Case Studies

INTRODUCTION

"The case method of analysis involves studying actual business situations, written as an in-depth presentation of a company, its market, and its strategic decisions, in order to improve a manager's or a student's problem-solving ability. Cases typically investigate a contemporary issue in a real-life context. There are multiple issues to consider and many 'correct' or viable alternatives to solve the case issues are presented."
(Encyclopedia of Management. (4th ed.) Detroit: Gale, 1999. (p.71))

"The term case studies can be ambiguous: it can mean specific examples from real companies or fictitious stories written to help students learn a topic." The resources mentioned in this guide provide a mix of both types of case studies.

Also visit the Cases and Reports section of our Industrial Relations Subject Guide.

CASES AT QUEEN'S

To find cases in our collection, search QCAT Library Catalogue by author, title, subject heading, or keyword.

To find cases by a particular author/person, search QCAT by author:

Platt, Harlan

To find cases on a topic, use a keyword search if you do not know the correct subject heading for a topic. Search "case studies" and add a key word[s] that describes your topic.

"case studies" and turnarounds
"case studies" and "organizational behavior"

Select useful titles and look at the full record for subject headings.

Corporate turnarounds--Case studies

Examples of subject headings relating to business case studies:

Business ethics--Case studies
Business failures--United States--Case studies
Business networks--Case studies
Corporations--United States--Case studies
Entrepreneurship--Case studies
Industrial management--Case studies
Industrial relations--Case studies
International business enterprises--Case studies
Leadership--Case studies
Organizational change--Case studies
Organizational effectiveness--Case studies
Small business--Case studies
Social responsibility of business--Case studies

FREE CASES

Acadia Institute of Case Studies (Acadia University)

"The Institute's focus is on entrepreneurship and small business operations."

AsiaCase.com: the Asian Business Case Centre

E-catalogue with abstracts.

CasePlace.org

A free, online service of The Aspen Institute's Business and Society Program, which provides abstracts and publisher information for case studies that "pose social and environmental challenges within traditional business problems." Many of the cases listed are from the Harvard Business School and the European Case Clearing House.

Company-Specific Case Studies

IBM
LANSA
Towers Watson
Search companies by Service Area.

On the Case (biz/ed)

Includes worksheets.

The Times 100 Case Studies

Case studies on real companies.

Virtual Economy Case Studies

Looks at the impact of various economic policies on three different groups: People, Business and Government.

BUY CASES

The following case study collections can be browsed by topic and searched by keyword, author and title. Some will allow qualified faculty members to view cases for examination purposes (after registering). Note that you usually need to pay for the cases if you are not a faculty member, or if you are a faculty member and you want to use cases in your class. Generally the full-text can be purchased online.

Businesscases.org

CaseNet

"South-Western's premier business case service for instructors"

Darden Business School Case Collection

University of Virginia. An extensive selection of educational tools.

European Case Clearing House

"[T]he largest single source . . . of management case studies in the world. We hold and distribute all cases produced by the world's best-known management teaching establishments, as well as case studies in many languages produced by individual authors from almost every corner of the globe."

Harvard Business School Cases

Must register as an educator to download full-text cases, notes and articles for examination purposes.

Richard Ivey School of Business - Cases

"With nearly 2000 cases in our active collection, the Richard Ivey School of Business is the second largest producer of cases in the world. Approximately 200 new cases are added each year."

Stanford Business School Case Database

"Many cases in this collection are sold through Harvard Business School Publishing. For those cases you will be connected directly to the HBSP site to place your order."

ARTICLES

"Case Studies" is a common subject heading in the business indexes below. Search for case studies as a subject, adding a topic keyword in another search box . Alternatively, under Document Type, choose Case study in combination with topic keywords.

WRITE CASES / CASE ANALYSIS

To find books in our collection about writing, developing and analysing cases, try searching QCAT by the subject heading case method. In Business Source Complete Database 'case method' is also a subject heading. In ABI/Inform Database try a keyword search for case method.

WEBSITES

Application of a Case Study Methodology

Tellis, Winston The Qualitative Report 3(3) September, 1997
Academic article with detailed bibliography.

How to Analyze a Case: A Student Guide

Provides guidelines on different types of cases as well as how to analyze a case.

McGraw Hill - Guide to Case Analysis

South-Western College

How to prepare an effective case analysis.

SELECTED BOOKS AT QUEEN'S

Applications of Case Study Research
H61.Y56 2003

Art & Craft of Case Writing
LB1029.C37 N38 2006 (Education Library); 1999 (Stauffer Library)

Case Research: the Case Writing Process
HF1121.L43 1989t

The Case Study as Research Method: a Practical Handbook

Case Study Research: Design and Methods
H62. Y56 2009 (Stauffer, Education)

Case Study Research: Principles and Practices
H62.G47 2007

Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods
H62.P3218 2002 (Stauffer, Education)

Qualitative Research Through Case Studies
H62.T635 2001