Learning Through Case Studies

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Learning Through Case Studies

• Professor Michael A. Roberto
• Bryant University Sophomore Cohort Program
• September 9, 2009

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Why the Case Method?

• Management is a skill more than it is a
  collection of techniques and concepts.
• - Prof. Ben Shapiro, Harvard Business School

For a useful guide to case analysis, you may
download (for free) the following article
published by McGraw-Hill at this
URL http//highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/fre
e/0072969431/362614/guide_to_case_analysis.pdf
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Standing in Someone Elses Shoes

• Put yourselves in the shoes of the general
  manager or management team, who often will have
  an important decision to make.
• Sometimes, those decisions will be discussed
  explicitly in the case
• On other occasions, you will have to infer the
  key problems, opportunities, and decisions facing
  the organization.

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Inductive vs. Deductive Learning
Theory
Reality
Reality
Theory
DEDUCTIVE
INDUCTIVE
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Objectives of Case Analysis

• Increase your understanding of effective vs.
  ineffective managerial practice.
• Build your skills in diagnosis and problem
  definition.
• Get valuable practice in developing and
  evaluating alternatives, and then formulating a
  recommended plan of action.
• Enhance your business judgment, as opposed to
  uncritically accepting what the professor or text
  says.
• Gain in-depth exposure to many industries and
  companies, thereby acquiring something close to
  actual business experience.

Adapted from McGraw Hills Guide to Case Analysis
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How to Attack a Case Step 1

• Check where you are in the course.
• What topics does the faculty member intend to
  address this week?
• What concepts and theories will be discussed?
• What did you cover last week in class?
• How does this case fit in the big picture of the
  course?
• Why do you think the faculty member selected this
  case at this particular point in time?

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How to Attack a Case Step 2

• Read the assignment/questions that your faculty
  member provides to you.
• The assignment/questions should guide you as you
  read and analyze the case.
• You should be prepared to answer those questions
  thoroughly if called upon during our class
  discussion.

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How to Attack a Case Step 3

• Examine the text chapters and any articles that
  have been assigned along with the case study.
• Those readings will introduce you to certain
  frameworks and concepts that will be helpful as
  you try to analyze the case for that week.
• Case analysis does not entail simply forming an
  opinion about a management situation.
• Good case analysis means applying key concepts
  and frameworks to help you diagnose a management
  situation and come to an INFORMED JUDGMENT.

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How to Attack a Case Step 4

• Now, its time to turn to the case study itself!
• Skim the case to get an overview of the
  situation.
• Read the case thoroughly to digest key facts.
• Carefully review the exhibits.
• Decide what the issues/problems are.
• Crunch a few numbers how is the firm doing?
• Apply the concepts/techniques youve been
  studying.
• Examine the validity of information and
  assumptions.
• Identify the key causes of the current problem.
• Develop several alternative courses of action.
• Select your recommendation(s) buttressed with
  solid supporting evidence, reasoning, and
  analysis.

Adapted from McGraw Hills Guide to Case Analysis
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Class Participation

• Good participation begins with good listening
  build off the points of others.
• A constructive comment does one of more of the
  following
• Sheds insight through careful original analysis.
• Provides additional supporting evidence for a
  point that has already been made.
• Challenges the underlying assumptions made by
  others.
• Offers a thought-provoking dissenting view
  (playing the Devils Advocate)
• Asks a question that clarifies a point for the
  class, or provokes inquiry and debate.

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Case Memos/Write-ups

• Be clear and concise.
• Watch your grammar and spelling.
• Write in the active voice.
• Explain your calculations clearly.
• Use exhibits to supplement your text.
• Be sure to refer to and explain the exhibits as
  you write the body of your memo.
• Demonstrate that you have considered the
  benefits, costs, and risks of your
  recommendation.
• FOCUS ON ANALYSIS, NOT REGURGITATION!

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• How we teach is what we teach.
• John McArthur
• The most common source of management mistakes is
  not the failure to find the right answer. Its
  the failure to ask the right questions.
• Peter Drucker