The importance of case studies in Hong Kong's business schools

Gaining broad exposure is vital to building a career in business, but it requires something more than on-the-job experience or working in different socio-cultural environments.

That is why the Richard Ivey School of Business, which is based in Canada but has its Asian campus in Hong Kong, has become the largest producer of case studies about Asian and Indian companies. The school also has the largest library of China-based cases in translation and is now second only to Harvard in terms of total cases published.

These materials give detailed examples of corporate decision-making in different cultural situations. As a result, they give students wider exposure to actual problems and alternative solutions, thereby helping them develop new insights about, say, western companies operating in Asia and Chinese companies aiming to expand in international markets.

A major challenge mainland business leaders now face is how to manage high-calibre “westerners” used to a different working environment or market. According to Janet De Silva, dean of the Richard Ivey School of Business, Asian campus, western companies venturing into the mainland market essentially experience the same challenge. In her view, though, case studies which introduce cross-enterprise exposure put people on the fast track to developing the necessary leadership abilities.

That accounts for the increasing global demand for case studies researched and written up by the top MBA schools.
“Western students have a huge interest in knowing about the dynamic markets in China and India,” De Silva says.

It makes sense, even for non-MBA students, to study how things are done in different companies and other parts of the world. Case studies now serve as a crucial tool for brushing up on effective management practice.

(The original article, “Case studies broaden exposure” was contributed by Linda Yeung, SCMP Education Editor and was first published on The MBA Centre, Education Post.)