Business schools as reflective, affective, and transformative environments: The live case approach

How do business schools create reflective, affective, and transformative environments to develop leaders, business, and society? This paper answers this question by developing a conceptual and pedagogical framework that places practical wisdom at the center of management education. Grounded in virtue ethics, the framework treats experiential learning as a pedagogical condition and decision making under uncertainty as the practical process through which judgment is exercised. It integrates three acts associated with practical wisdom—awareness, judgment, and command—with three pedagogical conditions—reflection, dialogue, and affect—and three moments of decision making—challenge definition, criteria formation, and decision. The paper then introduces the live case as a pedagogical approach that extends traditional case teaching by engaging students and stakeholders alike, with real, evolving challenges and immediate feedback. Two illustrations from business school practice show how live cases can broaden problem perception, expose learners to competing interpretations, and connect deliberation with provisional action. The paper contributes by integrating practical wisdom, experiential learning, and decision making within a holistic model of management education, extending research on case-based learning and educational value co-creation, and offering a pedagogically actionable design for judgment formation under uncertainty.