Case Study Method and Case

Study Analysis
What is a Case Study?
• “A case study presents an account of
what happened to a business or
industry over a number of years. It
chronicles the events that managers
had to deal with, such as changes in
the competitive environment, and
charts the managers’ response which
usually involved changing the business
or corporate-level strategy”.
What is a Case Study?
• “…..an empirical inquiry that
investigates a contemporary
phenomenon within its real-life context:
when the boundaries between
phenomenon and context are not
clearly evident; and in which multiple
sources of evidence are used”.
Why do you teach?
• Convey to students knowledge, facts
• Improve students’ mastery of theories and
their applications
• Enhance student’s decision making skills
• Improves students critical, analytical and
reasoning skills
• Enhance students’ confidence, willingness to
speak up
• Increase students’ desire to promote change
and reform
• Stimulate student interest or curiosity
Case Studies
Advantages Disadvantages
• Use small data sets (such as • Does not ensure reliability or
one or two companies) generality of findings.
• Generalises about trends in • Intense exposure to study of
relevant industries the case biases the findings.
• Useful only as an exploratory
• “Real life” in the sense that a (not explanatory) tool.
company or companies have • “Small-n” data and therefore
been chosen as the source conventional empirical
of the data techniques cannot be used—or
• Only method possible in where they are used they have
some areas of inquiry limited application.
• May lack methodological rigour
• Contextual nature of evidence is
limiting
Case Study Analysis
If asked to analyze a case study:
• Need to select case carefully (this may be
given to you)
• Analyze the problem with the company or
industry
• Write a report based on findings.
• Once again, no “right way” but some common
things need to be included
Case Study Analysis
• Executive Summary
• Problem Identification and Analysis
• Statement of Major Problems
• Generation and Evaluation of Alternate
Solutions
• Recommendations
• Implementation
• Conclusion
Structure of Case Analysis
• Executive Summary/Abstract
– Brief overview of the case, setting the scene and
noting any important assumptions made.
– give a synopsis of your case report, noting very
briefly the major problems identified and the
recommended solutions.
• Approximately one page is required.
• Company Structure
• Corporate Plans and
• Directions
• Discussions
What to Include…
• The history, development, and growth of the
company over time
• The identification of the company's internal strengths
and weaknesses
• The nature of the external environment surrounding
the company
• A SWOT analysis (or another kind of analysis)
• The kind of corporate-level strategy pursued by the
company
• The nature of the company's business-level strategy
• The company's structure and control systems and
how they match its strategy
• Recommendations and implementation plan
Structure of Case Analysis
Problem Identification and Analysis
• In this section you should identify all the major
problems in the case in behavioural terms ( i.e. If
you are studying a management subject, in
management/organisational behaviour terms).
• Try to get to underlying causes of problems, not just
symptoms.
• You should link each problem identified to relevant
theory and also to actual evidence from the case.
• Remember you must integrate theory and reference
all non-original work.
Structure of Case Analysis
Statement of Major Problems
• In most case studies you will identify a number of problems—
too many
• students attempt to actually ‘solve’ the problems
• It is crucial to make it very clear which are the major two or
three problems or key issues, that must be solved first.
• This section should consist of a short concise statement of the
problems you are going to solve in the remainder of the case.
• Approximately half a page is adequate.
• Check back to ensure that you are actually attempting to solve
them, rather than focusing on other minor problems that you
may have identified.
• This section is crucial to a good case report.
Structure of Case Analysis
Generation of Solutions
• Identify and evaluate a number of the more
appropriate solutions (at least two to three for each
major problem identified).
• Each alternative solution should be briefly outlined
and then evaluated in terms of its advantages and
disadvantages (strong and weak points).
• It is not necessary to make a statement in this
section as to which alternative is considered best—
this is stated in the next section.
• Do not integrate or recommend theory in this section.
Practical solutions to the problems are required.
Structure of Case Analysis
Recommendations
• State which of the alternative solutions
(either singly or in combination) identified in
previous section are recommended
• Justify your choice, explaining how it will
solve the major problems identified.
Integration of relevant theory
• Recommend precise courses of action that the
company needs to take.
Structure of Case Analysis
Note: Students often confuse the findings,
conclusions and recommendations.
• – Findings are factual and verifiable
statements of what happened or what was
found.
• – Conclusions are your own ideas that you
deduce from your findings.
• – Recommendations are what you want to
do.
Structure of Case Analysis
Implementation
• Write your recommendations in the form of an action plan. It
is good to include a timetable of what should be done when.
• Explain how you will implement the recommended solutions.
• – What should be done,
• – by whom
• – When
• – in what sequence,
• – what will it cost (rough estimates) and other such issues.
• Remember, if a recommended solution cannot be realistically
implemented, then it is no solution at all.
What to do….
Read the case thoroughly.
• the first time to get an overview of the
industry, the company, the people, and the
situation.
• Read the case again more slowly, making
notes as you go.
Define the central issue. Many cases will involve
several issues or problems.
• Identify the most important problems and
separate them from the more trivial issues.
• After identifying what appears to be a major
underlying issue, examine related problems.
What to do….
• Define the firm's goals (only if applicable).
– Inconsistencies between a firm's goals and its performance may
further
– highlight the problems discovered in step 2.
– Identifying the firm's goals will provide a guide for the remaining
analysis.
• Identify the constraints to the problem (only if applicable).
– The constraints may limit the solutions available to the firm.
