Engage your students with case studies on current news events: Express Cases via SBC

If you want your students to see the immediate and impactful relevance of classroom theories to the world around them, consider assigning one of the Express Cases from our Sage Business Cases database!

Some of the most common teaching techniques in Business involve incorporating either news articles or case studies into assignments and discussions. Both approaches help students apply academic theories and critical thinking to real-world situations. Such activities ensure that new knowledge and skills are developed, retained, and transferred beyond the classroom — core goals in any faculty, but especially in an applied program such as Business!

With that in mind, I thought I'd highlight a single source that combines both news and case studies: the Express Cases series within our Sage Business Cases (SBC) database.  The Express Cases make up less than 3% of SBC's content, so you might miss them if you don't know to look for them because of their unique value.

As I mentioned when I announced our purchase of hundreds more case studies in SBC earlier this year, some of the additions — new Express Cases — were expected to show up later in the year, trickling in at the rate of 10 cases every two months. The publication of those express case studies is delayed and spread out for a good reason: they are commissioned and written to respond to very recent news events. 

In addition to being current, SBC's Express Cases are very short — generally around 500-1000 words. That makes them perfect for a quick warm-up exercise in your classes: no prep time needed! Alternatively, you could pair them with the longer cases from SBC: lead off your class with an express case, then dive into deeper analysis of an older case on related themes.

Check out some of these other recent Express Cases in SBC. Do you recognise the news events they are based on? 

• The Economic Crisis in Sri Lanka: What Led to Bankruptcy?
• Apple Drops the iPod: When Is It Time to Retire a Product?
• Neil Young Versus Spotify: How Should Spotify Handle Misinformation?
• The Economic Impact of Undoing Roe v. Wade
• Disney Employees Protest Company’s Support of Florida Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation
• TikTok Faces Investigation Into Effect on Kids and Teens
• Epic Games Acquires Bandcamp: Will Consolidation Compromise the Artist-Friendly Streaming Platform?
• Globalization in the Postpandemic, Wartime Landscape
• How Will the UN Plastics Agreement Impact Business? 
• The Cost of War: Examining the Economic Sanctions Against Russia
• Events Management and Audience Safety: What Went Wrong at Astroworld?

As always, just let me know if you have any questions at all.

-- Mark
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Mark Bodnar
mbodnar@sfu.ca
Business & Economics Librarian

P.S.: Don't forget to email me if you want access to the Teaching Notes in SBC (instructors only, of course)!