Guidelines for Case Analysis and Reports

Guidelines for Case Analysis and Reports

UNDERSTANDING THE CASE METHOD

A case or case study is a real business story that requires you to step into the role of a manager or a member of the management team that faces a dilemma, or the role of a consultant assisting an organization that faces a dilemma. Acting in that role, you are tasked with resolving the issues or problems that the profiled organization is facing at a particular moment in time. Alternatively, you are asked to evaluate and choose among opportunities that exist for the organization at a specific point in time. Those issues and opportunities may be confined to a specific discipline in business, such as accounting, marketing, human resources, or strategic management. However, the challenges often involve several disciplines, reflecting the multi-faceted nature of business in practice.

The case method involves learning by doing. It provides you with an opportunity to apply your knowledge and skills to real-life and realistic situations

PURPOSE OF THE CASE METHOD

Case analysis is used as a teaching and learning tool to practice the art and science of management. The situations described in cases are less structured than the typical problems and questions found in most textbooks. There is not necessarily one right answer to resolving the issues, problems, or opportunities faced by the organization in the case. While some answers could be better than others, there is no answer key at the back of the book to tell you whether you have made the right choices.

The organization described in the case might be familiar to you, and you might even be able to find out what the organization actually did in the situation described in the case; however, the approach taken by the organization is not necessarily the one you should recommend. Also, because cases describe relatively current or recent situations, enough time might not have passed since the decision point in the case to allow you—or others in the business world—to evaluate whether the organization made the best possible choices.

You are asked to draw your own conclusions and support them with your own analysis. You will use technical, analytical, problem-solving, and creative skills. You will hone your written and oral communication skills by writing reports, participating in class discussions, and making presentations. You will develop your ability to work effectively with others by preparing team case reports and presentations.

READING A CASE

When you read the case for the first time, resist the temptation to highlight important facts and to begin doing analysis and generating alternative solutions. Instead, during the initial read, establish who the decision maker is and what decision needs to be made. Highlight any questions raised by the principal actors or characters: they usually indicate what work is expected (e.g., answers to specific questions, specific types of analysis, or evaluation of specific alternatives). Identify key goals of the organization, industry key success factors (if they are made explicit), and important constraints (e.g., the urgency of a decision, or the lack of resources or expertise). Develop a preliminary understanding of the issues facing the decision maker.

Then read the case more carefully a second time. Armed with an initial understanding of the issues, you are now prepared to assess the relevance and importance of specific case facts. Highlighting the case facts at this stage will help you to be able to quickly extract them and use them effectively in your analysis. During your second read of the case, you can also gain a better understanding of the issues and begin to consider what analysis to perform with the case facts you have identified as relevant and important.

Subsequent reads of the case will likely be confined to rereading specific sections of the case as you undertake the analysis.

ANALYZING A CASE

Regardless of the size and scope of the case, case analysis involves four basic steps:

A. Identify the issues, problems, and opportunities.

B. Analyze the issues, problems, and opportunities.

C. Develop and evaluate alternative solutions.

D. Make recommendations for action.

Especially for complex cases, a case analysis is usually an iterative process. While an essential first step is to identify the issues to be resolved, analysis of those issues can refine the issues that were initially identified, leading to a revised issue statement.

IDENTIFY THE ISSUES

The first step in analyzing the case is to identify the organization’s issues, problems, and opportunities that you will attempt to resolve. A clear understanding of the issues is paramount; otherwise, your analysis and your generation of alternative solutions will lack the necessary focus. A considerable degree of judgment is usually required to identify the issues.

Pay Attention to Questions

Questions from three sources provide important clues about the key issues:

The principal actors or characters in the case:

These clues are musings or direct questions raised by the principal actors themselves. You can usually find these clues at the beginning and end of the case, but they might also be sprinkled throughout the case.

Your instructor:

Questions can often be found in the syllabus or course package, or on the course website. These questions are intended to focus your attention on the most important issues. If, in your analysis of the case, you have not answered all of the questions posed in the case or in your course syllabus, you have likely either omitted an important issue or become sidetracked by minor issues.

Distinguish Symptoms from Issues

To correctly identify issues, it is important to distinguish between symptoms and underlying causes. Your goal should be to focus on the underlying causes. To uncover them, ask the question “Why?” until you can no longer provide a satisfactory answer.

