Case studies are a favourite teaching tool of many business schools as a way of delivering their message to their MBA students. Case writers are always on the look out for topical events which can be used to illustrate the changing face of business.
A recent case study by Spanish academic Josep Valor, who was inspired by Sports Illustrated's digital venture, is now being taught in Iese Business School's MBA programme. It is being used to illustrate how the current digital, technological revolution is changing the face of traditional business models
The case centres on the US sports magazine, which in 1997 moved online. Eleven years later in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, a debate over whether US swimmer Michael Phelps won the final of the 100m butterfly was, in part, settled by Sports Illustrated photographs, taken by a fixed underwater camera. The pictures showed the US swimmer touching the finish a fraction of a second ahead of Serbian contestant Milorad Cavic.