10.26686/wgtn.12735965.v1
Todd Bridgman
Todd
Bridgman
Stephen Cummings
Stephen
Cummings
C McLaughlin
C
McLaughlin
Restating the case: How revisiting the development of the case method can help us think differently about the future of the business school
Open Access Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington
2020
Social Sciences
Education & Educational Research
Management
Business & Economics
DISCONNECTED CAPITALISM
MANAGEMENT
LEGITIMACY
RESPONSIBILITY
CHALLENGE
HISTORY
Business & Management
Curriculum and Pedagogy
Business and Management
2020-07-29 23:19:45
Journal contribution
https://openaccess.wgtn.ac.nz/articles/journal_contribution/Restating_the_case_How_revisiting_the_development_of_the_case_method_can_help_us_think_differently_about_the_future_of_the_business_school/12735965
© Academy of Management Learning & Education. Although supportive of calls for business schools to learn the lessons of history to address contemporary challenges about their legitimacy and impact, we argue that our ability to learn is limited by the histories we have created. Through contrasting the contested development of the case method of teaching at Harvard Business School and the conventional history of its rise, we argue that this history, which promotes a smooth linear evolution, works against reconceptualizing the role of the business school. To illustrate this, we develop a "counterhistory" of the case method-one that reveals a contested and circuitous path of development-and discuss how recognizing this would encourage us to think differently. This counterhistory provides ameans of stimulating debate and innovative thinking about how business schools can address their legitimacy challenges, and, in doing so, have a more positive impact on society.