Teaching Marketing Strategy through Case Studies: Empirical Observations

By:

In a number of disciplines with a strong practical side experience-based learning is crucial. One of the most important objectives of teaching marketing strategy is to develop the capacity of students to apply the theory and the models presented in class to real business situations. The use of case studies in teaching marketing strategy has a number of clear advantages: - the case study provide students with illustrations of real-life business situations; - the case study give students the possibility to apply the theoretical knowledge and to adapt the abstract models taught in class in order find solutions to a real business problem; - the case study force students to adopt specific roles related to company functions and to interact in order to take complex decisions.

Considering the specific case of strategic marketing courses, this paper attempts to define the best pedagogical methodology for using case studies. Case study typology is defined using the complexity and the level of interactivity of various case studies. The different pedagogical objectives for using case studies is then considered in the context of a strategic marketing course, and the effect of case study applications is evaluated using the Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive skills.

The paper starts with a comprehensive discussion of the case study typology and usage in business studies. The main pedagogical objectives of using case studies are defined on the basis of the existing literature, and then validated through a series of interviews realised with university professors. The pedagogical methodology based on case studies is then described, and the effect of various pedagogical procedures is evaluated using primary data collected from undergraduate and master students. The paper concludes with practical recommendations regarding the use of case studies in strategic marketing courses, and with propositions for future research.

Stream: Curriculum and Pedagogy; Student Learning, Learner Experiences, Learner Diversity

Paper: , , , , , Teaching Marketing Strategy through Case Studies, , ,

Dr. Călin Gurău is Associate Professor of Marketing at GSCM - Montpellier Business School, France, since September 2004. He is a Junior Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science, Minneapolis, USA. He worked as Marketing Manager in two Romanian companies and he has received degrees and distinctions for studies and research from University of Triest, Italy; University of Vienna, Austria; Duke University, USA; University of Angers, France; Oxford University and Southampton Business School and Heriot-Watt University, United Kingdom. His present research interests are focused on Marketing Strategies for High-Technology Firms and Innovative Pedagogy. He has published more than 30 papers in internationally refereed journals, such as International Marketing Review, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Journal of Marketing Communications, etc.