Business Case Studies as Carriers of Tacit Knowledge

Learning through the discussion of cases, specially described stories about companies, is perhaps the most famous approach in business education. Its popularity is explained by several advantages.

Firstly, a case gives the listener the opportunity to gain knowledge through the discussion of a complex issue in laboratory conditions that are close to real life. A good case describes a situation comprehensively. It allows looking at the problem from different perspectives. A marketing task can be considered from the standpoint of business strategy, personnel management, operational management. In general, it's just like in real life.

Secondly, instead of dry academic facts, the listener receives a story from life. Discussing this story with professional moderation by the teacher turns out to be effective in learning something new. The reason is that knowledge is not presented as a ready-made dish that one can eat and forget. It is presented as a semi-finished product that still needs to be struggled with. Extracting knowledge from a case links the knowledge that the listener should receive with his experience. In this case, it is the experience of "living through" the case as a story in which the listener is immersed, assigning him a certain role, asking questions. And also the experience of discussing the case with colleagues and the teacher.

The case method gains additional potential in corporate educational solutions. With the help of internal cases written based on stories told by employees of the business, it is possible to create a laboratory with a full-wall window in the classroom, through which one can see the company working here and now, solving strategic and current tasks in the circumstances that are relevant today.

The creation of an internal case as a component of a corporate educational solution involves the participation of company employees who possess undocumented knowledge of "how things work around here" or tacit (hidden) knowledge. These employees may later become participants in the training or remain behind the scenes. In the process of creating the case study, they assume a fundamentally different role - that of carriers of critical tacit knowledge essential to the company, much of which is not documented in documents and rules.

At the heart of the case is storytelling, which is considered one of the simplest and most natural ways to disseminate tacit knowledge in a company. Corporate training can create an environment where stories appear, are integrated into the context of the educational solution, and are disseminated through this educational solution.

The teacher in this process becomes, among other things, a methodologist who 1) finds the right plot for an internal case in the company's routine 2) finds knowledge carriers about the problem and its solution in the company, those who will tell stories 3) extracts this knowledge (collects information through in-depth interviews) 4) packages the received information into a case 5) integrates this case into the educational solution.

Thus, the corporate case in an educational solution:

• Facilitates the dissemination of tacit knowledge, as it stimulates the telling of stories.
• Increases the involvement of listeners, as content about their own company is closer, clearer, and therefore more useful in the eyes of the listener.
• Involves a wider range of employees in the training process, who act as sources of valuable educational material. With the right approach, this can build positive motivation for valuable company employees.
• Strengthens cross-functional connections in the company. Employees not only learn what is happening in neighboring departments, but they also have the opportunity to more deeply understand the problem that has arisen next to them and feel involved in its solution.