Writing a Case Study

The following is intended to be a comprehensive, yet brief overview of how to approach

and successfully complete a case study. The intent is to provide you with several
guidelines to follow and to provide you with a breakdown of the elements within a good
case study.

Strong case study reports are written when the student places themselves in the role of an
external management consultant. You have been hired by a firm/company to provide logical and
value added advice regarding the future strategy of their business. When students take this
responsibility seriously, they will tend to present very valuable management reports.

As would be expected of an external management consultant, you will be required to perform the
necessary industry and environmental research required to formulate your research that will
ultimately substantiate your strategic alternatives and your recommendation.

But Why a Case Study?

The case analysis approach is, first and foremost, an exercise in learning by doing. It provides
students with a low-risk opportunity to analyze the strategic issues facing the company, and to
develop specific, action-oriented recommendations for solutions. Ultimately, case work is
intended to;

• Improve your analytical skills

• Hone your ability to research the external environment in which the company operates
• Hone your ability to develop strong mission and vision statements
• Expose you to different industries
• Expose you to common managerial issues
• Learn by doing and to apply theoretical learning

Where do I Start? How to Approach a Case Study: (adapted from: A guide to Case Analysis)

Cases can quite often present an overwhelming amount of issues and information. The following
is advice on how to approach the case study in a logical and methodological way:

1. Skim the case rather quickly to get an overview of the situation it presents. This quick
overview should give you the general flavor of the situation and indicate the kinds of issues
and problems you will need to wrestle with. If your instructor has provided you with study
questions for the case, now is the time to read them carefully.

2. Read the case thoroughly to digest the facts and circumstances. On this reading, try to gain
full command of the situation presented in the case. Begin to develop some tentative
answers to the questions from your instructor or within the case.

3. Carefully review all the information presented in the exhibits. Often, there is an important
story in the numbers contained in the exhibits. Expect the information in the case exhibits to
be crucial enough to materially affect your diagnosis of the situation.

4. Decide what the strategic issues are. Until you have identified the strategic issues and
problems in the case, you don’t know what to analyze, which tools and analytical techniques
are called for, or otherwise how to proceed. At times the strategic issues are clear – they
are either stated directly in the case or easily inferred from it. At other times you will have to
dig out the issues from all the information given.
 5. Start your analysis of the issues with some number crunching. A big majority of strategy
cases call for some kind of number crunching – calculating assorted financial ratios to check
out the company’s financial condition and recent performance, calculating growth rates of
sales or profits or unit volume, checking out profit margins and the makeup of the cost
structure, and understanding whatever revenue-cost-profit relationships are present.

6. Apply the concepts and techniques of strategic analysis you have been studying. Strategic
analysis is not just a collection of opinions, rather it entails applying the concepts described
later in this document. Every case assigned is strategy related and presents you with an
opportunity to usefully apply what you have learned. Your instructor is looking for you to
demonstrate that you know how and when to use the material presented later.

7. Check out conflicting opinions and make some judgments about the validity of all the data
and information provided. Many times cases report views and contradictory opinions (after
all, people don’t always agree on things, and different people see the same things in
different ways). Forcing you to evaluate the data and information presented in the case
helps you develop your powers of inference and judgment. Resolving conflicting information
comes with the territory because a great many managerial situations entail opposing points
of view, conflicting trends, and sketchy information.

8. Support your diagnosis and opinions with reasons and evidence. Most important is to
prepare your answers to the question “why?” For instance, if after studying the case you are
of the opinion that the company’s managers are doing a poor job, then it is your answer to
“why do you think so?” that establishes just how good your analysis of the situation is. If you
instructor has provided you with specific study questions for the case, by all means prepare
answers that include all the reasons and number-crunching evidence you can muster to
support your diagnosis.

9. Develop and appropriate action plan and set of recommendations. Diagnosis divorced
from corrective action is sterile. The test of a manager is always to convert sound analysis
into sound actions-actions that will produce the desired results. Hence, the final and most
telling step in preparation a case is to develop an action agenda for management that lays
out a set of specific recommendations. Bear in mind that proposing realistic, workable
solutions is far preferable to casually tossing out top-of-the-head suggestions. Be prepared
to explain why your recommendations are more attractive than other courses of action that
are open.

Preparing a Written Case Analysis:

Your instructor may assign a specific format to follow, or you may be asked to complete a written
case analysis where you will be expected to:

1. Identify all the pertinent issues that management needs to address

2. perform whatever analysis or evaluation is appropriate
3. propose a set of recommendations and an action plan addressing the issues you have
identified

Introduction:
The introduction should introduce yourself, and your mandate. It should also include a brief
statement regarding the contents or format of your report.

Issue Identification:

Identify the firm’s strategy and strategy implementation issues may exist
State problems/issues as clearly and precisely as you can.
Unless necessary, avoid recounting facts and history about the company.
Issues can be prioritized by primary issues and secondary issues
Management needs/wants can be outlined within the issue identification section

Situation Analysis & Evaluation:

The student must analyze the case in order to arrive at a coherent and insightful view of the
company’s strategic problems and solutions.
• Don’t underestimate the need for analysis
• Analyze the firm’s financial ratios, profit margins, rates of returns, capital structure and
how strong the firm is financially.
• Analyze marketing capabilities, production, managerial competence, and other aspects
underlying the firm’s ability to compete successfully
• Identify the strengths that will be required to successfully implement the
recommendations and the weaknesses that could be mitigated by your
recommendations.
• Identify opportunities which the company could take advantage of and threats that may
face the company or industry.
• Analyze any aspect of the company, industry or external environment that will be required
to substantiate your recommendation and/or analyze your alternatives.
• Keep in mind that your supporting analysis should be found within the exhibits with
relevant analysis integrated into your report.
• Ensure that your analysis is not biased or one-sided. A well-rounded analysis will ensure
that you can convince…

Strategic Alternatives

Only ‘strategic’ alternatives should be assessed within your report.

Recommendation

Your recommendation should be based on the situation analysis and the alternative analysis from
the previous two sections.

The recommendation section should include an overview of the potential value creation.

Conclusion

Executive Summary:

The executive summary should be written following the case report. In essence, an executive
summary is a ‘report-in-short’ or a synopsis of your report.
Analysis Tools / Types of Analysis:

SWOT

A scan of the internal and external environment is an important part of the strategic planning
process. Environmental factors internal to the firm usually can be classified as strengths (S) or
weaknesses (W), and those external to the firm can be classified as opportunities (O) or threats
(T). (quickmba)

The SWOT analysis provides information that is helpful in matching the firm’s resources and
capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates. As such, it is instrumental in
strategy formulation and selection. The following diagram shows how a SWOT analysis fits into
an environmental scan. (quickmba)

The SWOT Matrix (example)

Strengths Implications / Impact of Strengths

• What advantages does your company
have?
• What do you do better than anyone
else?
• What unique or lowest-cost resources
do you have access to?
• What do people in your market see as
your strengths?
Weaknesses Implications / Impact of Weaknesses
• What could you improve?
• What should you avoid?
• What are people in your market likely
to see as weaknesses?
•
Opportunities Implications / Impact of Opportunities
• Where are the good opportunities
facing you?
• What are the interesting trends you are
aware of?
Useful opportunities can come from such
things as:
• Changes in technology and markets on
both a broad and narrow scale
• Changes in government policy related
to your field
• Changes in social patterns, population
profiles, lifestyle changes, etc.
• Local Events
Threats Implications / Impact of Threats
• What obstacles do you face?
• Are the required specifications for your
job, products or services changing?
• Is changing technology threatening
your position?
• Do you have bad debt or cash-flow
problems?
• Could any of your weaknesses
seriously threaten your business?
PEST Analysis:

PEST Analysis is a simple but important and widely-used tool that helps you understand the big
picture of the Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural and Technological environment you are
operating in. PEST is used by business leaders worldwide to build their vision of the future.