For instance, an organization might be plagued by low customer retention. Asking why customers are going elsewhere might lead you to conclude that customer service is poor, product defect rates are high, or existing competitors have improved their product, and a new competitor has entered the market. The last two items are root causes because asking “why” will not lead to further answers. Therefore, they are issues to resolve even though they are not within the organization’s control. Asking “why” for the first two items might lead you to the third issue, namely that the company’s goals and reward systems emphasize efficiency rather than product quality.

ANALYZE THE ISSUES

Analysis involves examining the issues in detail. It requires that you dissect the issues and consider them closely to understand their nature and key elements.

Use Case Facts

One aspect of analysis is using case facts to develop a detailed understanding of the issues. You can use the case facts to help build logical arguments, develop findings, and draw educated inferences rather than casual guesses. For instance, for a marketing case, an issue with increased competition might be supported by the case facts describing the entrance of new competitors into the market, new products introduced by competitors, or price reductions offered by competitors. Many important case facts are contained in a case’s figures and exhibits. These case facts could include data about the worldwide market size, the competition, the company’s revenues and profit, industry sales, product prices, or organizational charts. Study each figure or exhibit to determine the key insights it offers.

Use Business Concepts, Models, and Tools

Another aspect of analysis is the use of business concepts, models, and tools to analyze the issues. For example, in a marketing case, you could apply the model of a product life cycle or the concept of a target market; you could also calculate market share and changes in market share. To analyze accounting issues, you could use tools such as contribution margin analysis or capital budgeting. In an integrated strategic management case, you might apply the concepts of value chain and competitive advantage, compute financial ratios, and apply tools such as a competitive position matrix and Porter’s five forces framework. Many cases will involve both qualitative and quantitative elements.

Use Outside Research Sparingly

Analysis might also include conducting and integrating outside research—for example, researching the industry and competitors—to supplement the information provided in the case. However, for many cases you will encounter in your studies, you will not be asked to obtain outside research beyond any background knowledge required to understand the facts of the case. This approach is consistent with the requirement that you put yourself in the role of either the manager or a member of the management team making the decision. You are asked to make that decision based on the same information the actual managers in the actual organization had at that actual point in time.

DEVELOP AND EVALUATE THE ALTERNATIVES

In this step of a case analysis, you first identify alternative solutions to address the issues you previously identified and analyzed, and then evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative. The best alternatives will resolve more than one of the identified issues.

Develop Alternative Solutions

When identifying alternative solutions, go beyond the status quo (which might or might not be a viable solution, depending on the company’s situation) and beyond identifying a poor alternative and a very good one. Strive to develop multiple viable alternatives that are not chosen with a bias toward or against a particular course of action. Creative thinking will enable you to develop novel approaches. Avoid a premature evaluation of the alternatives, and try to develop as many alternatives as possible. Even if you know the course of action the organization ultimately chose, resist the temptation for that knowledge to bias your development and evaluation of alternatives.

Evaluate the Alternative Solutions

Assessing the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative solution represents another form of analysis, as is quantifying the financial impact of an alternative solution. When you evaluate your alternatives, present a balanced assessment of both the advantages (pros) and disadvantages (cons). Use of biased or one-sided arguments undermines both the usefulness of your analysis and its credibility. Where possible, suggest how to overcome any significant disadvantages. If you have difficulty generating pros and cons, establish a set of criteria for decision making and use those criteria to identify pros and cons. For example, in a strategic management case, decision criteria might include the degree to which the action:

· fits with the organization’s mission, value proposition, and goals;

· fits with stakeholder preferences;

· is profitable;

· increases market share;

· enhances the organization’s brand;

· capitalizes on specific external opportunities;

· helps to mitigate external threats;

· uses internal strengths;

· avoids or mitigates internal weaknesses;

· builds on an existing competitive advantage or helps to create a competitive advantage;

· requires additional resources and competencies;

· can be accomplished within the organization’s existing structure; or

· mitigates or increases risks, including environmental and reputational risks.

Measuring alternatives against decision criteria also helps to keep the analysis consistent, reducing bias. For instance, by applying the criteria, you avoid citing a loss of market share as a disadvantage of one alternative but overlooking the same disadvantage in another alternative that is your implicit favorite.

