ons to the problem identified in the case situation. These alternative solutions are then evaluated by the student to determine which alternative will likely provide the best outcome for the firm in the case situation at a cost to the firm that is sustainable. The solution receiving the highest evaluation typically becomes the recommended action to be initiated by the firm in the case situation.
The essential learning assumption upon which the Harvard University Business School case study method is based is that the situations and managerial issues presented in the case studies are sufficiently general throughout the economy that students will be able to transfer the knowledge acquired through case analysis to actual situations in their own firms subsequent to graduation from the Harvard University Business School. This assumption is widely attacked as unrealistic in the 1990s, and is examined in greater detail in the following section of this research.
The case study method applied at the Harvard University Business School is primarily a
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