Making a case for the case method in Turkey

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the benefits and drawbacks of the case method, one of the participative learning techniques, and its appropriateness for the Turkish cultural context. It offers an executable strategy for promoting this method in Turkey. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides an analysis of a wide range of articles on organizational and classroom learning, strategic leadership, and Turkish cultural, educational, and institutional contexts. This is complemented by information from semi‐structured interviews with Canadian case method experts and Turkish educators and educational leaders. Findings – The Turkish cultural context provides more favorable conditions for implementation of the case method than that of the Western countries where it originates. For instance, Turkey has one of the highest scores of in‐group collectivism. However, a lack of focused leadership and appropriate motivation prevented the pioneers of the method from overcoming the inertia of the incumbent institutional structures. Research limitations/implications – Only one participative technique in one country is explored in this paper. Further studies may usefully extend this approach to other countries in the region with similar cultures. Practical implications – Recognizing the favorable cultural conditions for the case method, leaders of business education in Turkey can adopt this technique as an explicit strategy. Strategic alliances with expert case‐teaching schools will confer competitive advantage both to Turkish institutions and to their students. Originality/value – This paper focuses on implementation issues of an effective teaching tool within one country, thus making its analysis and recommendations both specific and executable. Although examples of case method research abound, this contextual anchoring is rare.