initial public offering (IPO), how will the hospital grow in the future? Harvard Professor of China Studies William C. Kirby highlights the challenges of China’s mental health sector and the means company founder Guan Weili employed to address them in his case, Wenzhou Kangning Hospital: Changing Mental Healthcare in China.

• 28 Feb 2023

Can Apprenticeships Work in the US? Employers Seeking New Talent Pipelines Take Note

What if the conventional college-and-internship route doesn't give future employees the skills they need to build tomorrow's companies? Research by Joseph Fuller and colleagues illustrates the advantages that apprenticeships can provide to employees and young talent.

• 15 Aug 2022

University of the Future: Finding the Next World Leaders in Higher Ed

Which universities will step into the void as American colleges decline? In the book Empires of Ideas, William Kirby explores how the history of higher education in the US, China, and Germany might shape its future.

• 11 Aug 2022

When Parents Tell Kids to ‘Work Hard,’ Do They Send the Wrong Message?

It takes more than grit to succeed in a world rife with systemic inequity. So why don't we tell children that? Research by Ashley Whillans and colleagues shows how honest talk about social barriers could empower kids to break them down.

• 02 May 2022
• What Do You Think?

Can the Case Method Survive Another Hundred Years?

The case method pioneered by Harvard Business School has weathered a hundred years of controversy and criticism. However, is the approach the best way to teach people to lead in a world that demands more agility and adaptability? James Heskett asks. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 18 Nov 2021

5 Principles for Scaling Change from IBM’s High School Innovation

P-TECH has bolstered graduation rates for students of color while creating a new tech hiring pipeline. Rosabeth Moss Kanter and program architect Stanley Litow discuss the social impact lessons for other organizations. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 09 Aug 2021

OneTen: Creating a New Pathway for Black Talent

A new organization aims to help 1 million Black Americans launch careers in the next decade, expanding the talent pool. Rawi E. Abdelal, Katherine Connolly Baden, and Boris Groysberg explain how. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 19 May 2021

Why America Needs a Better Bridge Between School and Career

As the COVID-19 pandemic wanes, America faces a critical opportunity to close gaps that leave many workers behind, say Joseph Fuller and Rachel Lipson. What will it take? Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 18 May 2021

How Georgia State University Increased Graduation Rates

Georgia State University was facing a growing "summer melt" problem, where nearly 20 percent of incoming students never actually enrolled. The university used a data-based approach to retain students of all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds and help them graduate. Professor Mike Toffel> and Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative fellow Robin Mendelson discuss what the university learned about improving student success, while scaling its efforts to help other universities, in their case, “Student Success at Georgia State University.” Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 13 Apr 2021
• Working Paper Summaries

Population Interference in Panel Experiments

In panel experiments, units are exposed to different interventions over time. This article introduces a unifying framework for studying panel experiments with population interference, in which a treatment assigned to one experimental unit affects another experimental unit's outcome. Findings have implications for fields as diverse as education, economics, and public health.

• 23 Mar 2021

Managing Future Growth at an Innovative Workforce Education Startup

Guild Education is an education marketplace that connects employers and universities to provide employees with “education as a benefit.” Now CEO and co-founder Rachel Carlson must decide how to manage the company’s future growth. Professor Bill Sahlman discusses this unique startup and Carlson’s plans for its growth in his case, “Guild Education: Unlocking Opportunity for America's Workforce.” Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 02 Feb 2021

Using Empathy and Curiosity to Overcome Differences

Bill Riddick, an African-American community leader and counselor, must find a way to bridge the divide between Black and white community leaders, who are on opposing sides of school integration in Durham, North Carolina, in 1971. Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino and Jeffrey Huizinga explain how empathy and curiosity can foster understanding in divisive situations in their case, “Bill Riddick and the Durham S.O.S. Charrette.” Open for comment; 0 Comments.

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This case illustrates how the work of leaders and analysts in the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) and the agency’s partnership with the Strategic Data Project (SDP), a program of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, created momentum for statewide policy change.  By exploring Delaware leaders’ use of data and analytics to challenge assumptions and inform the development of better policies and practices, the case illustrates the importance of leadership, analytic and technical competency, and strategic partnerships when leading education reform.  The case specifically highlights the power of human capital analytics to diagnose the current status of Delaware’s educator pipeline, from preparation through development and retention, and how effectively communicating with these analyses built coalitions of support and drove a culture of data use at both the state and district level. Download the case study [SDP website]

This case study, published by Harvard Education Press, describes how to use data to challenge assumptions, reveal student needs, address these needs programmatically, and evaluate results. It shows a team of data specialists and educators working together, across institutional and departmental boundaries, to determine why some high school seniors who intend to go to college after graduation do not enroll in the fall. Together, they develop, implement, and evaluate a summer counseling intervention program called Summer PACE to ensure that more students enroll seamlessly in college.

