Getting into Harvard Business School can be a dream come true for many people, but it is not easy. However, there is a way students can feel connected to its teachings: case studies.
Harvard Business Publishing, an affiliate of Harvard Business School, has created a successful business selling case studies.
Case studies are summarized scenarios about a business problem that MBA students analyze and discuss.
Founded in 1994, HBP says it sells case studies to about 4,000 schools worldwide. Last year, the publishing arm sold 12 million cases to schools, companies and other organizations, totaling about $30 million in sales.
Retail prices for a basic case study run from about $9 to $15, with schools getting a discount.
Harvard Business Publishing, publisher of the Harvard Business Review and other business texts, had $194 million in revenues last year, according to their annual report.
The revenue in 2014 increased 44% from 2010, proof of the case studies’ enduring and growing popularity.
Harvard Business School created and popularized case studies as far back as 1912 as a way for students to apply conceptual material to real-world business situations.
The idea is to give students a company situation that they must reflect upon and draw their own conclusions.
Some of the case studies look as simple as Wikipedia entries, which is intentional. The challenge for the student is to take the qualitative and quantitative information and make sense of it, says Willis Emmons, director of Harvard’s C. Roland Christensen Center for Teaching and Learning.
In addition to case studies, Harvard Business Publishing also offers materials for professors to use in the classroom to promote discussions of the cases.
Notes range from suggestions for specific words to write on the board, to tips on calling on students during class.
When it comes to the case study market, Harvard clearly dominates.
Darden Business Publishing, which considers itself the second largest publisher of case studies in the United States, sold about 700,000 case studies last year, according to company officials.
While significant, that was still a small fraction of Harvard’s sales.
Out of Bloomberg Businessweek’s top 25 ranked business schools last year, 19 said case studies are one of their primary teaching tools.
At Harvard Business School, students spend about 80% of their time in-class on case studies.
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