Preparing an Effective Case Analysis

Gaining Familiarity
The first step of an effective case analysis process calls for you to become familiar with
the facts featured in the case and the focal firm's situation. Initially, you should become
familiar with the focal firm's general situation (e.g., who, what, how, where, and when).
Thorough familiarization demands appreciation of the nuances as well as the major
issues in the case.
Gaining familiarity with a situation requires you to study several situational levels,
including interactions between and among individuals within groups, business units, the
corporate office, the local community, and the society at large. Recognizing
relationships within and among levels facilitates a more thorough understanding of the
specific case situation. It is also important that you evaluate information on a continuum
of certainty. Information that is verifiable by several sources and judged along similar
dimensions can be classified as a fact. Information representing someone's perceptual
judgment of a particular situation is referred to as an inference. Information gleaned
from a situation that is not verifiable is classified as speculation. Finally, information that
is independent of verifiable sources and arises through individual or group discussion is
an assumption. Obviously, case analysts and organizational decision makers prefer
having access to facts over inferences, speculations, and assumptions.
Personal feelings, judgments, and opinions evolve when you are analyzing a case. It is
important to be aware of your own feelings about the case and to evaluate the accuracy
of perceived "facts" to ensure that the objectivity of your work is maximized.
Recognizing Symptoms
Recognition of symptoms is the second step of an effective case analysis process. A
symptom is an indication that something is not as you or someone else thinks it should
be. You may be tempted to correct the symptoms instead of searching for true
problems. True problems are the conditions or situations requiring solution before an
organization's, unit's, or individual's performance can improve. Identifying and listing
symptoms early in the case analysis process tends to reduce the temptation to label
symptoms as problems. The focus of your analysis should be on the actual causes of a
problem, rather than on its symptoms. It is important therefore to remember that
symptoms are indicators of problems; subsequent work facilitates discovery of critical
causes of problems that your case recommendations must address.
Identify Goals
The third step of effective case analysis calls for you to identify the goals of the major
organizations, units, and/or individuals in a case. As appropriate, you should also
identify each firm's strategic intent and strategic mission. Typically, these direction-

setting statements (goals, strategic intents, and strategic missions) are derived from
comments of the central characters in the organization, business unit, or top
management team described in the case and/or from public documents (e.g., an annual
report).
Completing this step successfully sometimes can be difficult. Nonetheless, the
outcomes you attain from this step are essential to an effective case analysis because
identifying goals, intent, and mission helps you to clarify the major problems featured in
a case and to evaluate alternative solutions to those problems. Direction-setting
statements are not always stated publicly or prepared in written format. When this
occurs, you must infer goals from other available factual data and information.
Conducting the Analysis
The fourth step of effective case analysis is concerned with acquiring a systematic
understanding of a situation. Occasionally cases are analyzed in a less-than-thorough
manner. Such analyses may be a product of a busy schedule or the difficulty and
complexity of the issues described in a particular case. Sometimes you will face
pressures on your limited amounts of time and may believe that you can understand the
situation described in a case without systematic analysis of all the facts. However,
experience shows that familiarity with a case's facts is a necessary, but insufficient, step
to the development of effective solutions-solutions that can enhance a firm's strategic
competitiveness. In fact, a less-than-thorough analysis typically results in an emphasis
on symptoms, rather than problems and their causes. To analyze a case effectively, you
should be skeptical of quick or easy approaches and answers.
A systematic analysis helps you understand a situation and determine what can work
and probably what will not work. Key linkages and underlying causal networks based on
the history of the firm become apparent. In this way, you can separate causal networks
from symptoms.
Also, because the quality of a case analysis depends on applying appropriate tools, it is
important that you use the ideas, models, and theories that seem to be useful for
evaluating and solving individual and unique situations. As you consider facts and
symptoms, a useful theory may become apparent. Of course, having familiarity with
conceptual models may be important in the effective analysis of a situation. Successful
students and successful organizational strategists add to their intellectual tool kits on a
continual basis.
Making the Diagnosis
The fifth step of effective case analysis-diagnosis-is the process of identifying and
clarifying the roots of the problems by comparing goals to facts. In this step, it is useful
to search for predicaments. Predicaments are situations in which goals do not fit with
known facts. When you evaluate the actual performance of an organization, business
unit, or individual, you may identify over- or under achievement (relative to established

goals). Of course, single-problem situations are rare. Accordingly, you should recognize
that the case situations you study probably would be complex in nature.
Effective diagnosis requires you to determine the problems affecting longer-term
performance and those requiring immediate handling. Understanding these issues will
aid your efforts to prioritize problems and predicaments, given available resources and
existing constraints.
Doing the Action Planning
The final step of an effective case analysis process is called action planning. Action
planning is the process of identifying appropriate alternative actions. Important in the
action planning step is selection of the criteria you will use to evaluate the identified
alternatives. You may derive these criteria from the analyses; typically, they are related
to key strategic situations facing the focal organization. Furthermore, it is important that
you prioritize these criteria to ensure a rational and effective evaluation of alternative
courses of action.
Typically, managers "satisfice" when selecting courses of actions; that is, they find
acceptable courses of action that meet most of the chosen evaluation criteria. A rule of
thumb that has proved valuable to strategic decision makers is to select an alternative
that leaves other plausible alternatives available if the one selected fails.
Once you have selected the best alternative, you must specify an implementation plan.
Developing an implementation plan serves as a reality check on the feasibility of your
alternatives. Thus, it is important that you give thoughtful consideration to all issues
associated with the implementation of the selected alternatives.
Case Analysis Guideline Suggestions from Dr. Pogue:
Cases are useful in applying the concepts and methods discussed in class and the text,
and they can be used for class discussion, individual assignment submissions, and/or
class presentations.
You are not solely answering the questions in the textbook, you should use these to
help guide you in the critical thought process where these questions apply.
The comprehensive cases will offer students a variety of opportunities to apply
marketing strategy concepts. Each case considers several important strategy issues.
The cases represent different competitive situations for consumer and business
products as well as domestic and international markets.

