On 25 October 2021, The Case Centre announced their Top 50 Bestselling Case Authors 2020/21. A place in the top 50 is an extraordinary achievement, as over 8,800 faculty are registered as authors with The Case Centre.

Staying top of the tree

The late Debapratim Purkayastha of ICFAI Business School (IBS), who sadly passed away from COVID-19 in May 2021, remains at no. 1 for a sixth successive year.

Selling over 100,000 copies from an extensive back catalogue of cases since the list was introduced in 2015/16, Debapratim’s undoubted impact on the case method and management education will live on for years to come through the many case authors and teachers he has inspired, and the vast number of students whose education has been enhanced by learning through his cases.

Movers and shakers

ESSEC Business School’s Ashok Som is the biggest mover in 2020/21, climbing 26 places to no. 11. Meanwhile, the highest new entries are both from ICFAI Business School. Indu Perepu enters the list at no. 2 and Syeda Maseeha Qumer at no. 3.

Powershift

As the list increases from 40 to 50, we see a change in the geographic dynamics. European and US schools each have a 42% share of the 2020/21 Top 50, down from 45% in 2019/20. While the representation of schools in Asia rises to 16%, up from 10% last year.

Harvard Business School remains the most successful school with nine authors in the top 50, but ICFAI Business School (IBS) and INSEAD are hot on their heels with seven authors each. Furthermore, ICFAI holds the top three spots for the first time, while INSEAD has four authors in the top 10.

See all the trends in an infographic.

Meet the authors

Visit www.thecasecentre.org/Top50CaseAuthors2021 to browse the full list of bestselling authors, discover their cases and learn why they believe in the enduring importance of case writing and teaching as a fundamental cornerstone of business education.

1    Debapratim Purkayastha, ICFAI Business School (IBS)

2    Indu Perepu, ICFAI Business School (IBS)

3    Syeda Maseeha Qumer, ICFAI Business School (IBS)

4    W Chan Kim, INSEAD (joint)

4    Renée Mauborgne, INSEAD (joint)

6    Joerg Niessing, INSEAD

7    Christopher A Bartlett, Harvard Business School

8    Wolfgang Ulaga, INSEAD

9    David B Yoffie, Harvard Business School

10  Nader Tavassoli, London Business School

11  Ashok Som, ESSEC Business School

12  Jill Avery, Harvard Business School

13  Kamran Kashani, Institute for Management Development (IMD)

14  Youngme Moon, Harvard Business School

15  Kasra Ferdows, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University

16  John A Quelch, Miami Business School

17  David Dubois, INSEAD

18  Carlos Cordon, Institute for Management Development (IMD)

19 Michael Lewis, University of Bath School of Management (joint)

19 Jose A D Machuca, Universidad de Sevilla (joint)

21  David J Collis, Harvard Business School

22 Pierre Chandon, INSEAD

23  Mohanbir Sawhney, Kellogg School of Management

24  Robert F Bruner, University of Virginia Darden School of Business

25  Denis Gromb, HEC Paris

26  Urs Mueller, SDA Bocconi School of Management

27  Vivek Gupta, TechSci Research

28  Jamie Anderson, Antwerp Management School

29  Benoit Leleux, Institute for Management Development (IMD)

30  Sanjib Dutta, ICFAI Business School (IBS)

31  Vincent Dessain, Harvard Business School

32  GV Muralidhara, ICFAI Business School (IBS)

33  Jitesh Nair, ICFAI Business School (IBS)

34  Michael J Schill, University of Virginia Darden School of Business

35  Elizabeth Grasby, Ivey Business School

36  Horacio Falcão, INSEAD

37  Robert S Kaplan, Harvard Business School

38  Seán A Meehan, Institute for Management Development (IMD)

39  Herminia Ibarra, London Business School

40  Ian Dunn, Ivey Business School

41  Peter Killing, Institute for Management Development (IMD)

42  Stefan Michel, Institute for Management Development (IMD)

43  Jan W Rivkin, Harvard Business School

44  Inyoung Chae, Goizueta Business School, Emory University

45  Sean D Carr, University of Virginia Darden School of Business

46  James E Hatch, Ivey Business School

47  Thales Teixeira, Decoupling.co

48  Eric Van den Steen, Harvard Business School

49  V Namratha Prasad, ICFAI Business School (IBS)

50  P Fraser Johnson, Ivey Business School

The Case Centre is the independent home of the case method and is dedicated to advancing the case method worldwide, sharing knowledge, wisdom and experience to inspire and transform business education across the globe. It is a not-for-profit organisation and registered charity.