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What is the case method, and how does it work at Harvard Business School (HBS)? Plus, what should MBA applicants know before they enroll?

In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast, host Harold Simansky and mbaMission Executive Director Jessica Shklar sit down with HBS professor Joshua Margolis—a member of the program’s Organizational Behavior Unit and a faculty member in the Christensen Center for Teaching and Learning—for a candid, behind-the-scenes discussion of how the case method works at the world’s most case-driven business school.

Professor Margolis, who helps train the next generation of HBS case method teachers, walks listeners through what a “case” is, how the school’s three-step learning model works (individual prep, study group, full class discussion), and how HBS instructs its faculty to write and teach cases. In addition, he breaks down the infamous “cold call,” including how the classroom is laid out and how faculty keep track of which students have contributed (and which have not). He also explains that the goal of the cold call is to establish a foundation for a robust discussion, not to embarrass the student who is picked.

The conversation also gets practical for applicants: how much time a first-year student should expect to spend preparing for each case (two to four hours individually, plus more as part of their study group), the “learning to learn” curve of the first six weeks, and the “warm call”—when Professor Margolis gives a student five minutes’ notice at the end of class to summarize the discussion, identify three themes, and take a position. In his view, this exercise is the most direct thing HBS does to train future leaders.

00:00 What Is the Case Method (and Why Does HBS Use It)?

01:19 The Three Components of the HBS Learning Model: Case, Study Group, Classroom

03:27 How HBS Faculty Are Instructed to Write and Teach Cases

07:56 What Teaching Using the Case Method Is Like

12:53 How Cases Are Revised After Being Taught 

16:10 How the Cold Call Works and How Faculty Pick a Student to Open Class

19:47 Cold Calls in the Middle of Class and the Warm Call at the End

22:30 How HBS Professors Get to Know Their Students

24:42 How Much Time First-Year Students Should Spend Preparing a Case

28:57 Evaluating a Case Class as a Prospective Applicant

36:13 Understanding the First Six Weeks’ “Learning to Learn” Curve

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