When identifying pros and cons, be as specific as possible. For instance, instead of stating that an alternative will be unprofitable, indicate that the alternative will result in net losses of $72,800 and $52,500 in years one and two, respectively. Instead of claiming that an alternative will increase market share, indicate that it will increase market share by an estimated three to four per cent by year five. Rather than arguing that an alternative will capitalize on an organization’s strengths, indicate the specific strengths that will be capitalized on and how they will be leveraged.

Use Case Facts and Business Concepts, Models, and Theories to Evaluate the Alternatives

When evaluating alternative solutions, you will have another opportunity to introduce key facts from the case and to apply concepts, models, and theories from the course to support your analysis. The evaluation of alternative solutions usually involves some additional analysis. The analysis of the issues and of the alternative solutions should fit together; the concepts, models, and theories used to analyze the issues should be consistent with those used to evaluate alternative solutions. The goal in both exercises is to provide analyses that demonstrate sound argument and logic, and are supported by careful use of the case facts and appropriate analytical techniques

RECOMMENDATIONS

Apply Criteria for Making Sound Recommendations

The last step of case analysis is to choose your recommended solution to the issues. Your recommended solution will often consist of a combination of alternatives because issues are usually not so simple that a single solution will suffice. Your goal is to develop recommendations that are useful, given the issues that you are trying to resolve; consistent with your analysis; reasonable, given the organization and its environment; feasible, given the organization’s resources; and convincing to your reader. Your recommendations should include sufficient operational-level details to enable their implementation. For example, specify who should implement the recommendations, how, when, and in what priority.

Base Your Recommendation on the Information You Have

Avoid recommending that further information be obtained or that additional analysis be completed. Instead, base your recommendation on the information you have, even if you believe more information is needed. Managers rarely have all of the information they desire. If further analysis is absolutely essential, your recommendation should specifically state what should be done, why, and by whom. If the assigned case study is based on actual events, you might already know the course of action that management chose, or you might be able to obtain this information through further research. Resist the temptation to recommend this alternative, which assumes that management made the best decision. Base your recommendation on the information that management had at the time it faced the decision and on the analysis that you conduct. Only time allows us to evaluate the effectiveness of an organization’s actual chosen course of action.

Evaluate Your Recommendations

Before finalizing your recommendations, take time to evaluate your recommended solution by asking the following key questions:

· Does the recommended solution address the issues identified in the analysis?

· Is there theoretical support for the solution?

· Does the recommendation address the pros and cons identified when you evaluated the alternative solution?

· Does the recommendation suggest how to mitigate or overcome the most critical disadvantages, including any risks posed to the organization?

· Does the recommended solution meet organizational goals?

· Is the recommended solution financially viable? Is it feasible from a resource perspective?

· Is the recommended solution acceptable to various stakeholders of the organization (e.g., management, employees, shareholders, and customers)?

· Does the recommendation provide sufficient details to enable the organization to implement it?

Being able to answer these questions affirmatively will help your recommendations meet the key criteria of being useful, consistent, reasonable, feasible, and convincing.

Guidelines for the Written Case Analysis Report:

As discussed before, case analysis involves three major activities: (1) specification of the problems or opportunities being faced, (2) identification and analysis of the best alternatives available to solve the problem, and identification and discussion of the issues associated with each alternative, and (3) development of conclusions and recommendations based on the best alternative. These provide the structure for a case report.

Every case report should address the following topics ( please follow this order in your report since the analysis will of course precede conclusions in your thought process):

1. Problems

2. Analysis

3. Conclusions

At the onset, it is important to understand that a written case report is not the same thing as a manufacturing plan or a typical consultant report. Manufacturing plans, for example, usually provide historical or background information. In a case report, the contents of the case provide this information and it is unnecessary to repeat or “rehash" it. On the other hand, a case report should provide the analytical framework on which a plan rests. It is this framework and the logic of analysis and reporting which must be mastered for successful casework. The report should present each of the above sections so that the logic used in reaching conclusions and making recommendations is clear.

Problems

The problems or issues are often barriers facing the organization which block, or threaten to block, the achievement of important objectives. In some cases, objectives may not be explicitly given in the case, and this lack of specificity can become an important part of problem analysis. A barrier is a set of conditions that threatens or hinders management from achieving objectives. It may derive from competitor actions, changes in the economic, political, or social environment, or difficulties arising from poor coordination of the functions.