– Typical constraints include limited finances, lack of additional
production
– capacity, personnel limitations, strong competitors, relationships
with
– suppliers and customers, and so on.
– Constraints have to be considered when suggesting a solution.
What to do….
• Identify all the relevant alternatives.
– The list should include all the relevant alternatives that
could solve the problem(s) that were identified.
– Use your creativity in coming up with alternative solutions.
– Even when solutions are suggested in the case, you may be
able to suggest better solutions.
• Select the best alternative.
– Evaluate each alternative in light of the available
information.
– Resist the temptation to jump to this step early in the case
analysis
– You will also need to explain the logic you used to choose
one alternative and reject the others.
What to do….
Develop an implementation plan.
• Plan for effective implementation of
your decision. Lack of an implementation
plan even for a very good decision can
lead to disaster for a firm and for you.
• Don't overlook this step. It is important
as a future manager to be able to
explain how to implement the decision.
Things you can cover..
• Human resources/people management issues
• E.g., New manager finds people unresponsive to his/her
new changes.
• Why? Background to problem? How can they overcome
resistance?
• Cultural or ethical problems
• E.g., company that cannot make headway in Asia (why
not? What can it do to overcome problem?)
• Leadership issue
• Change scenario
Things you can cover..
Analyse the company's history, development, and growth.
• What circumstances led to the company being established?
• What products did it make initially and what does it make now?
• How does the company make new product decisions?
• How has the company evolved over time?
• How has it chosen its marketing strategies, etc?
• How did the company take steps to enter new markets?
• How and why did the company choose to merge or takeover
another company?
• What were the main changes to the company during its history?
(e.g., types of employees, strategic direction, etc.)
Things you can cover..
Identify internal strengths and
weaknesses
• The strengths and weakness, opportunities
and threats to the company should then be
analysed. You will need to:
– Look at the value creation functions of the
company
– Outline the functions in which the company is
currently strong and currently weak. (Some
companies might be weak in some areas and
strong in others.)
• Make lists of these strengths and
weaknesses.
Analyse the external environment
– The environmental factors relevant to the
industry
– The environmental factors that effect
companies (and the company you are
analysing in particular)
– The particular stage of the lifecycle that
the company is in
– Other factors (for instance, demographic
factors, global financial changes,etc).
Things you can cover..
Evaluate the SWOT analysis
– Is the competitive position of the company strong or not?
– Can the strategic direction of the company continue?
– How can the company consolidate its strengths, enhance its
opportunities,overcome its threats and minimise its
weaknesses?
– Can it change its corporate strategies to achieve the above
or is something else needed?
NB: It is crucial to analyse the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats—not simply give a
“shopping list” of the key factors. You must
elaborate and discuss each factor in detail and
provide evidence for your claims.
Things you can cover..
Analyse corporate-level strategy
– Using information available, try to assess the strategic
corporate directions of the company. The following are very
important:
– line(s) of business of the company
– its subsidiaries and acquisitions
– the relationship among the company's core and non-core
businesses
– Questions such as the following will need to be answered:
– Are resources exchanged freely between different parts of
the company?
– Is synergy between the subsidiaries warranted or needed?
– What is role of the company’s portfolio of investments?
Things you can cover..
• How diversified is the company?
• Does the company operate as a core business
• Is the company functioning as it should given the current
environment?
• Could changes in strategic direction and corporate culture
make a difference to its operations?
• Could weaknesses become strengths given certain
changes/environmental factors?
• Should the company consider merging or diversifying?
• Has the strategy changed during its development as a
company?
• Were these changes good or bad overall? Why?
• What improvements can be made to the company’s product
lines? etc.
Things you can cover..
Analyse business-level strategy
• The aim of the company’s global competitive strategy—i.e., is it
differentiation, low cost, or targeted markets?, etc.
• The value of the investment goals of the company given its
strategic focus and the stage in the lifecycle of the company
• The product range of the company, its differentiation, and
competitiveness.
• How is the company using strategies to build competitive
advantage? (quality, efficiency, innovation, responsiveness to
customer needs, etc)
Things you can cover..
• What is the marketing strategy of each of the business levels in
the company?
• What production techniques are being used and how can they
be improved?
• Is the company doing research and development? Is it effective
and
adequately tied to corporate aims?
• Does the corporate strategy accurately reflect the aims of the
company in terms of producing low-cost or differentiated
products? (The strategy will be
• very different).
• Has the company developed the right competencies in terms of
staffing, production techniques, marketing, etc?
• Can the company simultaneously pursue both a low-cost and a
differentiation strategy?
Things you can cover..
• Analyse structure and control systems
• Different corporate strategies require different
structures. These need assessment. Issues you might
like to consider:
• Is the hierarchy or decentralized control of the
company adequate given the levels in the company?
• Should horizontal differentiation be adopted (does it
use a functional structure when it should be using a
product structure)?
• Are the appropriate control systems being used?
• Are appropriate rewards being given to managers?
• Is cooperation among divisions being encouraged by
a suitable reward system?
Things you can cover..
• Make Recommendations
• You will need to recommend precise courses of
action that the company needs to take.
• – e.g., The company should adopt a horizontal
control structure and reduce its product lines to
include only the following products: …
• Recommendations might include:
– an increase in spending on specific research and
development projects
– the divesting of certain businesses, a change from a
strategy of unrelated
– to related diversification
– an increase in the level of integration among divisions by
using task forces
– and teams