Guest Post: AuthorAID Case Writing Workshop in Tanzania

[Note: This post is from business professor Shiv K. Tripathi, Mzumbe University, Tanzania, who recently received an AuthorAID grant to organize a workshop. Thank you, Shiv! —Barbara]

Dar Es Salaam Campus of Mzumbe University hosted an INASP-supported AuthorAID workshop on 12–15 December 2011. The workshop integrated development, writing, and use of cases for business teaching. The event marked a good beginning of “scientific management-case development and writing” in East Africa.

The workshop aimed to develop skills in synchronizing the case method of teaching with case writing among business and management educators. The workshop was particularly important because of the rising importance of the case method of teaching, which leading business schools worldwide have adopted as the main pedagogical tool.

Effective use of the case method of teaching requires the availability of context-specific case studies. Africa, particularly the Eastern part, has few good such cases. Therefore the workshop was designed to trigger the development and publication of cases specific to the region. 

Although guidelines are available for case-study development on management topics, the framework regarding what makes a case study scientifically balanced to accomplish target learning objectives needs further refinement. Thus, the workshop was quite innovative, as throughout the sessions the focus was on “scientific cases”.

Participants from the different business school campuses in Tanzania attended the workshop and started developing cases. Once the edited version of the first case series is published, it will be the first product of the case development center being established at Mzumbe University.

The workshop, consisting of 15 sessions, was facilitated by renowned case writer and educator Prof Wolfgang Amann from the Goethe Business School of Frankfurt University, Germany.  Prof. Shiv Tripathi, Mzumbe University (Tanzania), and Prof. Ajai Prakash, KCA University, Nairobi (Kenya), also contributed to the workshop.