Teaching cases for information systems

The teaching value of cases is well recognized in business schools. They are widely used both in MBA programmes and in short executive development courses. Typically, they provide a moderately realistic context in which to explore the application of academic theories and models, though this, of course, does not exhaust their potential value. Their relevance is less well recognized in undergraduate IS departments and still less in computer science and other technical departments that sometimes house IS faculties. Established case providers such as Harvard Business School, Ivey School of Business and Case Clearing House have typically set and sustained high standards of quality. The downside has been that the set of available cases is constrained, with access limited for some educational institutions by their, or their students’, ability to pay. The style of each providers’ cases is regimented, with some providers seemingly encouraging highly detailed, `mega-cases’ that are perhaps not appropriate for all classes and purposes. While their life span varies, many lose their freshness quickly. This is particularly so in a fast moving area like IS/IT. The major case providers offer little room for innovation. Furthermore, because most of the best-known cases have US and Canadian settings, notwithstanding such famous cases as Singapore’s TRADENET, they can lack appeal for European, Asian and other students. Though in the last ® ve years we have seen a growing published supply of topical cases that are set outside the North American context. In the past, teaching cases have often been written by doctoral students under the supervision of a senior faculty member. For the faculty member there has usually been little academic recognition for their effort. This is curious given that the case has often been the subject of rigorous and intensive research, and that the development of an effective set of teaching notes (or instructor’s manual) is both an intellectually challenging exercise and offers substantial academic value to other course leaders who use the case and notes. In championing the introduction of, and acting as track chairs for, a refereed teaching case track at the Seventeenth International Conference in Information Systems at Helsinki Finland in December 1998, our purposes were to: