CASE ANALYSIS

The essence of the students role in the case is to

diagnose and size up the organizations situation and
to think through what, if anything should be done

CASE ANALYSIS
What factors have contributed to the
organizations success ?
What is the organizations strategy ?
What are the issues and problems
confronting the company ?

CASE ANALYSIS
Is management doing a good job ?
Are the organizations objective and
strategies compatible with its skills and
resources ?
What managerial skills are needed to deal
effectively with the situation ?

CASE ANALYSIS
What actions need to be taken ?
What facts and figures support my position ?

Issues in the case should be discussed pro

and con.

CASE ANALYSIS
The important thing for a student to
understand in case analysis is that it is the
managerial exercise of identifying, diagnosing
and recommending that counts rather than
discovering the right answer or finding out
what actually happened. All assessments
and positions should withstand vigorous
challenge.

STARTING A CASE
ANALYSIS
Begin your analysis by reading the case once
for familiarity
On the second reading attempt to gain full
command of the facts
Be alert for issues or problems which are not
necessarily made explicit.
Read between the lines

STARTING A CASE
ANALYSIS
One cannot propose improvements in
strategy or its implementation until the
companys situation has been diagnosed.
Try to get a good feel for the personality of
the company, the management and the
organizational climate.

HOW TO EVALUATE A
COMPANY
You need to identify the firms strategy,
evaluate its business portfolio, size up its
competitive position and financial condition,
pinpoint external threats and opportunities as
well as internal strengths and weaknesses
and assess its future potential.
Strive for defensible arguments and positions

HOW TO EVALUATE A
COMPANY
Do not rely upon just your opinion. Support
any judgments or conclusions with evidence.
Use the available data to make whatever
relevant accounting, financial, marketing, or
operations analysis. Calculation are
necessary to support your assessment of the
situation.
Crunch the numbers.

HOW DO YOU EVALUATE A

COMPANY ?
Do not accept everything stated in the case
as fact.

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HOW DO YOU EVALUATE A

COMPANY ?
Once you have thoroughly diagnosed the
companys situation and weighed the pros
and cons of various alternative courses of
action , the final step of case analysis is to
decide what you think the company needs to
do to improve its performance and to set forth
a workable plan of action.

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HOW DO YOU EVALUATE A

COMPANY ?
This is a crucial part of the process of case
analysis since diagnosis divorced from
corrective action is sterile.
On few occasions, some desirable
information may not be included in the case.
In such instances make assumptions.

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WRITING A REPORT
Identification
It is essential that your paper reflect a sharply
focused diagnosis of strategic issues and key
problems and further that you demonstrate
good business judgment in sizing up the
companys present situation.

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WRITING A REPORT
Analysis and evaluation
Study tables, exhibits and financial
statements carefully
Look at marketing, production , managerial
competencies and so on and evaluate the
factors underlying the organizations
successes and failures. Decide whether it is
a distinctive competence and if so, whether it
is capitalizing upon it.

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WRITING A REPORT
Is the firms strategy working ?
Why or why not ?

Assess the opportunities internally and

externally.
Evaluate the firms competitive position.

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PRESENTATION OF
RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendations should follow directly from
the analysis. If they come as a surprise,
because they are logically inconsistent with or
not related to the analysis, the effect of the
discussion is weakened.
Be sure that the company is financially able
to carry out what you recommend

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PRESENTATION OF
RECOMMENDATIONS
A good rule to follow in designing your plan of
action is to avoid recommending anything you
would not yourself be willing to do if you were
in managements shoes.
Your report should be organized and written
in a manner that communicates well and is
persuasive.

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PRESENTATION OF
RECOMMENDATIONS
Great ideas amount to little, unless others
can be convinced of their merit - this takes
effective communication.

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