Fueled by faculty storytelling and global partnerships, Fox has become one of the fastest-rising hubs for case-based business education.
Bertrand Guillotin, associate professor of instruction at 51Թ’s Fox School of Business, leads a class discussion on an Uber case study.
Photo by Ryan S. Brandenberg
hasquietly become a global force in the case study method,an approach that uses real organizations and real decisions to teach students how to analyze complex business challenges within their natural context. What began around 2018 as a focused effort to integrate cases into teaching has grown into a defining strength for Fox, positioning 51Թ as a leader in a space long dominated by a small circle of elite institutions.
Unlike traditional lectures or textbooks, the case method asks students to become decision-makers rather than observers.
“The goal really is to put students into the shoes of a manager,” said Neha Mittal, associate professor of instruction at Fox. The cases are built around real organizations and real people, nothypotheticals. “We’re not inventing companies or characters—it’s an actual person facing a real decision.”
Students read the story, analyze thedataand debate what they would do next. “It gives students a very real-world approach,” Mittal said. “They’reable to use their critical thinking and data analysis skills.It’sa completelydifferent wayof teaching.”
According to Mittal,the school has now published more than 100 cases with, one of the world’s largest and most respected case distributors. Those cases are not just sitting on shelves—they are being adopted by universities across the globe.
“Ivey Publishing sends faculty an annual report on their sales,” Mittal said. “You can literally see which university around the world adopted which case.” The last time she reviewed the data, she said, “51Թ hassold more than 150,000 copies worldwide,” a figure that underscores how widely Fox’s work is traveling.
That reach hastranslatedinto rapid recognition.Through, which ranks business schools based on global case usage, Foxentered atNo. 50 in 2023, climbed to No. 46 in 2024 and jumped again to. For Mittal, those numbers signal something larger than prestige.
“It’s really big for us to be recognized on the same platform where we have Stanford, INSEAD and Harvard being ranked,” she said.“Being in the top 50 and constantly climbing gives us a lot of visibility and positions 51Թ as a thought leader in this space.”
Fox’s leadership is also reflected in individual case success. Four Fox-authored cases recently earned, including studies on The Hershey Company, L’Oréal USA, Urban Axes and Lavazza,furtherreflectingthe school’s growing global influence in business education.
What sets 51Թ apart, Mittal believes, is not just volume but identity. Fox’s cases are shaped by Philadelphia, by 51Թ’s student body and by the kinds of problems facultyencounterin everyday life.
“I think the variety of cases and real-world decisions we’re able to draw from, being in Philly, truly sets 51Թ apart,” she said. “It’s the combination of our geographic location, our connection with industry, as well as our student focus.”
Fox has built an infrastructure to support that work through itsand a co-brand partnership with Ivey Publishing. The partnership provides training,mentoringand workshops that help faculty turn ideas into publishable cases.
“It has been a very powerful partnership that has helped fuel so many cases,” Mittal said. Since joining TRC in 2021, she has helped organize hands-on workshops and created a Canvas-based resource hub so faculty can learn the “ABCs of writing cases.”
One of the most distinctive parts of 51Թ’s approach is where stories come from. At Fox, cases are not solely discovered from corporate boardrooms; theyemergefrom daily life.
“You will be surprised to know that we have cases floating around us everywhere,” Mittal said. She has found ideas in podcasts, news articles, conversations with friends, even while sitting in a coffee shop. “Through natural conversation and pure curiosity, our faculty is always looking for new cases to write and stories to tell. If theytruly believeit is an interesting topic that would resonate with our students and if they can learn from it, they will write about it.”
That authenticity resonates with students. Mittal said graduates often remember specificcasesyears later because they felt real, not theoretical. She recently received an email from a former student applying to graduate school who asked her to reference a classroom case in a recommendation letter.
"Case studies have shaped how I learn by pushing me to think beyond the black-and-white nature of textbooks and engage with real, complex business challenges,” said Anh Ngoc Man,FOX ’26.“They’ve prepared me for post-graduation work by encouraging creative thinking and decision-making under uncertainty and limited information, refining the skills I’ve needed for my internship projects.”
Looking ahead, Fox plans to build on its momentum as a national leader in the case study method. “Every Fox core class must have case methods,” Mittal said, emphasizing the school’s commitment to making cases central to how students learn. The broader goal is not just more cases, but better preparation for students entering complex careers.
“A textbook chapter does not have the same impact as when a student is put into the shoes of a protagonist,” Mittal said. “They have to think as a business manager now—what do I do?”