2009-2010
Request for Proposals

The North American Case Research Association (NACRA) is a nonprofit, voluntary professional association whose mission is to promote excellence in case research, writing, and teaching in business and other administrative disciplines.  NACRA will make at least two grants to support case research during the 2009-2010 academic year.  

Funding Categories 

Grant proposals may target one or a combination of the funding categories described below.

• Using Cases to Build Theory Grant: These grants support research that utilizes case studies to generate new theories in business and administrative disciplines such as accounting, business & society/ethics, business policy & strategy, education, finance & economics, information technology management, international business, marketing, not-for-profit, health care, social work, operations/supply chain management, organizational behavior, organizational theory, human resource management, and small business management/entrepreneurship. 

• Teaching with Cases Research Grant: These grants support research leading to a better understanding of the effectiveness of the case method of teaching.

• Teaching Case Development Grant:  These grants support the development of decision-focused teaching case(s) based on field research and a comprehensive analysis (instructor's manual or teaching note).  Fictitious cases will not be funded. Disguised cases are permitted. Funding will be awarded for projects that have not been previously presented or published at the time of the grant application.  Cases should address issues in business and other administrative disciplines such as those listed above. Special consideration will be given to integrative cases designed for use across multiple courses in a business program.

The final product of the grant research is expected to be an article or case accepted for publication in the Case Research Journal or another appropriate journal. 

Past winning proposals include:

• Nonprofit Interorganizational Collaboration: The Case of the Community Action Network. An examination of collaborative partnerships among social service providers. (M. Koschmann and M. Isbell)
• Pure Home Water, Ghana. A study of social entrepreneurship, focusing on efforts to build a sustainable, global venture to deliver home water treatment products in West Africa. (T. Nelson, C. Ingols and J. Christian-Murtie)
• Cases for a Multi-Disciplinary New Product Development Course. Considering how the new product development process is driven across three different technological contexts: nanotechnology, biotechnology and software development. (T.J. Marion, J. Friar and S. Kamarthi)
• Serving a Cause for Profit, Profiting for a Cause, or Giving for No Profit? The Many Faces of Social Entrepreneurship. Various models of social entrepreneurship instantiated with case studies. (E.B. Grossman and D.Y. Choi)

Past proposal titles among those that advanced to the finalist stage include:

• A Stakeholder Analysis of a Local Firm’s Success in Developing an “Import Substitution Strategy” in an Open Economy Trade Regime. A Multimedia Case Study of Picu Poultry of Puerto Rico
• Competing for Information Technology Services in Aetna: Infosys, Cognizant and IBM – A Window through Which to View Offshoring
• Organization Learning from Adverse Strategic Decision Outcomes: Toward an Evolutionary Process Theory
• Changing Institutional Cultures: Case Studies in Organization Ethics
• Microsoft: Reconstituting Social Responsibility and Its Impact on Stakeholders

If you would like feedback on the appropriateness of your proposal or have a question about the review process, please contact Jim Fisher, NACRA President at fisherje@slu.edu.

Submission Guidelines are available here in PDF format.

All submissions must be received by June 1, 2009.  If you would like feedback on the appropriateness of your proposal or have a question about the review process, please contact Jim Fisher, NACRA President, at fisherje@slu.edu.