The paper discusses possibilities and problems of using traditional business cases under modern conditions of the information society and a new generation of students. The authors revealed the concepts of the traditional case method and the traditional case, defined the specifics of the algorithm for their development and application to the teaching process. The key directions of the critique of traditional cases are investigated based on their comparative analysis with such a type of cases as ‘live’ cases. The authors presented an analysis of the results of field explanatory research identifying the attitude of bachelor’s, master’s and EMBA programs students of the Graduate School of Management, St. Petersburg University to the use of traditional teaching cases in the learning process. A number of propositions were formulated concerning the readiness of students to approve the format of a traditional case, their ideas about cases of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ quality. The factors contributing to the successful applica