And this is how the case analysis should be done! :) WRITING A CASE STUDY ANALYSIS To help you get started in case analysis, there are several web sites that give pointers on how to analyze a case. (e.g., swlearning/management/hitt/hitt_student/case_analysis.html). I have reproduced one from: college.hmco/business/resources/casestudies/students/writing.htm which may help you. It is not a hard-and-fast rule that you have to follow the following format. Please use it as a guide when answering the questions at the end of the case. Alternatively, you can answer the case questions directly. You make the decision as to which format you feel more comfortable with. There are certain guidelines to follow in writing a case analysis that will improve the evaluation your work will receive from your instructor. All reports begin with an introduction to the case. In it you outline briefly what the company does, how it developed historically, what problems it is experiencing, and how you are going to approach the issues in the case write-up. Do this sequentially by writing, for example, “First, we discuss the environment of Company X. . . Third, we discuss Company X’s business-level strategy. . . Last, we provide recommendations for turning around Company X’s business.” In the second part of the case write-up, the strategic-analysis section, do the SWOT (Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats) analysis, analyze and discuss the nature and problems of the company’s business-level and corporate strategy, and then analyze its structure and control systems. Make sure you use plenty of headings and subheadings to structure your analysis. For example, have separate sections on any important conceptual tool you use. Tailor the sections and subsections to the specific issues of importance in the case. In the third part of the case write-up, present your solutions and recommendations. Be comprehensive, and make sure they are in line with the previous analysis so that the recommendations fit together and move logically from one to the next. The recommendations section is very revealing because your instructor will have a good idea of how much work you put into the case from the quality of your recommendations. Following this framework will provide a good structure for most written reports, though obviously it must be shaped to fit the individual case being considered. Some cases are about excellent companies experiencing no problems. In such instances, it is hard to write recommendations. Instead, you can focus on analyzing why the company is doing so well, using that analysis to structure the discussion. Following are some minor suggestions that can help make a good analysis even better. 1. Do not repeat in summary form large pieces of factual information from the case. The instructor has read the case and knows what is going on. Rather, use the information in the case to illustrate your statements, to defend your arguments, or to make salient points. Beyond the brief introduction to the company, you must avoid being descriptive; instead, you must be analytical. 2. Make sure the sections and subsections of your discussion flow logically and smoothly from one to the next. That is, try to build on what has gone before so that the analysis of the case study moves toward a climax. This is particularly important for group analysis, because there is a tendency for people in a group to split up the work and say, “I’ll do the beginning, you take the middle, and I’ll do the end.” The result is a choppy, stilted analysis because the parts do not flow from one to the next, and it is obvious to the instructor that no real group work has been done. 3. Avoid grammatical and spelling errors. They make the report sloppy. 4. In some instances, cases dealing with well-known companies may be scant in information. You may want to do a search for more information on the company. Following are sources of information for performing this search: The World Wide Web is the place to start your research. Very often you can download copies of a company’s annual report from its Web site, and many companies also keep lists of press releases and articles that have been written about them. Thoroughly search the company’s Web site for information such as the company’s history and performance, and download all relevant information at the beginning of your project. Compact disk sources available from Hon Sui Sen Memorial Library provide an amazing amount of good information, including summaries of recent articles written on specific companies that you can then access in the library. Fortune, BusinessWeek, and Forbes have many articles on companies featured in most cases. If you follow the guidelines in this section, you should be able to write a thorough and effective evaluation.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 10:50:13 +0000
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