Northeastern University Library Answers: Research & Instruction FAQ

A small collection of archived Harvard Business School Select Case Studies is available though Ebscohost, a third party vendor, for current Northeastern faculty, staff and students.

For additional HBS cases, instructors may register with Harvard Business Review Publishing.  Instructors can get discounted cases for students or assemble course packs for student purchase. Cases may be purchased directly from Harvard Business Publishing here.

The Northeastern Library cannot subsidize or assist with purchasing cases, and cannot obtain HBS cases through ILLiad/interlibrary loan.

You can find cases through the following library resources and databases:

Business cases:

1. HBS Select Case Study Collection has a small collection of archived Harvard Business School cases.  You can read and download these cases. 

2. Harvard Business Review (HBR) is a magazine that publishes a few cases.  They are not the same as Harvard Business School Case Studies, but they sometimes have similar or abbreviated Harvard Business School Case Studies useful for practitioners. 

3. Search Business Source Ultimate. Enter your topic, and then filter your search results on the "advanced search" screen to "case study" (screen capture below)

Business Source Ultimate includes cases published in the Harvard Business Review Magazine, and Marketline cases, which are industry and company profiles.

3. Search ABI/Inform, a business literature database, for your topic, and then limit your search to case studies using the filter on the left. 

4. Emerald Emerging Market Case Studies is a library of case studies focusing on emerging markets in the developing world.

5. Financial Times Business Case Studies: These consist of expositions of a problem or corporate controversy with associated readings, and questions at the end to engage students.  Registration (free with your Northeastern or NCH email) is required for full access.

5. MarketLine Advantage has industry case studies. These take the form of analytical reports rather than teaching cases designed for student interaction and pedagogical use.

6. O'Reilly books: often overlooked, this collection of professional books and manuals in business and technology has many useful case studies and chapters targeted to business learning and professional practice.  Use the search function for "case studies" to see what's available.  (See screen capture below.)

Medical Cases

Search CINAHL and Medline for cases using the same strategy as Business Source Complete--enter your topic search, and filter the results to "case studies" on the Advanced Search screen.  (see above screen capture)

Search the McGraw Hill Medical Case files for clinical patient cases.

Legal and court cases

Legal cases are judicial decisions in legal disputes, which often set important precedents in US law.  See the library's Legal Research Guide, and our tutorial for finding cases in Westlaw Campus Research for help finding a legal case.

Writing, researching, and teaching with cases

Farquhar, J.D. Case study research for business (e-book, Sage)

Lee, B. and Saunders, M.N.K. Conducting case study research for business and management students (e-book, Sage)

Woodside, A.G. ed. Field Guide to Case Study Research in Business-to-Business Marketing and Purchasing (e-book, Elgar)

An Introduction to Case Teaching (academic video)