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Analysing a case study in business courses
What is a case study analysis in the context of a business course?
‘A case study is an account of an activity, event or problem that contains a real or hypothetical situation and includes the complexities you would encounter in the workplace’ (Mort, Cross & Downey 2002). Case studies are usually written
as a narrative i.e. like a story, using the contexts of real life organisations.
When you analyse a case study it helps you to practise applying knowledge, and your thinking, reasoning and decision-making skills, to a real life situation. Case studies in business courses are generally
centred around a problem and a case study analysis will require you to:
- identify the issues or problems within the case
- identify and draw on particular theories to support your analysis
- make recommendations or suggest some solutions to the problems.
There are two main kinds of case study analyses set for assessment tasks.
- Firstly, you may be required to answer a series of specific questions about a case. This is an assessment task that is usually set in first and second year courses.
- Secondly, you may be asked to respond to a more general assignment topic or question, which is an assessment task that is usually set in the later years of a course.
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Answering a series of specific questions about the case
The questions that are asked at the end of the case study are designed to guide your analysis of the case. To complete this kind of analysis, work through the following steps.
Read the case study and the set questions
- Read the case, highlight or underline the main points and think about the main issues.
- Read the questions, break the questions down into key words and phrases and summarise what each question is asking you to do.
- Read the case again and make notes about the information that is relevant to the key words and phrases in each question.
Identify the issues
- Identify the main problems and issues in relation to the set questions. What are the causes and consequences of the behaviour, events or situation described in the case?
- Think about what information is missing from the case. What limitations does this missing information place on the answer you can provide and how might you speculate about any missing information?
Gather Information
Use your notes that are relevant to the key words or phrases in the question to brainstorm headings. You can use these headings to make a plan for each question and to guide your further reading and note-making. As you read, think about how you can draw on the theories to support your answers to the questions.
Identify solutions
If you are asked to identify solutions or make recommendations you will need to use a problem-solving process which involves:
- outlining the alternative courses of action available to solve the problem
- listing the advantages and disadvantages of each course of action
- recommending a solution and justifying it (Spurr, Forrester & Shaw 1987).
Write up the assignment
It is very important to read carefully through the assignment instructions in the Course Information book so that you are quite sure of the required format for the written answers. In general you will be expected to write up your analysis in the form of short answers to the set questions, keeping in mind the word limit for the whole assignment. In writing short answers, there are some important steps to follow.
- Group together all the relevant information you have noted under the headings in your plan and outline separate paragraphs under each answer. Avoid simply describing the situation and make sure you have applied theories to really explain why and how situations have developed.
- Write short introductory and concluding paragraphs of one or two sentences at the beginning and end of each question. Be prepared to write drafts of your answers before writing the final copy.
- Make sure that your information is logically sequenced.
- Check that your writing is properly
referenced.
- Proof-read your assignment for spelling, grammar and punctuation.
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Responding to a more general assignment topic or question.
In these assignments the case studies are usually longer and you are asked one or two more open questions about the case. The assignment topic may suggest processes and tools that you could use to analyse the case but there is usually a lot of choice as to how you approach the analysis. To complete this kind of analysis, work through the following steps.
Read the case study
Give yourself time to absorb the case details before starting your research or writing a plan for the assignment.
- Skim read through the case quickly to obtain an overview of events.
- Read the case again more closely, highlighting key words, phrases and sentences. Make a note of all the people involved and their positions in the organisation being discussed and the time sequences for events.
- Ask yourself some relevant questions such as:
- What are the key trends in this case?
- What are the positive and negative factors in this case?
- Are the individuals in the case making their best possible contribution? If not, what is preventing them from doing so and what might be done to overcome this? (Willings 1989, p. 11)
How to analyse a case study
Once you have read the case study and thought about some of the factors in the case, you should be ready to analyse the problem and clarify the issues.
- Define the central problem or problems. A problem can be defined as the difference between what the situation is and what the ideal might be (Easton 1982, p. 8). An example of a problem would be a fall in profits of a company.
- Clarify the issues by making a list of the significant aspects of the central problem and the causes and consequences of the problem.
- Determine the organisation’s successes and failures in relation to the case and the communication processes that are operating within the organisation (Mort, Cross & Downey 2002).
