Case Study Guide PDF

USING CASES IN THE STUDY OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Increasingly, leaders and managers are finding that their biggest problems are not balancing budgets or erecting buildings: the most complicated, the most difficult, the most time-consuming problems they face consist of a combination of people and pr...

USING CASES IN THE STUDY OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Increasingly, leaders and managers are finding that their biggest problems are not balancing budgets or erecting buildings: the most complicated, the most difficult, the most time-consuming problems they face consist of a combination of people and problems arising from the environment (not mother nature) in which they work. Case studies offer you a realistic approach to the inexact science of understanding and dealing with not only the people problems in organizational settings, but the enviornmental problems that organizations face. Cases are microscopic cross sections of the real world in which the possibilities are seemingly endless. In analyzing cases, you will work with incomplete information from which you must extrapolate, generalize, and find meaningful answers. Because of the number of possibilities, missing information about people, and secret agendas, variables in markets, economics, stakeholders, the organizaitonal vision and mission, cases may often seem frustrating and irksome. However, in work as in life, we must make many decisions, some more critical than others, and probably never do. we have all of the information needed with which to reach perfect conclusions. Instead, we make educated guesses, weigh the benefits and potential problems, and arrive, we hope, at those decisions that will bring the best possible outcomes. Cases give practice in doing just that. What Is a Case? A case is a story—usually a true story, but not always—that illustrates an idea, presents a problem, offers a dilemma, and leaves you hanging, wondering what to do next. Some cases give you all of the events that lead to crossroads and then ask you to decide which path to take and to project what lies ahead on each road. Other cases tell you what was done and ask you to analyze what went wrong and what could have been done better. Cases are tightly written. Virtually every word has a meaning, a point that should be considered by those seeking to analyze the facts and issues presented. Rarely may information presented in a case be disregarded. Case Analysis Case analysis requires reading a case several times—with an open mind to a virtually unlimited number of possible interpretations and outcomes—and leaving enough time in between readings to consider the issues and identify the problems. Often on first reading, you may identify as a problem an event or relationship that may be merely a symptom. Subsequent readings are generally helpful in sorting the symptoms from the problems, but you should not feel threatened by the possibility of confusion. The problems may be well camouflaged. For this reason, preparing a case with a case group of three to seven members may be helpful as a way to elicit the greatest number of ideas about what is really at issue. There are many possible ways to approach case analysis, including the fairly straightforward method outlined below. Items 1 and 2 suggest ways to think about cases. They will help you put yourself into the role of a case character (or at least in the role of a fly on the wall), identify with the events taking place, and in other ways involve yourself in the case. You will find them useful in oral-case presentation, but in your ultimate write- up of the case, you should not try to describe the characters in the ways you have imagined them. This technique is meant only to give you a framework for thinking about the case. 1. Do a stakeholder analysis. A stakeholder is any individual or group that has an interest in your company or the ability to affect it. For example, if you work for a manufacturing company, your stakeholders include, but are not limited to, your CEO, your employees, your customers, your suppliers, your stockholders, your directors, the people who live in the area of your plant, and so forth. You may also count among your stakeholders such people as environmentalists, landlords, bankers, political groups, and a wide range of special interest groups. 2. Begin by making a list of those stakeholders you believe are pertinent to the case. Be careful not to overlook the bit players, such as the secretary who is only referred to briefly and the people who are described in groups, such as the accounting team, the interdepartmental bowling league, or three friends who often get together next to the water cooler. List everything you know about each stakeholder, and then describe your mental image of each. Don't be afraid to generalize; sometimes putting faces and bodies on the case characters can help you analyze what is going on. 3. Look for clues, and try to flesh out each stakeholder on the basis of those clues. Since it is likely that you will be making decisions that stem from assumptions about the characters involved, make a concerted effort to bring those assumptions into your conscious awareness. Don't just sketch the characters; draw them in full color and detail. Then, test out your perceptions of the characters against those of your study mates. 4. Develop a chronology of events. In this step, you can use a time-line or other method to list the events in the chronological order in which they occurred. You will quickly note that cases often do not follow a chronological order, so it is up to you to tease out the events and order them. Some events may seem minor because of the way they are presented. Don't let this fool you; they can be significant and even critical turning points, and they should be listed in your chronology. 5. Identify and list what you believe are the basic issues. Note especially those problems, events, acts, values, and attitudes about which decisions need to be made; for example, do government restrictions preclude certain courses of action and, if so, what can you do? Is there a mismatch of leadership styles to employee needs? Does some group of workers have norms that differ from those of the prevailing organizational culture? Using your list, arrange the items in order of priority and strength and find the relationships among them. Using your list, arrange the items in order of priority and strength and find the relationships among them. In addition, draw a diagram that depicts the flow of communication in the  organization. Some cases include organizational charts, but communication doesn't necessarily follow the prescribed patterns. Finding out who talks to whom can be significant in identifying both problems and solutions. 6. List as many positions as possible that a reasonable person might take in solving the case. The mistake most case analyzers make is to assume that there is one, and only one, reasonable solution. In fact, part of the intrigue of case discussion is finding just how many possibilities there are for solving any single problem— many workable, usually more than one with excellent results. 