Publications
Publications
- April 2002
- HBS Case Collection
Reflections on the United Electric case discussion Persuasion, Induction, and Grounding in the Specifics
Abstract
An MBA classroom discussion revealed the perils of learning in which "theories-in-use" are not challenged and suggests strategies for more reflective learning. Two groups of students presented their positions at a conceptual level without grounding their conceptual argument in the details of their own personal, accumulated experiences that were the source of their personal theories-in-use. Hence, the majority was unable to recognize that the case situation under discussion was different from ones they had encountered in the past and that now affected their opinion. The minority could not show that their own theory was, in fact, the correct one even though their own theory-shaping experiences were much better approximations of the situation in the case. The underlying problem, it seems, is that both camps deprived themselves and others of engaging in an inductive discovery process by denying their audiences the chance to live (vicariously) the experiences that shaped their conceptual view of the world.
Keywords
Citation
Spear, Steven J. "Reflections on the United Electric case discussion Persuasion, Induction, and Grounding in the Specifics." Harvard Business School Background Note 602-146, April 2002.