Laurel Austin wins case award

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A number of cancer cases among women in the literature building at the University of California in San Diego became the inspiration to a case which has received recognition at The Case Centre Awards and Competitions 2015. Laurel Austin, Associate Professor at the Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy won the Outstanding New Case Writer prize for the first case she has written.

- I am very honoured to receive the award. This case is about how cognitive bias can create problems in organisations. Very few cases have been done on this subject, so it has been great to develop a case that can teach the subject, says Laurel Austin.

More cases to come
The case was written while she was developing the course Decision Making and Risk Management. She came across news stories about cancer cases at UCSD and that tests were being conducted about the cancer risk at the university's literature building. She used the example as an oral case to illustrate cognitive bias, and over time she developed it into a written case for the students.

- It's a great way of teaching. The students love putting theory into practice. I have come across more ideas for cases and I will definitely write more cases in future, says Laurel Austin.

The Case Centre works to promote the international use of the case method and the centre is a non-profit organisation. It is the 25th year in a row that the centre awards prizes for case papers.

Read more about the case
For more information contact Laurel Austin