Using a Live Case Study and Co-opetition to Explore Sustainability and Ethics in a Classroom: Exporting Fresh Water to China

Abstract

The use of live case studies in business education is growing. Mixing realism entices students to think critically in an unpredictable environment. Live cases are often deemed appropriate for international business and strategic cases. This study reflects on an experience in which a live case study was used as a mechanism to invite students, unpredictably, to consider an ethical dilemma in international business. The live case incorporates the notion of sustainability, ethics and global business development. For one semester, a senior business course in international marketing was charged with the task of finding a strategy to export bottled water to China, from a Canadian source. In the process, some students won their way to China to assess how a strategy can be implemented first-hand. The experience shows that students were conflicted with the underlying principles of the mandate which involved exporting a natural resource abroad. Given that they were asked to share information with their competing colleagues (co-opetition), students themselves faced an ethical dilemma on a personal level. Some limitations and suggestions for future research are made.