Developing Cases for Teaching Social Sustainability in Business: Lessons from the MENA Region

Teaching social or socioeconomic sustainability with teaching cases is effective, but there are two challenges: lack of relevant content and the teaching method acceptance by the institutions and individuals. The latter depends on the former. Teaching cases are unique, as they are not just stories but become more effective with first-person narratives, based on interviews, and validity, i.e., through case releases. The releases are difficult to get in emerging markets and with more prominent companies. Further, many universities underestimate the time and effort needed to network, write, and publish teaching cases. This chapter describes the case of the Academy of International Business—Middle East North Africa (AIBMENA) chapter in building a library of social sustainability teaching cases. Teaching cases contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 4 (quality education). Using a longitudinal case study spanning a decade (2009–2019), we show how the nonprofit spearheaded the development of 110 cases and relevant opinion pieces, contributing to the knowledge of and about the MENA region. This chapter will help institutional policymakers and academics understand how to overcome challenges and leverage opportunities in building teaching case repositories. Further, the chapter highlights the importance of teaching cases in developing critical thinking, problem-solving skills, lifelong learning, and developing evidence-based documents to inform policy.