LBS professors’ work named in Top 50 Case Studies

Professor of Marketing at London Business School (LBS) Nader Tavassoli and Charles Handy Chair in Organisational Behaviour and Professor of Organisational Behaviour at LBS Herminia Ibarra have had case studies recognised for their lasting appeal, with their Red Bull and Charlotte Beers case studies respectively featuring in The Case Centre’s list of Top 50 Cases - 1973-2023.

The list, which was revealed on 12 June, was compiled in honour of fifty years of case studies and forms part of The Case Centre’s 50th anniversary celebrations. With over 73,300 cases distributed by The Case Centre, being named in the Top 50 is an incredible achievement.

London Business School is one of just 11 schools with a case in the list:

• No. 14 - Red Bull: The Anti-Brand Brand by Sophie Coughlan, Nirmalya Kumar and Nader Tavassoli.

A case study written by Herminia Ibarra when she was teaching at Harvard Business School has also been recognised.

• No. 30 - Charlotte Beers at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide (A) by Herminia Ibarra and Nicole Sackley, Harvard Business School.

Commenting on the inclusion of his Red Bull case study in the list, Nader says:

“I believe a reason this case has been so popular is that it shows a something as simple as a soft drink can establish and dominate a new sub-category using a novel, disruptive and coherent marketing approach, one that was literally put on steroids by the likes of YouTube and social media.”

Herminia feels that her case study has remained popular as:

“This was one of the first cases with a woman CEO protagonist and it’s about a universal leadership problem: how to lead change in a complex organisation. The case tells the story as it happened, warts and all: the CEO was not perfect and the process was not perfect, as is most often the case in real life. This allows a rich discussion and much debate, which is preferable to discussing a situation about which everyone agrees.”