Case Study Method: Theory and Practice

In the field of research and instruction in behavioural and social sciences, case study method has its unique importance. Ever since the Graduate School, of Business at Harvard University, during the period 1930-45, focused on the case-study method as the ‘heavily predominant method of instruction’, this pedagogical technique has been applied with continuing innovations in a large number of universities and training institutions through out the world. The case study method has successfully questioned a series of dichotomies, including politics administration, policy formulation-implementation, and theory-practice dichotomies. Case-studies do provide a useful first stage for seeking to convert “espoused theories” into “operating theories”. Experience of “having been there before” is usually a major factor in effective performance, and case-studies provide some sense of “having been there”, and in an economic way too. Dr. Shyama Bharadwaj through this work has rendered a vital service to the scholars and practitioners of administrative management. The volume not only lucidly elaborates the basic premises and techniques of case-study writing, but also juxtaposes the conceptual elucidation with two most revealing case-studies that synchronise a host of crucial variables in the policy and decisional processes. Here is a treatise that presents a blend of “what” and ”how”. This book will prove to be a catalyst to continuing creative efforts in case-study method.