International Institutional Case Writing: the Case of St
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International Journal of Case Method Research & Application (2012) XXIV, 1 © 2012 WACRA®. All rights reserved ISSN 1554-7752 INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONAL CASE WRITING: THE CASE OF ST. PETERSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY Sergei A. Starov Igor V. Gladkikh Elena E. Rasha St. Petersburg University Graduate School of Management ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA William H. Coyle Babson College BABSON PARK, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A. Abstract The continuing globalization of business and the globalization of business education require teaching materials transcending country boundaries. Case studies co-authored by writers from several countries have the potential of widespread application and use. Experience at the Graduate School of Management at St. Petersburg University (Russia), shows that institutional cooperation on joint case writing projects with foreign universities does work and can yield results. KEY WORDS : institutional case writing cooperation, case studies as a global product, international co-authorship in case development CHALLENGES OF CASE WRITING AND TEACHING: GSOM’s INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE The continuing trend toward Global Business and the globalization of business education require teaching materials transcending country boundaries. The classroom material should address different issues and challenges of the globalization of business and it should be tailored to the needs of audiences in different countries. Saee [2005] wrote that “managers operating within the global economy face major challenges, which emanate from differing political, social, legal, technological, economic, and more importantly, cross-cultural dimensions”. Effective intercultural communication becomes the key indicator of managerial competence within the global economy in many academic and professional communities. It is highly important to write cases that help business students develop intercultural competences for working in a global economy. Case writers at the Graduate School of Management (GSOM) at St. Petersburg State University, explore new opportunities for innovation through international cooperation in case development. While international case writing cooperation is not yet a well-developed practice, joint scientific research has long been the norm. Case collections at Harvard University, INSEAD, Ivey School of Business, Darden and IMD belong to their Business Schools. The authors believe that this form of institutional foot print limits the ability to write quality case studies with a global perspective. Whereas cases may have great potential for being disseminated internationally, the vision of case writers is always limited by their personal experience and by practices at their place of employment. Furthermore, case writers tend to write cases for audiences they know. It is the view of the authors that 16 International Journal of Case Method Research & Application (2012) XXIV, 1 case studies are written primarily to shift the burden of explaining absolutely every detail of business development in a country from the professor to the student. The more diverse case audiences are, the more likely they lack understanding of the nuances of the economic environment of a country. Some of the information provided in a case may simply be beyond the level of understanding of students from other countries. Following is a list of cases developed by GSOM case writers cooperating with case writers from several countries. TABLE 1 CASES DEVELOPED BY GSOM PROFESSORS IN CO-AUTHORSHIP WITH COLLEAGUES FROM OTHER SCHOOLS Institution of Authors Case Title Co-author Gladkikh I.V. Look out Mickey Mouse, The Gladkikh, I. Bertolon School Russian Smeshariki are going to the market / Starov, S. I.V. Gladkikh, S.A. Starov, E. Desmarais, G. of Business, Desmarais E. Meirovich // The CASE Journal. - Volume 7, Salem University Meirovich G. Issue 2. - 2011 - P. 12-34. Cherenkov V.I., Ellis, J., Gladkikh I.V. Pulse Systems of St. Petersburg: Russian Hi-Techs Babson College Gladkikh, I. are Coming / V.I.Cherenkov, J. Ellis, I.V. Cherenkov, V. Gladkikh // International Journal of Case Ellis, J. Method Research & Application (IJCRA) - March, 2010. - Volume XXII, Issue No. 1. - P. 58-71. Andreeva T.E. Knowledge Management College of Challenges in the Rakurs Company (Case) / Business Andreeva, T. T.E. Andreeva, M. Zack. - European Case Administration, Zack, M. Clearing House (ecch). – 2010. - 910-004-1. Northeastern – pp. 12. University Gladkikh I.V.Asahi Beer Enters the Russian Gladkikh I. Babson College Market (Case) / I. V. Gladkikh, S. A. Starov, Starov S. K.Matsuno. - The European Case Clearing Matsuno, K. House (ecch). 2010 Shirokova G.V. Dve Palochki: A Non- Japanese Restaurant of Japanese Cuisine Babson College Shirokova G., (Case) / G.V. Shirokova, W. Coyle. - Coyle, W. European Case Clearing House (ecch). - 2009. - 309-261-1. - p.p. 21 Shirokova G.V. The Untsiya Company: Bertolon School Shirokova, G. Business Development in Russia / G.V. of Business, Vega, G. Shirokova, G. Vega // The CASE Journal. - Salem University Volume 6, Issue 1. - 2009 - P. 57-80. Gladkikh I.V. Battery Energy Drink: Gladkikh, I. Successful Start, What’s Next? (Case) / Babson College Starov, S. I.V.Gladkikh, S.A. Starov, R.G. Kopp. - Kopp, R. European Case Clearing House (ecch). – 2007. - 507-188-1. – pp. 42. International Journal of Case Method Research & Application (2012) XXIV, 1 17 As Table 1 indicates, GSOM has extensive experience in creating case studies jointly written with authors from its international partner institutions. The process of writing a case with a professor from a partner institution has provided benefits to GSOM and its partners as well as the co-authors involved in the case. At the institutional level, the cases act as a way of broadening the institutional relationships between the partners. The joint case writing provides another level of linkage between the institutions. For the individual professors who are co-authors, it broadens their professional network. The co-authored case provides an additional publication and also may provide a new avenue for publication for one or more of the authors. Finally, in the process of writing and then testing the case in their respective classes, the professors and the institutions can learn from each other about how they teach and how their students learn. There is an opportunity for each institution involved to learn the best practices of the other institutions. SYNERGY OF INTERNATIONAL CASE WRITING CO-AUTHORSHIP As noted in Table 1, the joint cases are all with GSOM and partner institutions in the United States. Also applicable if they were from Western European universities, the cases provide a synergistic effect when written by authors from different countries and taught to students from different countries. The Russian business environment is very different from a western business environment. This makes a jointly-written case valuable to both a Russian and a western audience because the students learn and work in different environments. A case written by just a Russian professor or just a western professor may very well seem disjointed and not applicable to a student audience from the other location. The synergy occurs through the incorporation of the attributes previously noted by Saee, such that the co-authors through writing the case bridge the educational, cultural, political and business differences that exist between Russia and western business environments. For example, Western students want to learn about Russia and the Russian business environment. However, Western students do not understand the uniqueness of the Russian business environment and possibly, nor does their Western professor. A case written by a Russian professor about a Russian company will most likely be addressed to a Russian audience. It is then likely that in the case and the teaching note, fundamental issues that are inherent in the Russian business environment will be assumed to be known by the Russian author. Very important nuances and key institutional and cultural frameworks will be lost on a Western audience. The same holds true for Russian students wanting to learn about Western business practices. There is a large body of cases available that are based on Western companies in a Western environment and written by Western professors. The Russian student may be more familiar with Western business practices than a Western student knows of Russian business practices, but still the author and the case will assume that fundamental Western business practices are known by the student. In writing an internationally co-authored case, the disjointed nature of the case can be mitigated. The Western and Russian co-author is sensitive to the nuances of their own environment and their own disciplines within that environment. As the case is written, those differences are acknowledged and incorporated into the case in a synergistic way. Differences in the culture, politics and business environment of countries is made explicit and the implications of those differences provide a deeper learning environment for the students. This adds value to all four types of cases: a case about a Russian company operating in Russia; a case about a Western company, operating in the West; a case about a Russian company wanting to do business in the West; and a case about a Western company wanting to do business in Russia. This synergy holds true at a macro and a micro level within a case. At the macro level, international co-authored cases provide students the opportunity to learn