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

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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.

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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.

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• 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.

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The Case Study Teaching Method

It is easy to get confused between the case study method and the case method , particularly as it applies to legal education. The case method in legal education was invented by Christopher Columbus Langdell, Dean of Harvard Law School from 1870 to 1895. Langdell conceived of a way to systematize and simplify legal education by focusing on previous case law that furthered principles or doctrines. To that end, Langdell wrote the first casebook, entitled A Selection of Cases on the Law of Contracts , a collection of settled cases that would illuminate the current state of contract law. Students read the cases and came prepared to analyze them during Socratic question-and-answer sessions in class.

The Harvard Business School case study approach grew out of the Langdellian method. But instead of using established case law, business professors chose real-life examples from the business world to highlight and analyze business principles. HBS-style case studies typically consist of a short narrative (less than 25 pages), told from the point of view of a manager or business leader embroiled in a dilemma. Case studies provide readers with an overview of the main issue; background on the institution, industry, and individuals involved; and the events that led to the problem or decision at hand. Cases are based on interviews or public sources; sometimes, case studies are disguised versions of actual events or composites based on the faculty authors’ experience and knowledge of the subject. Cases are used to illustrate a particular set of learning objectives; as in real life, rarely are there precise answers to the dilemma at hand.

Our suite of free materials offers a great introduction to the case study method. We also offer review copies of our products free of charge to educators and staff at degree-granting institutions.

For more information on the case study teaching method, see:

• Martha Minow and Todd Rakoff: A Case for Another Case Method
• HLS Case Studies Blog: Legal Education’s 9 Big Ideas
• Teaching Units: Problem Solving , Advanced Problem Solving , Skills , Decision Making and Leadership , Professional Development for Law Firms , Professional Development for In-House Counsel
• Educator Community: Tips for Teachers

Watch this informative video about the Problem-Solving Workshop:

<< Previous: About Harvard Law School Case Studies | Next: Downloading Case Studies >>

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Education Policy Experts Discuss Cradle-to-Career Pathways As Key to Social and Economic Mobility

Education policy experts said cradle-to-career pathways — comprehensive programs which support a student’s education at all stages of their life — were key to addressing the nation’s educational challenges during a Thursday panel at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

The panel featured four education policy experts: Russel W. Booker, CEO of the Spartanburg Academic Movement; Cecilia Gutierrez, Managing Director and Portfolio Lead of Blue Meridian Partners; Kwame Owusu-Kesse ’06, CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone; and Sondra Samuels, President and CEO of Northside Achievement Zone.

It was moderated by Paul Reville, a professor of the practice at HGSE and the founding director of EdRedesign, an organization which provides support to cradle-to-career place-based partnerships.

Place-based partnerships, programs which provide localized support networks for students, seek to remedy what Reville called the “factory model” of “teaching to the average” by providing personalized education to students.

“There is no such thing as ‘average,’” Reville said.

Sondra said one of the advantages of place-based models is their ability to target locations in which children have historically been underserved.

“We are failing them,” Sondra said, regarding children who have been neglected by the educational establishment. “I include myself, I include you. But any obstacle to your path becomes the path. If we are the problem we are also the solution. So I have a lot of hope.”

Owusu-Kesse, who grew up in a single-parent household plagued by domestic violence, recounted how his own life was transformed by the opportunity to receive a quality education. After receiving a scholarship earlier in life, Owusu-Kesse went on to graduate from Harvard with a degree in Economics.

“Education changed my life trajectory,” Owusu-Kesse said. “There is something about being surrounded by adults who believe in your potential.”

Gutierrez similarly recounted how she became aware of the importance of education early in life.

“I knew from the age of seven years old that I was the greatest hope for my community and for my family,” said Gutierrez, one of four children of a single immigrant Dominican mother.

While Gutierrez and her sister both hold undergraduate and master’s degrees, Gutierrez’s brothers did not graduate from high school.

“I’ve always wanted to figure out how you can eliminate luck from the equation,” she said.

Gutierrez said her personal experience with education led her to dedicate her life to securing funding for education reform.

“All of us in the social sector space go after the same dollars,” Gutierrez said. “The scarcity mindset needs to be changed to an abundance mindset.”

She said she joined Blue Meridian Partners, a philanthropic model designed to aggregate capital and invest in solutions at scale, in order to ensure continued support for reform projects.

Owusu-Kesse said that policymakers from other countries have come to him for advice on how to reform their local education systems, adding that the solutions he has pursued in the U.S. can be replicated globally.

“We’re not marketing, why are you visiting us?” Owusu-Kesse recalls asking. “Each of them says, ‘we have a minority that we’re trying to figure out how to bring holistic resources so they can thrive.’”

“So this is not just an American story — this is an international story,” he added.

—Staff writer Anna R. Gamburd can be reached at [email protected] .

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