| A case study is a story. It is a narrative
account of a problem or situation in organisation. As with all good stories it
should have a structure - a beginning, a middle and, often, an end. They are particularly
useful in teaching business ethics because the subject can be approached through
problems and issues that are often best described through case studies. Case studies
can be journalistic accounts of events in an organisation or industry or, at the
other end of the spectrum, fictional accounts of happenings in organisations or
industries which nonetheless reflect typical problems. Case studies are effective
because they link learning to real life and the experiences of the learners and
this connection is the key to creating motivation to learn. The purposes of
case studies in teaching and learning business ethics are to provide, - opportunities
for identifying and analysing ethical problems and dilemmas in business and organisations
- practice
at applying ethical concepts, principles and theories to actual situations
- opportunities
to identify and evaluate options for action in response to ethical problems and
dilemmas.
Although case studies are stories they should not be
tales that deliver a simple moral. If they are read as vehicles for delivering
simple moral precepts - never do this, always do that - they tend not to be effective
for teaching and learning.
Sometimes they include an ending telling us
what people actually did, and the consequences, but they should not presume to
say whether what was done was the best thing to do in the best of circumstances.
This should be a matter for debate amongst the students. Often case studies describe
a situation and leave it for the students to decide what ought to be done. Students
may also have to decide what the key issues in a case study are because there
may be a welter of issues and priorities have to be set. They will probably also
have to deal with the frustration that arises from inadequate information. Many
case studies seek to emulate the lack of information, and the uncertainty about
the truthfulness of the information available, that typify managers' circumstances.
Some case studies (see Fisher and Lovell (2003: 114)) are based on the fact that
managers often receive information in a drip feed manner). References Fisher,
C. M. and Lovell, A. (2003) Business Ethics and Values, Harlow, FT Prentice
Hall. |
