by Katherine Prostick

December 21, 2024

One of the more exciting opportunities I have had since starting my academic career at Northeastern University was creating a consulting case for my international business class. Over the course of a semester long case, I learned more applicable skills and information than I had in many of my other courses. Being able to see a real and tangible product that was the result of my hard work both in and outside of the classroom brought an entirely new dimension to my learning experience – and I highly recommend using consulting cases as ways to learn both about yourself and about different industries if you are new to the business sphere.

Why Create a Case

According to the Harvard Business Review, the case study method allows students to experience real world dilemmas and decisions and allows them to size up the issues quickly while building strong mental associations between concepts and real-world facts – such as names and places. Students gain critical skills in fields such as preparation, discernment, bias recognition, judgment, collaboration, curiosity, and self-confidence (Nohria, 2021) while being given the opportunity to work both technically and creatively on a real-world case.  When I began this project, I knew little about the wealth management industry. A consulting case, however, takes time – which means lots and lots of deep research into an industry, the company of choice, and the markets for potential expansion. You must learn to build a story, which includes a challenge, a history, an in-depth analysis of capabilities, cultural, legal, economic, administrative, economic factors etc. Over the course of the semester, I had the ability to do deep research using both first and secondhand information. Although it seemed daunting at first, not only did I gain from articles and databases online, but my group was also able to connect to a source within our company of choice, who was able to give us guidance on why the company might be looking to expand, and to where. 

How Case Work Benefits You

Having this direct link made the work feel important, and drove my team to aim for success, as the possibility of the case being used by the company was real. I found that the combination of ambition stemmed by possibility and the skills derived from the intense market research my team was doing allowed me to gain a substantial amount from the consulting case. Besides the experience I gained from research and critical thinking, a consulting case can also be an excellent exercise in teamwork as well. I found the relationships I was able to build with members of my group were some of the closest I had made in-class during my academic career. Spending so much time together working and bouncing ideas off each other allowed us to create a working environment of trust and responsibility that was reflected in all members. There were no bad ideas, instead simply discourse and respectful understanding as we worked our way through decisions such as what country to expand operations to, what was our entry strategy, our market entry mode, etc. 

Gaining Knowledge and Expertise

One of my favorite portions of the project was simply being able to learn about new areas of the world. Although I’d already spent time in other countries, and had even studied abroad in France, I knew very little about the two countries my case was exploring. The workings of markets such as India and Australia were foreign concepts to me at the time, and at the start of the project I didn’t truly understand how many factors went into different business decisions. Most notably for me was the idea of culture, and how powerfully that can impact how good a fit two entities can be for each other. My team created matches between the two countries and our company of choice, and I found that using a company based in a market I was culturally familiar with and then comparing it to markets through an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats allowed me to visual the concepts I had been learning about in class much easier. 

Self-Development

The effects of working on a consulting case as a beginner in business are in my opinion, extremely beneficial. Being able to gain insight on different industries to direct your own career path, strengthening your critical thinking skills, and creating a product you can feel confident in – that simultaneously can be used immediately by a company if the work is substantial, is an incredible experience. As a second year in college, I hadn’t been exposed to many opportunities to get a true feel of what working in business was like, but after my completion of this case, I can comfortably say I have a much more realistic sense and have developed as a person in so many ways.

Overall, it’s important to take advantage of opportunities that come your way, and I personally am planning on continuing with my case to competition so I can continue to receive feedback from business professionals and hone my skills for future projects. I recommend this path if you are curious about business and want a fulfilling and productive introduction to different industries and markets, as well as a challenge.

Sources

Nohria, N. (2021, December 21). What the case study method really teaches. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/12/what-the-case-study-method-really-teaches

About the Author

Katherine Prostick is an undergraduate student at Northeastern University pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and International Business. She has been involved for many years in academic extracurricular activities related to business or law, such as the Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Fraternity at Northeastern. Follow her on linkedin for more insights. 

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