What It Takes to Innovate: The Experience of Producing an Online, Real-Time Case Study

Abstract

The case method can be classified as a type of experiential learning because students treat the problem in the case as if it were real and immediate. Until the Internet there was no practical way for cases to actually be real and immediate. The Internet makes possible instantaneous distribution of cases, and it makes possible their creation in real time. This article describes a recent attempt to use the Internet to bring business reality to business courses, and to facilitate communication among instructors, students, and the case company. It explores the challenges and difficulties involved in producing a new type of case study, and it assesses the feasibility of doing so on a regular basis. The goal of the author is to stimulate a dialog about how the Internet can be used to move forward all of our teaching methods, but especially the one that is prominent in schools of business: the case method.