| Marketing | ||
| Managing Teams in Organizations | ||
| Management and Organization Theory |
Hopefully this is not your first exposure to case analysis. Some texts provide advice on analyzing cases. Below are some more hints. Cases vary in length from relatively short ones in courses such a small business, marketing, and production and operations management to 15 pages or more in strategic management courses -- and these latter ones are typically much more complex.
We will normally discuss cases in small groups first. These guidelines will help your group discussion and presentations. (This analytical process should also be helpful on exams which often require case analysis on your own. )
Your first job is to organize what you know and do not know.
Make several sketches, diagrams, concept/mind maps, or flowcharts of the activities, actors, processes, functions, structures, environmental forces, etc. present in the scenario described in the case. Use rich pictures where possible for complex situations involving human interaction. The objective here is to break out of linear thinking and explore both existing and potential relationships.
Weigh the facts and take a stand with respect to any questions raised in the case. [Please note that such questions may or may not represent the critical issues as you see them or as they may exist. I suggest you use them merely to gain an initial focal point.]
Try to draw a picture or a mind-map on a single page that captures the case and summarizes your judgment. Use systems analysis techniques and holistic methods in combination.
Explicitly state any assumptions.
Learn to ask 'Why' five times. Look repeatedly beneath surface explanations of problems in business and management as well as your own life. Don't be satisfied until you have uncovered a set of relationships that reveal both true problems and opportunities for improvement. Be receptive to paradox and your emotions. Do not be bound by Aristotelian logic or the rigid protocols of computer programming. Seek a holistic answer rather than a strictly logical one.
Learn to ask 'How' five times. As difficult as determining root causes is (asking "Why"), managers find that unanticipated problems, uncovered when we try to put our ideas into action, can disable any solution. We call it poor implementation or poor planning, but it can cripple a firm. So, we need to take equal care with determining how we are going to do anything that we assert needs to be done to "solve" a problem. We ask "How" five times by examining implementation processes five levels deep.
After you have considered the case on your own, seek other students opinions and discuss alternative solutions. Your end case analysis must be your own work in your own words. Any unique ideas which you gain from discussions with others should be cited appropriately.
Additionally, you should consider the answers to the following questions:
Is there a problem, major issue, or significant opportunity? What is it?
Why is it a problem/issue/opportunity? Why is that a problem/issue/opportunity? (repeat five times, like peeling an onion)
Why is it important ?
Does the problem need to be resolved now? Why does it have to be solved?
What will be the benefits from solution (short & long term) ?
What will be the impact of resolution on quality, productivity, and _______________? Other benefits?
What will it cost to solve the problem?
Are managers proactive - do they anticipate the long term impact on their business and management system as a whole?
In that regard, what are the likely system effects of any action (effects on other people, offices, suppliers, customers, co-workers, community, competitors, etc.)?
Is it possible to solve this problem with benefit to my firm but no adverse effects internally or externally? (Pareto Optimum)
What additional information is needed?
What are the alternative courses of action? Their impact on quality, productivity, costs and profits, as well as the creativity and enthusiasm of the people in the organization?
How would each alternative be implemented? (Details of implementation are needed to the extent that you (can/should) know them.
To the extent I can discern it, what is the position of the case author(s)?
What facts are used to support the case author's position?
To the extent I can discern it, what is the position of other experts?
What facts are used to support the case author's or other expert's position(s)?
Where do I stand on the issue? Why?
Based on my analysis, which is the best course of action.
Include appropriate personal and course details so you may receive credit for your insightful work. If your report is lengthy, preface it with an executive summary.
Organize the body of your analysis as shown below (for either written or oral reports - if written, five pages maximum unless otherwise stated). Explicitly state all your assumptions. Clearly cite any outside sources used and include a bibliography or works cited summary.
Statement of the Major Problem / Opportunity - the essence of the case, the point beyond which one can no longer find a broader, more pervasive or underlying issue. Relate facts to theory and course concepts.
