Capacity building for case method in Indian B-schools
Actionable insights from leading academicians on creating a case-study ecosystem in India.
Harvard Business School celebrated 2021 as the centenary year of adoption of the case method, and yet in 2026, Indian business schools are still debating the whys and hows of case technique acceptance in emerging markets. While management education has seen the mushrooming of some world-class B-schools in India, faculty are dependent on global repositories for case-based teaching.
The uneven representation of Indian cases in leading publications such as Harvard and Ivy Publishing has created an alarming gap between the consumption and production of case studies in India. What lacks is the development of locally grounded cases in the Indian context, especially when India provides a dynamic and diverse environment with managerial complexities in family- owned businesses and informal markets.
Equipping the Indian management faculty with the requisite skill sets to write India-centric cases is the need of the hour. On the adoption side, many business schools, barring the top tier, view cases merely as classroom illustrations rather than treating them as rigorous pedagogical tools needing theoretically aligned teaching notes, mentor facilitation skills, and integrative assessments.
Against the above background, a unique initiative was undertaken by IILM Lodhi Road, New Delhi with North American Case Research Association (NACRA) to deliberate on case writing in India. As part of the organising team for the IILM- NACRA round table meet entitled “Future Pathways for Case Method with NACRA” held on 16 April 2026, we gathered and summarised the viewpoints of leading B-school directors, senior academicians and case writers in India.
A few reflections are captured below:
- We need to strengthen the capacity building of our own faculty at institution level through various case writing workshops.
- India represents one of the world’s most dynamic business environments; its managerial realities remain underrepresented in global case repositories and classroom discussions.
- The diversity of Indian cases can make them a strong contribution to global case literature. These cases would provide unique insights into the dynamics of the Indian economy, with the interplay of institutions, regulatory authorities, and regional heterogeneous markets, which can be published in internationally acclaimed case journals.
Why Business Schools need India -centric Cases?
The urgency of establishing an ecosystem for India-centred case studies is imminent. Indian B-schools must expand their case-based research.
Relevance of Indian Context– Indian businesses operate within unique cultural, social and economic contexts of an emerging market. The informal structures, family-owned small/medium and large businesses, digital India initiatives, ambit of regulatory authorities, market structures of metros, two and three-tier cities, public-private sectors, and socio-economic diverse environments are under-represented in international case studies. Thus, Indian cases can help students to grasp the Indian business environment and make informed decisions in their future managerial roles.
Pedagogical transformation – Case-based pedagogy can transform Indian management education into a more student-centric classroom environment with hands-on learning through dilemma-based decisions. Students can learn interactively and engagingly by applying theory to case-based situations and partake in the decision-making of companies even before they venture into the real business world. An interesting mix of graphics, live polls, simulations, mood boards, role plays, and quick decision briefs could create an upgraded learning environment.
Development of Multi-disciplinary Perspectives – Indian managerial problems rarely fit neatly within one discipline. ESG, sustainability, public policy, entrepreneurship, digital transformation, inclusion, and international trade often overlap in a single decision. Contemporary cases can help students understand these interconnections and evaluate managerial choices across multiple stakeholders.
Strengthening Assessment and Applied Learning Outcomes – Cases should not be seen only as classroom discussion material. They can also become powerful tools for assessment. Case-based assessment allows faculty to evaluate analysis, communication, ethical reasoning, teamwork, and decision-making, rather than only recall of theory. For learners, cases develop the ability to interpret incomplete information; for faculty, cases shift the classroom from one-way delivery to facilitated inquiry; and for institutions, case pedagogy supports learner-centric education, assurance of learning, industry engagement, and societal impact.
Challenges in the Adoption of Case-Based Research in India
Although the case method is globally recognised as a powerful approach to management education, its acceptance continues to be a challenge across Indian B-schools.
Uneven adoption across institutions – Leading institutions have made notable progress in developing and using cases, yet many institutions, particularly those in smaller towns and resource-constrained settings, have not fully embraced the case-based method. This unevenness reflects differences in resources, faculty capability, institutional culture, and leadership support. Classroom teaching still holds centre stage in many B-schools rather than case-centred learning.
Inadequate incentives for case writing – Faculties in different B-schools in India who are enthusiast case writers face the problem of recognition of their work as institutions continue to favor research paper publications. This creates an imbalance in appraisal systems, promotions among varied case writers, and faculty publishing conventional research papers. Further, the accreditation councils lay more emphasis on journal publications, citations, and indexed research outputs, thereby creating a lopsided system of recognition. Even though some case outlets are indexed in Scopus, relatively few are included in recognised journal ranking lists such as ABS or ABDC. As a result, case writing contributes little to career progression in many institutions, reducing motivation among faculty members.
If institutions reward only journal articles, faculty will naturally optimise for journal articles and not case studies
This is a matter of concern because writing a good teaching case requires substantial intellectual labour. Unless institutions recognise this effort through workload allocation, incentives, appraisal systems, and promotion criteria, faculty members may prefer academic outputs that are more clearly rewarded.
Ambiguity in the role of cases –In some institutions, cases are treated merely as examples to illustrate concepts. In others, they become classroom exercises without clear learning objectives. This happens because many faculty members have not received adequate training in case teaching, teaching note design, or assessment through cases. The case method requires facilitation skills that are different from conventional lecturing.
Way Forward
Participants agreed that strengthening the case ecosystem in India will require recognition reform alongside institutional commitment. Case writing must be treated as serious scholarly work, particularly when it is grounded in primary engagement with industry, entrepreneurs, government agencies, or communities. Institutions can encourage wider faculty participation through recognition, financial incentives, awards, and promotion policies that evaluate educational impact alongside publication metrics.
Democratizing access to cases and creating stronger collaborative platforms is the need of the hour. This entails wider availability of cases through open or low-cost repositories supported by institutions such as All India Management Association (AIMA), NACRA, EFMD, publishers, and academic networks.
Though associations can support mentoring, standards, and dissemination, the institutionalisation of case pedagogy in India will require alignment among B-schools, industry, publishers, faculty development bodies, and national accreditation councils like the University Grants Commission, All India Council for Technical Education, National Assessment and Accreditation Council, to name a few.
India-focused forums for case development, peer review, mentoring, and dissemination could further help faculty members refine teaching notes, improve classroom applicability, and gain greater visibility for their work.
Finally, capacity building is a critical priority. Regular case-writing workshops, teaching clinics, co-authorship opportunities, and mentoring support for emerging faculty members can be initiated. A stronger national community of case researchers can help Indian cases align with global quality standards while also producing regionally relevant material for smaller institutions. Such efforts can ultimately position India not only as a major consumer of case literature, but as a globally recognised contributor to management knowledge from emerging markets.
Final reflection
India continues to be an important emerging market in the world with a growing business landscape, young generation entrepreneurs, and the ‘Make in India’ policy under ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’ by the Government of India. With this backdrop, the Indian academia could be the new-age contributor in case generation for global audiences who wish to understand emerging-market structures, traditional entrepreneurs, digital-inclusive economies, unique sustainable models, and culturally embedded markets. The role of case writers becomes even more pronounced under such circumstances.
The IILM Lodhi Road, New Delhi, initiative in bringing together academic leaders from eminent business schools marked an important step in shifting the conversation from aspiration to action. With coordinated effort of various stakeholders in Indian higher education system, including institutions, regulators, accreditation bodies, industry, publishers and international case associations, India can build a case ecosystem that strengthens learners, empowers faculty members and case writers. The larger opportunity is to move India from case adoption to case authorship.
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