The problems should be stated in the form of a descriptive paragraph or statement. It serves to position the total report. Subsequent material included in the report that does not contribute to the solution of the problems is irrelevant and creates confusion. Alternatives that do not address the problems, issues that are unnecessary for elaborating the alternatives and conclusions that do not address the threat or opportunity given in the statement, detract from the effectiveness of the report.

In general, you should select the most important problems facing the company for which data and opinions in the case are sufficient to permit analysis. Problems or opportunities that surface and that call for critical facts and considerations not available in the case should be avoided.

Analysis

The analysis section of the report should include statements on several alternative strategies that could be adopted to resolve the problems. This section is the longest part of the report and where the bulk of the pro and con evaluation material appears. Issues may be framed as questions which, to be answered, call for analysis of information in the case. Answers should provide insight into the relative merits of each alternative.

Often, information needed to answer a question or do an analysis is not given in the case. Rather than simply recommending that research be done, it is better to develop assumptions about the missing information. This applies also to assessments about the quality of the information that is provided. It is quite legitimate and useful for analysis purposes to "assume" that a particular set of data is of dubious value, or that sales growth is an objective (even though not explicitly stated). Although you can be challenged on the validity of your assumptions, making assumptions when they are called for may improve analysis considerably.

Conclusions

The conclusions synthesize answers to the issues, building one upon another, and show how one alternative is superior to all others. This can be done using deductive logic and, where applicable, can be supplemented by financial or other type of analysis.

The conclusions must be properly confined to presenting a summary of the analysis. No new material or additional facts should be presented in this section. If new material appears urgent while writing a conclusion, the analysis section should be modified to include it. When setting out your recommendations, summarize the justifications. Importantly, also indicate your major concerns with respect to the recommendations. These may be viewed as the risks associated with the course of action you recommend. The conclusion is also not the place to formulate new or merge old alternatives. If the stated alternatives are not the best set, they should be adjusted prior to writing the conclusions. It is normal and desirable to cycle through all components of the report several times to achieve consistency in logic and reasoning. This section should be brief and consist only of a few paragraphs.

Evaluation

The evaluation of the written reports will be based on the quality of the analysis, the logic of arguments presented, the effective use of fact and opinion from the case to defend arguments, and the appropriateness of the problems chosen. Where analysis is possible and based on data given in the case, the quality and use of this type of analysis will be assessed. The reasonableness of assumptions chosen to guide the analysis will enter in as well. The clarity of the writing style and appropriate use of the language are also part of the evaluation process. Finally, it is important to recognize that the process of arriving at an answer is as important as, or more important, than the answer itself. There is no single right "answer" to any case.

Format for written report:

1) Papers should be double-spaced, in 12 pt. Font (Arial, Times New Roman or Calibri are preferred) with normal margins. Follow APA or MLA guidelines for referencing.

2) The page limit for each paper is 15 pages of text, plus exhibits. Note that these are maximum limits. Please try to make your papers concise and coherent.

3) Please proofread your paper before turning it in. Papers for this course should be of the same quality that you would provide to the management of a business that you are dealing with directly.

Sources used:

Notes Series on Student Guide to the Case Method, Ivey Publishing, 2018.

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Case Study- Fall 1 2023

Amanda Tremblay at Citrine Solutions

By: Christopher A. Bartlett, Paul S. Myers

· Publication Date: Feb 2020

· Product Number: 920561-PDF-ENG

Discipline: International Business

Academic Price: $4.25

Purchase Link: https://hbsp.harvard.edu/import/1086585

Case Study Due Date: Wednesday, October 4, 2023, 11:59 pm through Blackboard.

Assignment Questions and Readings

1. Was Amanda Tremblay the right choice as general manager of CSS’s Vietnam subsidiary?

2. As Mark Feinsted, how would you evaluate Tremblay’s performance to date?

3. Should Tremblay approve Duc’s contract proposal?

4. How should she deal with the proposed data center relocation issue?

5. What should she do about the performance problems with internal technical consultants?

The following readings can serve as background:

· Meyer, Erin, “Navigating the Cultural Minefield,” Harvard Business Review (May 2014).

· Fernández-Aráoz, Claudio, “21st-Century Talent Spotting,” Harvard Business Review (June 2014).

These questions are only meant to help you think about this case. The report should not be in the format of Q & A. Follow the standard case study format of “Identification of Problems Analysis of possible solutions Conclusion”

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