7. Play out some of the possibilities. "If I do this, will someone else do that? And if so, what will happen next?" Again, write out your results, or depict them graphically. 8. Make a recommendation. What do you consider the best possible solution to be? Why? This step generally presents the biggest trap. When you make a recommendation, it is far too easy to begin to believe in the singularity of your approach. For the case method to work, you must stay open to the possibilities; you must stay flexible and be willing to listen to what others have to say. Good case analysis often depends on synergy, that process in which a group of people working together can accomplish more than the same number of people working by themselves; so, unless instructed otherwise, go ahead and discuss the case with your friends, family, anyone who will listen, and get everyone's input. You may find yourself feeling slightly inadequate after your first case discussion. "Why didn't I think of that?" is the usual question, as your peers seem to be making observations that never even occurred to you. Instead of dwelling on this question, learn to respect the power of the group, the importance of your role in the group in stimulating the ideas of others, and the role of the group in stimulating you. Writing the Case Analysis In many courses you will be required to do a written case analysis. A thorough written analysis should include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following: 1. A clear statement of the problem(s). 2. A thorough analysis of the pertinent stakeholders and of the issues and the ways these combine to create the problem(s). 3. One or more suggested solutions, with clear explanations of the strengths and weaknesses of each solution and with each solution supported by one or more of the theories of the science of organizational behavior. 4. An explanation of how the solution(s) can be implemented (by whom, etc.) and the problems that might be encountered in implementation. Occasionally, students allow themselves flights of fantasy into what "might be," adding events and other material to cases to somehow force-fit them into a selected theory. Unless such material can be solidly and logically derived from the existing case material, it has no place in a written case analysis. Even if such material is reasonably derived, it should be presented as tentative. The quality of a written case analysis generally is judged far less on the solution(s) presented than on how well the case analyzer has supported his or her arguments with the use of case material, theory, and solid critical thinking. No statement should be included in a case analysis, whether written or oral, that is not thoroughly supportable and supported. WRITING FOR A BUSINESS AUDIENCE* The best rule for business writing is KISS (Keep It Simple and Short). What does this mean? 1. Get to the point right away. Get your point out in the first sentence with the simplest wording possible. (My first draft of this paper had "most straightforward" instead of "simplest.") Next, give your detailed explanation of how you got there. Students often tend to write as if they were telling a story, preparing the ground with a long introduction and then getting to the main point about halfway through the paper. Remember that time is money in business, and it is unlikely that your boss will be willing or able to waste time wading through memos looking for your main point. Chances are, your boss will read your first sentence or two to get your recommendations. Later, he or she can read your explanation if further clarification is needed. 2. Use the simplest words you can. One way to get the most information onto a page is to be a conservationist where words and letters are concerned. "In view of the fact that" can be expressed better and faster as "because"; "eliminate the possibility of" really means "prevent"; and "at this point in time" means "then." Avoid redundant expressions such as "absolute guarantees"; a guarantee is a guarantee. By definition it is "absolute." Likewise, the following expressions have no need of the words in parentheses: estimated (roughly) at, (advance) planning, (already) existing, (as) for example, task (at hand), (as to) whether, (as) yet, (at a) later (date), collaborate (together), (current) trend, written (down), cancel (out), (completely) destroyed, consensus (of opinion), (first) began, first (of all), (ir)regardless, (major) breakthrough, (hard) facts, had done (previously), refer (back), (at a time) when, at (the) present (time), and (specific) example. Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly, asking yourself if they add any new and/or needed information. Avoid colloquial or "street" language cliches. 3. Check your vocabulary and spelling. Make sure you are using the word you want. For example, "affect" is a verb meaning to influence, while "effect" is usually a noun meaning outcome. In this age of spell-checking computer programs, there is no excuse for misspelled words. (I had three spelling errors on this page before I ran the spell check.) If you don't have a computer, be sure to have a dictionary or even a quick reference book such as The Word Book III (Boston: Houghton Mifflin). Use the dictionary or spell check to avoid irritating your reader (especially if that reader is your boss or professor). 4. Keep your sentence structure simple, and punctuate correctly. Try reading what you have written aloud to yourself or to a friend to see if he or she (and you) can understand it. Use commas wherever you would pause in reading the sentence, as you would have reading this sentence. Use commas to separate independent clauses of a sentence connected by conjunctions such as and, but, or, nor, and for. Commas also separate items of a list, such as the list of the conjunctions in the last sentence. With colons the rule is: don't use them unless you really want to announce that an important list, explanation, or example follows. Semicolons should be used only when two thoughts are closely tied together: "She makes all the money; he spends it." More often, semicolons should be replaced by periods. 5. Read a business publication regularly. One way to write better is to read more. The Wall Street Journal provides a particularly useful model of solid business writing. Reading the business section of any major newspaper, or a publication such as Business Week, also helps. In addition to a dictionary and a thesaurus, the following books are useful: The Beacon Handbook, Robert Perrin (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994). Includes a special chapter with advice for students who speak English as a second language. The New Well-Tempered Sentence, Karen E. Gordon (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994). A quick and serious reference on punctuation and grammar, written with a touch of humor. The Word Book III (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, updated regularly). A handy source for spelling and hyphenating the 40,000 most commonly used words in the English language. Includes a special "sound map" feature for poor spellers.