College-level business courses often incorporate case studies, which draw on real-world examples that lead students to, and through, a business dilemma. For example: How can Summit Motorsports Park, an Ohio racetrack, generate revenue in the off-season?
Dr. Chris Harben, associate teaching professor of management, added a twist in his Fall 2024 MGMT 471W Strategic Management and Business Policy course: He connected students with Bill Bader Jr., the CEO of Summit Motorsports, for a semester-long study of the track’s business options.
“We’re providing an experience you can’t get from a textbook,” Harben said. “These students worked on a real-world problem with an actual client. They had to apply everything they had learned up to that point and put it in action.”