Textbook learning may be invaluable, but nothing compares to real-world experience.

But before students are ready to take what they’ve learned to the street, case studies provide opportunities for thinking through the complexities of the situations that arise in today’s workplaces.

The case studies students today read in their textbooks are designed by professors from around the world and have a global impact as aspiring business professionals from Dallas to Denmark seek solutions that will one day help them problem solve in the workplace.

Ivey Publishing, one of the world’s foremost academic publishers, reported that a case study developed by Cal State Fullerton College of Business and Economics Management Professor Atul Teckchandani was the best-selling case study of the 2023-2024 academic year.

The case study, “People First Inc.: A Star Employee But a Terrible Manager,” envisions a management consulting company in which a star employee has been promoted but is a disaster as a manager.

Understanding the importance of and assessing emotional intelligence and psychological safety, and considering how employees and managers can navigate transitions from employee to management are some of the learning objectives undergrad and graduate business students achieve when their instructors incorporate this case study into their classes.

We sat down with Professor Teckchandani to discover more about the case study and its impact.

What do you hope students at Cal State Fullerton and beyond will gain from this case study? What does it offer that other case studies do not?

The PeopleFirst case study centers around a manager (Renee) who recently promoted a star employee (Marcela) to lead a team. However, Marcela is leading the team as if she is still an individual contributor, which is frustrating the rest of her team. In addition, Marcela seems to be dismissing these concerns and interacting with her client in ways that are inconsistent with company guidelines. The central question of the case is: “What should Renee do about Marcela?”

This case study can be discussed from multiple points of view. It can be discussed from Renee’s point of view, Marcela’s point of view, or the point of view of a member of Marcela’s team.

For each viewpoint, students can consider and debate what they would do if they found themselves in the situation faced by Renee, Marcela, or a member of Marcela’s team. How would they respond? What factors would guide their decision making? What approaches might they consider?

In my experience, student engagement increases when discussing situations that students are likely to encounter early in their professional careers.

This case study offers an opportunity to explore how to transition from individual contributor to team lead, how to deal with an ineffective manager or team leader, and how to support a team lead who is struggling.

For those of us who aren’t faculty, tell us a bit about how case studies generally improve the business college experience for students?

Case studies are a great way to bring the real world into the classroom. Each case study is written in a similar manner, centering around a focal actor who needs to make a decision.

The case study describes the focal actor, the situation they find themselves in, and provides background information and context to help the reader put themselves in the focal actor’s shoes. The students can then explore how they might go about coming up with a decision.

It’s not about the decision, it’s about the process that is used to get to a decision. As a result, the classroom conversations about how each student approached the central challenge can be quite lively and engaging. In the end, students have practiced utilizing specific concepts related to the course, which allows them to retain this knowledge in a deeper way than a traditional lecture. And they often gain valuable insights into how they make decisions and how others around them make decisions.

Are Cal State Fullerton students ever involved in the creation of case studies?

Business Titans weren’t involved in the creation of the People First case study, but they were involved in the Jamie’s Market case study that was the 18th most widely used case study in 2023-2024.

That case study evolved out of the pandemic. The students were working with a client and when the COVID lockdown happened, the client no longer had time for us.

To salvage the project, we repurposed what the team had learned into a case study. The students wrote the first draft of the case study and teaching note as part of their class assignment, and then I took on the task of revising it and doing whatever else was needed to get it published.

What advice would you give to your fellow faculty members on how they can design case studies that will be used in today’s higher ed world?

First, write the case studies you want to use. All of the case studies I have written have been because I wanted to teach certain concepts and could not find good materials or activities to help me do so. To address this gap, I decided to create my own.

Second, always keep your eye out for student experiences that could be the focal point of a case study. It will provide you with ample material that can be used in the case study and might even be an opportunity to partner with a student to write the case study.

The College of Business and Economics: A Leader in Research

The Cal State Fullerton College of Business and Economics isn’t only a top teaching institution. It is also world-renowned as a research institution.

From information systems to accounting to economics, our professors and lecturers – and even many of our graduate students – are leaders in generating applied research that helps business professionals and policymakers navigate today’s completive and ever-changing economy.

For more on our college’s research acumen, read more of our articles on faculty research.