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How to Analyse and Write Up a Case Study – by: John Rohac Sept/15

What is a Case Study?

Case studies in business or management fields are short stories about a situation encountered by a business or some other type of organization. It usually tells you about the people involved, explains problems or issues, and leaves you with a sense that something can or should be done to fix the problems. The case may focus individually on human resource issues, marketing issues, finance issues, legal issues, etc., or have a combination of interrelated issues. Good cases are complicated, may be interpreted from different perspectives, and may have several interrelated problems. Some cases simply tell about the situation and leave you to diagnose the problem, while others leave you with some questions to analyse or discuss at the end of case. They range in size from a short ½ a page to a long 50 page case.

Case studies are popular because they reflect situations in the real world – where problems and solutions rarely are as easy to find as we find in our text books. So it’s an opportunity to apply your learning. It’s intended to be a situation close to real life when you will be the manager and no one will tell you exactly what the problem is or how to solve problems; rather you will need to apply your own resourcefulness and fall back on what you know and what you have learned and how to approach difficult situations to solve your own problems.

How to Approach a Case Study?

Some cases are used in class just to generate discussion and show application of text material. However written case assignments require a more rigorous approach. Reading the case is usually not enough. Read the case several times over to learn what you do or do not know. With each re-read you will pick up new insights. Make a mental note of what assumptions you are making about the situation, and make note that an assumption is not necessarily a fact. Next you usually need to find out more...