Prelims

Half Title Page

CRAFTING YOUR EDGE FOR TODAY'S JOB MARKET

Title Page

CRAFTING YOUR EDGE FOR TODAY'S JOB MARKET

Using the BE-EDGE Method for Consulting Cases and Capstone Projects

JULIA IVY

PhD in Psychology

(Reflection of Significant Choices)

PhD in Management

(Strategic Relationships in a Low-Trust vs High-Trust Environment)

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

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First edition 2019

Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78973-298-6 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-78973-297-9 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-78973-299-3 (Epub)

Dedication

In memory of Alex who was always there for me.

List of Figures

List of Tables

Acknowledgments

This book took root in countless conversations with Joan Winn, a legendary case writer, reviewer, and editor. After meeting Joan and hearing her talk at case writing association conferences, I began to envision a role case writing might play beyond the traditional boundaries of the methodology, i.e., the preparation of teaching or research cases. I found myself passionately arguing that many of our students who might not be interested in teaching or research could deploy case writing methodology as a powerful tool for distinguishing their professional voices and crafting a space for themselves in the job market. Joan was the one who immediately supported this notion and volunteered to help. She became the brain behind the Consulting Case Writing Competition that we launched in 2013 at Northeastern University for students in the Masters in Professional Studies program. She served as the competition's first coach for faculty and students and its reviewer and judge and stepped into any role as needed to make this idea work.

Kelly Otter, Dee Masiello, Leslie Hitch, and Mary Thompson-Jones stood behind me and next to me while I claimed that, instead of solving company cases for entities that might not even be aware of the value that our students were generating for them, our students should write cases for companies of their choosing, so that their work might assist them in shaping a professional space within a sector of the job market aligned with their career objectives. Because of these colleagues, and because of the support of the college of professional studies, the BE-EDGE method had a chance to reach students from 12 masters programs who generated value for organizations in more than 20 countries.

Liz Dodd, my long-term editor, made this book readable. She did not just edit the flow of my English-as-a-second-language writing but also helped me sharpen ideas and polish the message.

Finally, and most importantly, I owe this book to my students and clients – those who believed in the BE-EDGE method as a vehicle to connect our amazing and multidimensional job candidates with opportunities in relevant sectors of the market, where they could endeavor to shape a space for themselves and gain a personal, social, and professional edge within that space.