Step #1 - What are the facts?

This step involves listing the major facts presented by the case. The purpose is to
systematically summarize the facts.
Note: This step should not constitute the majority of the paper. List only the facts that
are most relevant to your analysis.

Step #2 - What problem exists, and why?

Determine what you believe to be the one root problem and state it clearly, in one
sentence.
The obvious problem or the problem stated by the characters in the case is often not a
real problem or not the most basic problem.
The second part of this step is to attempt to analyze why the problem exists. This can
often lead you to the recognition of more basic problems. For example: the direct
problem of insufficient output, when analyzed, might be due to a lack of coordination
between two departments, thus suggesting that a poor departmental relation is a more
basic problem. Also note the importance of seeking multiple causes for the problem and
not just a single cause.

Step #3 - What additional information is needed to analyze this case adequately?

The case may not give all the information needed to make a sound decision. Often we
can get needed additional data from common references. Sometimes, however, a
decision may have to be made without such data. But, a thorough analysis at least
includes recognizing what one would do in a real situation and explicitly stating any
assumptions you are making about such data.

Step #4 - What are possible solutions to the problem?

It is easy to settle for one or two solutions. Rather, you should adopt a brain-storming
approach, which focuses on thinking up a number of possibilities, with little concern if
some are far out. The next step will focus on evaluating your alternatives, but first
seek to be creative in thinking up a number of different possible solutions.

Step #5 - What are the consequences of each alternative?

The word consequences is intended to be neutral and includes both positive as well as
negative results. Too often we settle for just one or the other whereas most decisions
have both costs and benefits. Identifying costs can also suggest ways to modify an
alternative so as to reduce the costs. Also seek more than one consequence. Too often
we settle for only the one or two obvious consequences.
Step #6 - What decision should be made or what solution should be chosen and
what is the rationale for it?
Here we come to the point of choice. Which alternative do you choose, and why? The
why part is important, because it involves putting together a systematic rationale for
your choice and should often include anticipating and rebutting counter arguments. It
should also explicitly state assumptions you are making.
Step #7 - What general ideas can be drawn from this case that might have
application elsewhere?
A case may often give emphasis to a theoretical concept, and this would be worth
noting. It may add a further insight to the meaning or limitation of some theoretical
concept. It may raise issues that warrant further thought. It may directly suggest new
concepts or hypotheses worth applying in the future.
Ideas for Analyzing a Case

Get in touch with the situation. Plan on reading the case at least twice and
ideally three times.
First reading: Use a highlighting marker to mark the key points.
Second reading: Write out on a separate piece of paper the significant
factors, the various issues you see, and the possible courses of action as
they occur to you. Suggestion: use an extra-large piece of paper.
Third reading: Use this reading to finalize thinking, narrow down the
alternatives, and pick the best course of action. Mark down your conclusions
on the same chart or a fresh one. This worksheet (which may look more like a
drawing) will be the source for the paper you write, and for your participation
in class.
Don't plan on your normal reading speed. A 15-page case can easily take
two hours, or more, to analyze properly.
Do not ignore the appendices and tables. Some people have a tendency to
avoid the quantitative aspects of case analysis, concentrating instead on the
human factors and other qualitative information. Naturally, the qualitative
factors are critically important, but you must also pay attention to the
quantitative information provided with a case. It is there for a reason. If you
are taking this course before taking accounting, you may have to exert extra
effort to understand the appendices in some of the cases.

Think about what you would do if you were the decision-maker in the case
situation. In addition to thinking of marketing concepts and other management
principles, imagine what you would really do if you were the person in the
case, taking into account the human factors and practical considerations.

Suggestions for Case Discussion

Be prepared! Do not just skim the case ahead of time; learn it thoroughly.
Participate in the class discussion! You will not learn nearly as much by just
listening to other people's comments.
Be willing to submit your ideas for others to disagree with.
Take the risk of stating your conclusions and overcome the fear of making a
mistake.
Group process learning does not mean you must conform to the group
opinion. But it does mean that, even while disagreeing with what another
student (or the instructor) has said, you show courtesy to him or her as a
person.
Identify the assumptions you are making in your analysis.
In case discussions, the instructor is a discussion facilitator, not a lecturer.
The instructors job is to help you and your fellow students arrive at a sound
analysis of the case, not to give it to you.
As in real life, case decisions must be made without all of the data one would
desire. When you are in a situation where a key fact is simply missing, make
(and state) an appropriate assumption and proceed. Don't just stop, and
please don't say, "Do more research."
There may be several acceptable solutions to a problem in a case. What is
most important is the quality of your thought process and logic.

The body of each analysis needs to be 3 to 5 pages in length (not including reference
page and cover page) and comply with APA guidelines. The paper should exhibit some
critical thinking on the part of the student about the assigned case study. Include a title
page, reference page, and in-text citations. Grammar and spelling errors will not be
tolerated and each analysis should be well organized and readable.
Review the syllabus to ensure all other guidelines not listed above have been met.