Top Picks Of 2023: The Profs Who Wrote The Most-Read Case Studies

Authors of the top-selling cases of 2023. Courtesy the Case Centre

The Case Centre has revealed the Top 50 Best-Selling Case Authors for 2022-2023, featuring a blend of new and familiar names.

Case studies, which use real-life problems faced by business executives, are still among the most widely used education tools for MBA students across the globe, and the Case Centre, a London-based nonprofit, distributes the largest collection of management case studies to business schools globally. There’s a good chance that many of the case titles on this year’s list of the top-selling cases will be familiar to those in higher ed.

VETERAN AUTHORS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Though he died in May 2021, Debapratim Pukayastha of ICFAI Business School in India is still holding onto the No. 1 place for the eighth year in a row. Among Pukayastha’s best-selling cases are the case of a safety lapse at a BP oil refinery in Texas City that led to one of the work workplace accidents historically; a case looking at how Netflix leverages Big Data to predict their hits, and a case examining how Procter & Gamble develops new products.

“…I have also found that regularly writing cases can greatly improve classroom teaching. So, I feel that case teaching and case writing should follow each other as the left foot follows the right. Case writing can be a lonely activity and even hard work, but if you have the passion it’s worth it! There are few joys that can compare to the joy of teaching your own case. And it means you can also have a positive impact in classrooms around the world where your case is taught,” said Pukayastha.

Indu Perepu – Assistant Professor at ICFAI Business School (IBS). Courtesy Case Centre

Fellow ICFAI Business School faculty member Indu Perepu has held strong at No. 2 for three years in a row, and is the highest ranked female author on the list. Her most popular cases include Airbnb: A Disruptive Innovator, a case discussing Snapchat’s growth and controversies, and a case involving Yahoo! acquiring Rockmelt.

“Writing a case study is enriching as well as challenging. For me, every case has been a great learning experience, that is enriched further when we see it being discussed in the classroom. Engaging discussion sessions, students’ active participation and debates, along with analyses driven by a case study, offers a sense of fulfillment. The fact that my teaching cases have been discussed by the academic community worldwide is extremely gratifying,” says Perepu on the Case Centre’s site.

EMERGING AUTHORS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Female representation held steady on the list of top-selling cases this year, with the same percentage of top women authors in the mix as last year: 22%. That’s up from 18% in 2020-2021 and 12.5% in 2019-2020. Despite the steady percentage this year, the trend of increasing female authors is anticipated to rise further as women reach and surpass gender parity in the higher education landscape.

New in the spotlight ranking No. 12 is Arpita Agnihotri, an associate professor of management at Penn State-Harrisburg. She’s taught Strategic Management, Marketing, International Business, Creativity, Innovation, and Organizational Learning. Arpita’s prior role at Egon Zehnder includes recruitment, training, and knowledge management.

“The eagerness and enthusiasm amongst students to put themselves in the shoes of the protagonist and resolve the challenges propels me to write case studies,” says Agnihotri.

Senior Lecturer at Newcastle University Business School Saurabh Bhattacharya is sharing the No. 12 place with Agnihotri in this year’s best selling case authors list. He teaches both undergraduate and postgraduate modules, such as Marketing Research, Research Methods, Digital Marketing, Retail and International Marketing. He also leads Marketing Research and Digital Marketing modules.

“In writing a case, it is essential to emphasize the issue in hand that students are trying to solve or what opportunities they need to capitalize on. Accordingly, I provide apt information in the case, based on which students can decide on the issue or opportunity,” says Bhattacharya.

As co-authors, Agnihotri and Bhattacharya jointly created several bestselling cases covering the topics of Beyond Meat’s valuation justification, Intel’s outsourcing dilemma, and Corona beer’s brand association during the pandemic.

WHERE THE CASES CAME FROM

Leading the way in serving as the academic home to top case writers are well-established schools, with eight authors out of Harvard Business School, six from INSEAD, and five out of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD).

In addition to the renowned institutions, the 2022-2023 list features six newcomers: ESMT Berlin, HKU Business School, Hult EF Corporate Education, Imperial College Business School, Newcastle University Business School, and Penn State Harrisburg.

Of this year’s list, authors hail from 24 different business schools in 11 separate countries. That includes 34% from the United States, and 22% from Asia.

See the full list of this year’s case-writing winners below, including links to their bios.