Case study–based learning in customer-centric operations management: Unleashing the potential of experiential learning and accreditation

Abstract

The increasingly evolving context in manufacturing and service industries calls for more active learning approaches to easily grasp new business strategies, such as customer-centric operations management. The authors report on case-based courses about a specific customer-centric strategy namely mass customization. The courses echo the Kolb model for experiential learning and refer to guidelines about accreditation requirements. An analysis of the achievement of learning outcomes is realized based on student surveys. The authors witness the relevance of case-based learning in particular for customer-centric operations management. Furthermore, they put forth the accreditation as a relevant tool for fostering the implementation of experiential learning practices.

Keywords:

• Accreditation
• case study
• experiential learning
• mass customization
• operations management

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Prof. Frank Piller for the great online conference given to the students at Mines Saint-Etienne, during one of the courses mentioned in this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.