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Business Research

Finding Case Studies

Business case studies are summaries of real or fictional business situations. Case studies are frequently used to analyze the events that led to a particular company's success or failure and may also be used to illustrate theories studied in business and management classes.

You can find case studies in the following databases:

Other databases

You may be able to find case studies in other UMGC Library databases by conducting a keyword search for your topic, along with a keyword search for "case study" (for example, ford AND marketing AND "case study").

Case studies can also be found in ebooks from UMGC Library ebook collections and in print books in the Library's catalog (USMAI Book Search).

Case studies can also be found on the free web.

Click on the links above to learn how to find case studies in each of the sources listed.

ABI/INFORM Collection

Login to ABI/INFORM Collection.

Enter search term(s) in the search box(es). For example: "age discrimination"

Scroll down the page to the Document type: box and check the box next to Business Case and/or Case Study. Note that “business case” can be used to find cases that are typically created by faculty in order to teach various business concepts, while “case study” can be used to find journal articles written by researchers/subject matter experts.

BuildingGreen Suite

Login to BuildingGreen Suite.

Click on the Case Study Articles link on the database’s home page in order to see case studies that describe various green/sustainable building projects.

Business Source Ultimate

Login to Business Source Ultimate.

Enter search term(s) in the search box(es). For example: "at-will employment" OR "employment at will"

Scroll down the page to the Document Type heading and select Case Study. Note that Case Study is also available as an option below the Publication Type heading, but you’ll generally get more results by selecting Case Study from the Document Type options since “publication type” is used to specify a particular classification of publication, while “document type” is used to specify a particular classification of document within a publication.

Note that Harvard Business Review case studies are available from Business Source Ultimate. Also note that Harvard Business Review case studies are different than Harvard Business School case studies. Harvard Business School case studies are not available in full text from any of the UMGC Library’s databases and need to be purchased from Harvard Business Publishing, as noted in our FAQ.

Gale Business: Insights

Login to Gale Business: Insights.

Click on the Advanced Search link below the search box toward the top of the database's home page.

On the advanced search page, enter search term(s) in the search box(es). For example: "corporate culture"

Scroll down the page and, in the Document type section, select Business case study, Case note, Case overview, and/or Case study. Note that “business case study” retrieves only documents published in Gale Business: Insights case study collection, while “case study” retrieves academic journal articles, trade journal articles, magazine articles, news articles, etc.

SAGE Business Cases

Login to SAGE Business Cases.

Enter search term(s) in the search box. For example: nepotism

Note that you can also browse cases by discipline, geographic region, or case creator.

Faculty may contact the library to request the access code for Teaching Notes.

Finding Case Studies in Ebooks

UMGC Library Ebook Collections

You can find case studies or information about case studies using the Library's ebook databases to search for:

"case stud*"

Finding Case Studies on the Free Web

Available for Free

There are a few noteworthy sites that provide free online access to case studies, including:

Available for Purchase

Many publishers or clearinghouses of case studies charge a fee for access to their case studies. Although you may search their websites for case studies on particular topics, you will generally need to pay a small fee in order to access the entire case study. Some of the best-known commercial vendors of business-related case studies include: