■ Charles Trappy、于卓民 Joseph Yu、蘇瓜藤
Robert Suany of Taiwan's premier business schools use cases to train students , and the most popular cases are those purchased from the Harvard Business School as well as from first tier universities in America and Europe. NCCU's IMBA program is taking the process a step further. Not only are we using cases to train students, we are using the task of writing cases – planning the case, interviewing executives, writing the case, formulating the teaching notes, and preparing the final draft for publication as an important part of the education experience. The case writing and editing approach is similar to a law review journal where students form the editorial review board and publish scholarly works.
The key learning points that we hope students to achieve from writing a case include learning to work as a team, efficient interaction with companies (planning interviews and phone contacts), efficient interaction with professors (case status reporting and teaching), improved coordination and English communication skills, and the ability to identify real-world problems and propose feasible solutions for implementation. The course is especially valuable for international students who are interested in learning about Asian business management through actual on-site experiences.
The process of writing a case begins with the kick-off meeting. The students meet with the case study advisors and discuss the aspects and requirements of writing a case for publication and training. The group is asked to select a company to study, establish a time-line for completing the task, assign responsibilities, and begin the research process. All cases require a thorough analysis of secondary data before the students are allowed to visit companies. That is, the students must be confident that they understand the company that they are studying and have already identified potential problems before any interview is conducted in the field. Arranging good interviews with key people is an important part of writing the case. The students are asked to decide on who to interview, to arrange the time and place of the interviews, to prepare the questions to be asked, and to represent the university and the program in a positive light. Unless the students can win the confidence of the companies they interview, generate a good and professional impression, the interview will end in failure – little real data will be obtained from the company and the case will resemble a report more than a case.
When preparing the students to go out in the field to collect data, the professors advise the students to
1.Review existing cases and find an example to model.
2.Identify a protagonist, a person in the company that will lead the telling of the story and drive the case action forward.
3.Stage the problem using interview dialogues and field data.
4.Make assumptions about the business environment, relationships, and problem.
5.Provide the history and background of the company but also describe the business environment, industry, and market.
The first case prepared by the IMBA students is called “Taiwan Beer: Challenging the Status Quo.” The case effort began with an extensive review of the Taiwan beer market. Next, the group identified the unique aspects of the Taiwan Beer company: the need to re-position the product, the unique nature of the corporate structure, the aggressive competition in the beer marketplace, and the efforts to privatize the former government monopoly. The students wrote a Harvard style case that focuses on the competitive advantage of Taiwan beer's production and distribution as well as their opportunities to expand their brand in the global marketplace. The case and the teaching notes have been successfully tested and evaluated at the National Chiao Tung University, NCCU, and the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia.
許多台灣頂尖的商學院都會使用個案來訓練學生，特別是購自哈佛管理學院或歐美一流大學的個案集。政大的IMBA學程正往前更邁進一步，不只是使用個案訓練學生，我們更要求學生動手寫個案，從一開始籌畫、與高階經理人訪談、個案撰寫、設計教學手冊、到最後準備出版的草稿，這整個過程，是教育經驗中十分重要的一環。
個案撰寫和編輯的方法恰似法律評論刊物一樣，學生組成編輯評論小組，以出版高學術水準的作品。
個案撰寫
透過個案的撰寫，我們期望學生學習的關鍵著重於：團隊工作、與公司有效的互動（計畫訪談及電話聯繫）、與教授有效的互動（個案進行程度報告與指導）、改善協調與英語溝通技巧、發現真實世界問題的能力、及提出可行的解決方案。對於想透過實務的經驗來學習亞洲經營管理的國際學生而言，這是特別有價值的一門課。
撰寫個案的流程從首次會議開始。參與學生與個案指導教授見面，討論撰寫一個出版作為教學訓練的個案觀點及需求。組員被要求選定一家公司進行研究，設定完成工作的時間表，分配工作，以及開始研究流程。在被允許去公司作參訪之前，學生需要對研究個案公司的間接資料作充分的分析。
安排訪談
也就是說，學生必須確信他們了解他們研究的公司，並且在進行任何實際面談之前，就已經找出潛在的問題。安排與個案公司的關鍵人物訪談是撰寫個案很重要的一部分。學生被要求決定邀請誰進行訪談，安排訪談的時間以及地點，準備訪談的問題，並且以正面積極的態度代表學校以及系所進行訪談。
除非學生可以贏得被訪談公司的信心，展現良好及專業的形象，否則訪談將以失敗收場--你將只能從被訪談的公司得到很少的資料，如此一來，所撰寫的個案將類似心得報告，而不是真正的個案。
當學生準備到個案公司搜集資料時，指導教授建議學生們：
1.檢視已有的個案，並以其中之一做為範本。
2.選定公司內的合作對象，此人在公司內舉足輕重，能幫助個案研究的推展。
3.運用訪談與實際資料呈現問題所在。
4.對企業環境、關係與問題設定假設。
5.提供公司的歷史與背景，同時也敘述企業環境、產業和市場。
IMBA學生所進行的第一個個案研究是「台灣啤酒：挑戰現況」。此個案從粗略地檢視台灣啤酒的市場開始。接著，研究小組確認台灣啤酒公司的特點：重新定位產品的急切性、公司結構的獨特性、啤酒市場的激烈競爭與將政府公營事業民營化之努力。學生們於研究結束後寫了一份具有哈佛管理評論風格的個案報告，著墨於台灣啤酒生產與通路的競爭優勢，以及推展其品牌到全球市場的機會。此個案報告以及教學手冊已經成功地通過國立交通大學、國立政治大學與澳洲布里斯本昆士蘭科技大學的試用與評價。
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