19/02/2026
"Integrating Narrative Thinking into Case Teaching and Case Writing in Business Education" – a dynamic workshop led by Dr. Bijan Azad for faculty members from AUB and other local and international universities.
The workshop addressed the following:
: Business education often inherits the "logic split", where narrative is relegated to rhetoric (communication), and logic (universal models) is hailed as true knowledge.
: While we teach "static theory" (universal model), the real world operates through "this is my experience" (lived in practice).
: The case method. It is not just a "second class citizen" to hard logic; it is a superior cognitive technology. By re-engaging our brain's "narrative thinking" engine, we make business concepts sticky because they are anchored in practical action, not just static universal equations.
To operationalize the above paradigm, the workshop explored the following:
1. Understanding/Applying Narrative Thinking: Use storytelling to complement analytical (logical universal model) approaches; that is what makes cases more engaging and memorable.
2. Analyzing an Exemplar Case: Explore how Intel® killed its memory chips business in 1985 as a pivotal strategy change decision and identify concrete opportunities to show how the case conveys the underlying dilemmas of the situation via narrative thinking and reasoning.
The Intel case analysis/re- analysis focused on applying 3 fundamental elements of narrative thinking:
1. Prioritizing the exceptional – noticing anomalies to existing patterns and their significance to strategy change.
2. Stoking narrative conflict – using conflict productively, amplifying how adversarial situations are integral to changing of strategy.
3. Perspective shifting – enhancing cognitive flexibility by putting yourself in others’ shoes.
This session was part of the AUB-OSB Fourth Case Conference 2026, an initiative established by at , under the leadership of Dr. Randa Salamoun.
Suliman S. Olayan School of Business at AUB American University of Beirut (AUB)