- Apply an analysis tool that you think may be useful, for example SWOT, PEST or Force Field. It is a good idea to explain and justify why you chose the particular analysis
tool. As an example, in a SWOT analysis you would distinguish the strengths and weaknesses, and the opportunities and threats, within the case. In a given case, an example of a strength would be a high profit margin; a weakness could be poor hiring practices; a threat might be limited distribution and an opportunity could be new environmental standards.
- Identify any information gaps. You can make some assumptions about missing information as long as you identify these clearly. Write a statement about any assumptions you have made for use in your final analysis e.g. ‘It is assumed that Jane’s manager had consulted her before proceeding with the negotiations’.
Gather Information
Once you understand the case, the behaviour of individuals and how decisions have influenced events, you will need to link these to concepts, theories and models you have studied. In your writing you must demonstrate the application of theories in developing your analysis so that you are able to really explain why and how situations have developed instead of just describing the situation.
- Select the relevant concepts, theories and models that you feel will help you to analyse the problem further e.g. ‘communication barriers’; ‘resistance to change’.
- Organise these into headings that you can use to make a plan for your assignment.
- Use these headings to search your lecture notes and tutorial questions, the index of text books, a library catalogue or a data base for material which will help you to analyse the information presented in the case study. Read this material and take notes, being careful to keep a record of all sources of information so that you can reference your discussion.
Make recommendations
You will probably need to use a problem-solving process to decide on
the recommendations. First outline the alternative courses of action available to solve the problem. Then list the advantages and disadvantages of each course of action.
When you evaluate these alternatives, be careful to use the same
criteria for each evaluation so that they can be compared (e.g. cost,
resources, time frame). You can make predictions as to what would happen
if each of your alternatives were to be adopted. You will then be ready
to make a set of recommendations.
In making recommendations, remember the following steps.
- Select your preferred course of action and clearly explain your reasons for selecting this particular option. For example, you might recommend doing market research in order to increase the company’s knowledge of final consumers.
- Outline who should take the action, when the actions should be taken and how those actions will occur. For example, you might suggest that the sales managers need to provide feedback about consumer responses to the managing director by the end of the financial year through a formal meeting mechanisms.
- List the implications of the preferred course of action, considering both negative and positive implications. For example, you might state that extensive market research would involve a considerable divestment of funds but would allow for more accurate targeting of consumer groups.
- List any implementation issues which might arise: e.g. ‘allocation of resources’; ‘management resistance’ and then explain how these issues should be dealt with (Paull 1998).
Don’t forget that in order to develop a strong answer you will need to
support your discussion with theories and data gathered from your research.
Write up the assignment
Before you start writing your first draft, re-read the assignment instructions in the Course Information
to check the required format for the written analysis. For example, if
you need to write a report, you must include the appropriate elements of
the
report writing format.
- Group together all the relevant information you have noted from your readings under the headings in your plan and use this to outline the sections of your report. For example you may have some of the following headings: context of the case; problems and issues; analysis tool; findings; discussion; possible solutions; advantages and disadvantages; recommendations.
- Make sure that your information is logically-sequenced, that your arguments can be clearly understood and that all your recommendations are linked to your discussion.
- Check that your writing is
properly referenced, don’t forget to proof-read your assignment and be prepared to write several drafts before submitting a final copy.
- Check that you have adequately answered the question posed and addressed all the issues identified in the case study.
Remember that there are often several approaches to solving problems and there may be more than one possible answer. Analysing case studies helps you to solve problems and apply the theory you have learnt from courses to a practical situation
and these skills will be useful in your future career.
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Sources
Easton , G 1982, Learning from Case studies, Prentice-Hall, London.
Mort, P, Cross, J & Downey, T 2002, ‘
Writing a case study report in engineering’, The Learning Centre, The University of New South Wales, viewed 28 August 2002.
Paull,
M 1998, ‘Analysing Case Studies’, Edith Cowan University.
Spurr, I , Forrester, J & Shaw, H 1987, Business Case Studies: An Integrated Skills Approach, Pitman Publishing, London.
Willings, J 1986, How to Use the Case Study In Training For Decision Making, Business Publications Limited, London.
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