Case Study - Five Easy Steps

The case study approach is a law-related education teaching strategy which uses real and hypothetical legal cases to help students develop critical thinking skills. In its complete form, it includes the following elements:

1. 2. 3. 4.

Identifying the facts of the case; Defining the legal and/or constitutional question; Formulating arguments for both sides of the question; Explaining the court's decision and the reasons of the majority and the dissent; and 5. Evaluating the court's decision and predicting the impact of the court's decision. There are many different instructional strategies that can be used with these elements, including individual, small group, and whole-class processes.
1. Identifying the Facts of the Case Students begin by reading, listening to, or viewing a description of the facts of the case. One useful and efficient method for ensuring that students understand the facts is to put them in pairs. Then ask one student in each pair to summarize the facts. The question, "What happened in this case?" is a good prompt for the summarizer. Another technique involves having students work in groups on the following questions:

What happened in this case? Who are the people/organizations/companies involved? What motives could explain why the people involved acted as they did? How did the lower courts rule on this case? (Note: This question should only be asked if the case is on appellate review.) Which facts are important? What facts don't you have that you would like?

As a general rule, it is important to check for students' understanding of the facts before they work on the other elements. A quick whole-class discussion of the facts can clear up misunderstandings and reinforce the work done by the students in pairs or groups.
2. Defining the Constitutional and/or Legal Question It is important for students to understand what constitutional and/or legal question the court must address in the case, or it will be difficult for them to understand the implications of the court's decision. Defining constitutional and/or legal questions is

often very difficult. In many instances, you may decide simply to give your students the question. However, if you want students to define the issue themselves, the following four questions is most useful for constitutional cases that involve state action:

Who was the actor? (Who did something?) Who was the recipient of the action? (To whom was it done?) What was the action that caused the controversy? (What was done?) What specific part of the Constitution/statute is involved?

For example, in Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969), students appealed their suspension from school because they wore black armbands to school to protest the nation's involvement in Vietnam. In this case, the answers would be:

actor = Des Moines Board of Education recipients = Tinker students action = suspended from school for wearing the armbands part of Constitution = free speech clause of the First Amendment

Once the students have answered these questions, they should develop a question the court must address. The question should include all four components named above. For example, in Tinker, the constitutional issue before the Supreme Court was:
"Did the Board of Education (actor) violate the First Amendment free speech rights (part of Constitution) of the Tinker students (recipient of action) when they suspended them from school for wearing black armbands (action)?" Ask the students to phrase the question to elicit a "yes" or "no" response. For Tinker, "yes" would be a ruling for the students, while "no" would be a ruling for the Board of Education. 3. Formulating Arguments for Both Sides of the Question One way to begin this step is to have the students identify the values and goals of each side. Rarely is a case strictly about good versus bad. More often, legal cases involve significant conflicts between competing positive values, such as private property rights versus equality. The constitutional and/or legal question that the students develop provides a good starting point for the process of developing arguments. Students can be asked to formulate and evaluate reasons in support of both "yes" and "no" answers to the question. Any number of standard law-related education interactive strategies, such as moot court simulations, are useful ways to help students evaluate the reasons they develop.

Before students learn about how the court decided and its reasons, ask them to predict what they think the court will do and why. 4. Explaining Court's Decision and Reasons The first thing to focus on at this step is the court's answer to the constitutional/legal question(s). For example, in Tinker, the Supreme Court ruled that the students' constitutional rights had been violated by the Board of Education. It is also important to discuss what geographical areas will be affected by the decision. If the case was decided by the United Sates Supreme Court, then it will apply to the entire nation. However, few cases are heard by the Supreme Court and most decisions will affect a smaller area. By identifying and evaluating the court's reasons for its decision, students will be able to compare and contrast those reasons with their own. 5. Evaluating a Decision and Predicting Its Impact The final step in the case study approach involves reacting, often on a very personal level, to the decision of the court. Especially in cases that are significant and controversial, students both want and need the opportunity to discuss what they think about the court's decision. How does/will the decision affect them and others? Additionally, asking students to predict the impact of court decisions often leads to discussion of actions by other branches of government. Many court cases can be effectively overturned by a change in a statute or policy. Copyright 1991, 1997 Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago Download the document in MS Word format

How to Solve a Case Study

A case study is a collection of facts and data based on a real or hypothetical business situation. The goal of a case study is to enhance your ability to solve business problems, using a logical framework. The issues in a case are generally not unique to a specific person, firm, or industry, and they often deal with more than one retail strategy element. Sometimes, the material presented in a case may be in conflict. For example, two managers may disagree about a strategy or there may be several interpretations of the same facts. In all case studies, you must analyze what is presented and state which specific actions best resolve major issues. These actions must reflect the information in the case and the environment facing the firm.

STEPS IN SOLVING A CASE STUDY

Analysis should include these sequential steps: 1. Presentation of the facts surrounding the case. 2. Identification of the key issues.

3. Listing of alternative courses of action that could be taken. 4. Evaluation of alternative courses of action. 5. Recommendation of the best course of action.

Presentation of the Facts Surrounding the Case

It is helpful to read a case until you are comfortable with the information in it. Re-readings often are an aid to comprehending facts, possible strategies, or questions that need clarification and were not apparent earlier. In studying a case, assume you are a retail consultant hired by the firm. While facts should be accepted as true, statements, judgments, and decisions made by the individuals in a case should be questioned, especially if not supported by factsor when one individual disagrees with another. During your reading of the case, you should underline crucial facts, interpret figures and charts, critically review the comments made by individuals, judge the rationality of past and current decisions, and prepare questions whose answers would be useful in addressing the key issue(s).

Identification of the Key Issue(s)

The facts stated in a case often point to the key issue(s) facing a retailer, such as new opportunities, a changing environment, a decline in competitive position, or excess inventories. Identify the characteristics and ramifications of the issue(s) and examine them, using the material in the case and the text. Sometimes, you must delve deeply because the key issue(s) and their characteristics may not be immediately obvious.

Listing Alternative Courses of Action That Could Be Taken

Next, alternative actions pertaining to the key issue(s) in the case are listed. Consider courses of action based on their suitability to the firm and situation. Thus, the promotion strategy for a small neighborhood stationery store would not be proper for a large gift store located in a regional shopping center. Proposed courses of action should take into account such factors as the business category, goals, the customer market, the overall strategy, the product assortment, competition, legal restrictions, economic trends, marketplace trends, financial capabilities, personnel capabilities, and sources of supply.

Evaluation of Alternative Courses of Action

Evaluate each potential option, according to case data, the key issue(s), the strategic concepts in the text, and the firm's environment. Specific criteria should be used and each option analyzed on the basis of them. The ramifications and risks associated with each alternative should be considered. Important data not included in the case should be mentioned.

Recommendation of the Best Course of Action

Be sure your analysis is not just a case summary. You will be critiqued by your professor on the basis of how well you identify key issues or problems, outline and assess alternative courses of action, and reach realistic conclusions (that take the retailer's size, competition, image, and so on into consideration). You need to show a good understanding of both the principles of strategic retail management and the case. Be precise about which alternative is more desirable for the retailer in its current context. Remember, your goal is to apply a logical reasoning process to retailing. A written report must demonstrate this process.

NOTE: The cases in Retail Management have questions to guide you. However, your analysis should not be limited by them.

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