Is a Business Case Study Better Than an Ivey Case?

It has been reported that the majority of HBR cases are created by those who have direct knowledge of the business context in which the article is written. The majority of Ivey Cases, for example, were created by the author of a report on the time spent on social media sites. One would expect, then, that the quality of the articles would be higher if the authors were writing about a different business context.

In fact, many of the best Business Case Studies on HR happen to be about a business that is directly related to the one being studied. The example above, for example, can be thought of as a Business Case Study on the interaction between HR managers and social media accounts on the one hand, and the HR director and his or her human resources team on the other. Both sides must work hard at building trust with their own teams while managing the unpredictable nature of the social media community.

To create a business case study that is as strong as the HBR cases and Ivey Cases is going to require that the writer is willing to write about all aspects of the business. If the author will not, it will be difficult for him or her to be trusted as an objective observer, and it will be difficult to see how the issues will be resolved.

Why does a Business Case Study in HR get more attention than Ivey Cases? A variety of factors come into play here.

First, the HBR cases, and especially the Ivey Cases, are well known and read by the vast majority of readers. These readers are those who are seeking HR improvement. They read both to find solutions and to learn what worked, or didn’t work, for their companies. The stories of what did work are often heard and read around the company, and thus it is easier to find good sources for these than it is to find strong sources for the more subjective Business Case Studies.

Second, Business Case Studies that is focused on HR is harder to cover from a technical perspective. This is because they deal with some of the most basic HR issues: recruitment, training, senior management, supervision, and tracking performance. The subjects here are so simple, there is no need to complicate them. Readers already know what they want to know, so there is no need to add things that they don’t need.

Third, there is less room for specific details and limitations when Business Case Studies focuses on HR. Why? Because the subject is so simple, there is no need to cover things that are not relevant to that subject. On the other hand, Business Case Studies that includes detailed reporting on recruitment, training, senior management, supervision, and tracking performance may well suffer from the same problem: the author will be forced to cover some aspects of HR beyond his or her comfort zone.

Fourth, Business Case Studies that focuses on HR is usually reviewed much more often than Ivey Cases. The reader gets to see how the case is used, and therefore has an opportunity to comment on it and suggest changes if needed. The reader can point out areas where the case was overly complex and raise concerns about management decisions, or even the reporting itself.

Fifth, Business Case Studies that is focused on HR can be used to train other HR professionals. For example, the author of an article on the management of pharmaceutical trials can use the case study to teach an HR manager how to do effective drug trials. In addition, the case study can be used to teach some other areas of HR.

Sixth, Business Case Studies that is focused on HR provide a better analysis of the causes of performance problems than does Ivey Cases. By looking at the objective results, they can show the impact of management policies on business performance. This is because many people see only the data, and not the questions that need to be answered. Finally, Darden Case Studies that is focused on HR provides more information than Ivey Cases. The number of external consultants interviewed is higher, as well as the number of external managers interviewed. These people may offer tips for improving the HR department and general HR training, and HR strategies. As a result, these cases provide additional experience to readers, which makes them more reliable than those focused on just one company.