Outline of minor problems / opportunities - with facts and reasons. Discuss them in order of importance and significance to the case and justify your priority ordering. Relate facts to theory and course concepts.
Major rejected alternative solutions - with facts and reasons. This bit of discipline pushes you toward an adequate "search" for alternatives, as opposed to superficial analyses that lead to the application of the first alternative that may come to mind. Again, relate facts to theory and course concepts.
Recommended solutions - with reasons. These solutions should embrace and resolve all major problems (and if possible all of the minor ones as well) delineated in your statement of the major and minor problems.
Programmed
implementation of recommendations and projected ramifications - This step
requires a time-sequence application of recommended programs and plans for achieving
the recommended solution. It also requires a forecasting of ramifications and
the identification of potential negative effects of plans. Not for the last
time, relate facts to theory and course concepts.
(Don't forget to put your name, date and course number on each separate page i.e., not stapled to a sheet with that information.)
For Cases in Ethics in the Information Age:
Use the Ethical Analysis Framework provided by Kallman and Grillo, Figure 3-1 and the worksheets in Appendix B. Take care to incorporate the general guidance above. Your reports are not limited to the word length referenced in the Course Modules of our Web Tycho classroom.
For Cases in Management & Organization Theory:
The cases we analyze are well suited to applying the above strategy.
For Cases in Managing Teams in Organizations:
The cases we analyze are well suited to applying the above strategy. Leadership and teamwork cases involve people - so look for complex, deep seated problems as well as the obvious ones. Remember that a decision maker is interested in improving the organization and organizational processes. So our focus needs to be on the way ahead.
For Cases in Marketing Principles & Organization:
Cases in marketing are almost always susceptible to analysis using the 'Marketing Strategy Planning' structure of identifying the various target markets (there are commonly more than one) and the particular combination of the 'Four Ps' that will appeal to each target market. Naturally each 'P' (Product, Place, Promotion and Price) is to be examined in as much detail as your knowledge and experience allow. The final element is implementation and control of the marketing plan. (See Text Chapter 2.)
Additionally, the more general guidance above may help you analyze any case. (This analytical process should also be helpful on the mid-term and final exams which typically require case analysis. UNDERSTAND THAT THE VARIOUS STUDENT MARKETING PLANS PRESENTED IN CLASS ARE EXAMPLES OF CASE STUDIES.)
For Cases in Small Business Management:
Use the Business Plan Checklist (see Chapter 6), its structure and concepts when analyzing a case. Identify which elements of the planning process are present and which are missing, which are strong or weak and why. For example, consider making a matrix such as the one on the following page. (The rating factors may or may not apply, be sufficient, need supplements or refinement. Specify the reason for your judgments. )
For Cases in Strategic Management:
To learn the most from these cases, take two positions. First, you have the position of the strategic decision maker on the day and moment the facts are laid bare as stated in the case. Consider the case fully in this light (i.e., role play.) Next, prepare an epilogue commenting on salient developments in the life of the organization and of its environment as you can discover them from the end of the case timeline until the present. (This is more relevant to the assigned homework cases. For cases discussed in class or on the final, form your epilogue from your personal knowledge base.)
Although we will not analyze formal cases in this course, each of the articles you survey can be treated much like a case. So the method above should be helpful.
Students of Quality Management learn a whole new set of analysis tools. Part of the objective of case analysis in such a course is to practice using the tools - practice PDSA, investigating likely causes of quality problems, creating operational definitions, collecting actual data about real facts, generating charts and graphs, using systems analysis methods and tools, generating additional questions and following up on both good and bad leads. In addition to PDSA, use Fishbone diagram, Pareto charts, Quality Function Deployment, Quality Loss Functions, Control Charting, etc. Do not, however, get wrapped up in probability and statistics. Quality management is more about observation, counting, displaying data that reflect reality, thinking and applying lessons learned.
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| Phil Richardson; prichard@faculty.ed.umuc.edu |
Revised
13 June 2004
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