It is important for the following main reasons:

• Firstly, by making effective use of PEST Analysis, you ensure that what you are doing is
aligned positively with the powerful forces of change that are affecting our world. By
taking advantage of change, you are much more likely to be successful than if your
activities oppose it;

• Secondly, good use of PEST Analysis helps you avoid taking action that is doomed to
failure for reasons beyond your control; and

• Thirdly, PEST is useful when you start operating in a new country or region. Use of PEST
helps you break free of unconscious assumptions, and helps you quickly adapt to the
realities of the new environment.

How to use the tool:

Using the tool is a three stage process:

• Firstly, you brainstorm the relevant factors that apply to you;
• Secondly, you identify the information that applies to these factors; and
• Thirdly, you draw conclusions from this information.

The following factors may help as a starting point for brainstorming (but make sure you include
others that may be appropriate to your situation):

Political:
• Government type and stability
• Freedom of press, rule of law and levels of bureaucracy and corruption
• Regulation and de-regulation trends
• Social and employment legislation
• Tax policy, and trade and tariff controls
• Environmental and consumer-protection legislation
• Likely changes in the political environment

Economic:
• Stage of business cycle
• Current and project economic growth, inflation and interest rates
• Unemployment and labor supply
• Labor costs
• Levels of disposable income and income distribution
• Impact of globalization
• Likely impact of technological or other change on the economy
• Likely changes in the economic environment

Socio-Cultural:
 • Population growth rate and age profile
• Population health, education and social mobility, and attitudes to these
• Population employment patterns, job market freedom and attitudes to work
• Press attitudes, public opinion, social attitudes and social taboos
• Lifestyle choices and attitudes to these
• Socio-Cultural changes

Technological Environment:
• Impact of emerging technologies
• Impact of Internet, reduction in communications costs and increased remote working
• Research & Development activity
• Impact of technology transfer

PEST Analysis is a useful tool for understanding the “big picture” of the environment in which you
are operating, and the opportunities and threats that lie within it. By understanding your
environment, you can take advantage of the opportunities and minimize the threats.
(mindtools)
Competitive Analysis:
It is extremely important to analyze the competitive landscape prior to analyzing your alternatives
and your final recommendations.

One method to analyzing competitors is the following:

Competitor #1 Competitor #2 Competitor #3

Strengths
Weaknesses

Implications of analysis: This is where you would sum-up or synthesize your analysis from
above. How will this information/data impact the company? What are the implications and

Consumer / Customer Analysis:

Financial Analysis:

May include (but not be limited to):

• Payback: Investment/Net benefit + depreciation
• Break-even: Total fixed costs / Selling Price – Variable Costs
• Projected Proformas
• Is the company financially able to implement the recommendations? Prove it.
Alternative Analysis:

Alternatives should be analyzed in light of the situation analysis (SWOT/PEST/Consumer

analysis/Customer analysis) to determine “fit” of the alternative to the company’s overall mission
and the internal/external environment.

For instance;

Alternative #1:

Pros: Cons:

-(these points should utilize your analysis to - (these points should utilize your analysis to
illustrate why this alternative is the right thing to illustrate why this alternative is the wrong thing
do) to do)
- -

Alternative #2:

Pros: Cons:

-(these points should utilize your analysis to - (these points should utilize your analysis to
illustrate why this alternative is the right thing to illustrate why this alternative is the wrong thing
do) to do)
- -

Researching the External Environment:

It will be imperative that a thorough external analysis be completed. This may include
researching;
• The competitive landscape / environment
• Customer needs / desires
• Political / Economical / Socio-Cultural / Technological aspects of the external
environment than may impact the company’s ability to compete
• Opportunities available for the company or industry
• Threats facing the company or industry
• Operating environment (geographic locations,

Research Sources:

SAIT Library Resources -

Online Data Services – Bloomberg Financial News Services
Internet Search Engines – Google, (keep in mind that data retrieved from the Internet is
unfiltered and additional verification may be necessary)
Government websites – StatsCanada, Chamber of Commerce City websites,

Note: Remember to cite all sources with a footnote and a properly formatted bibliography (APA,
MLA format)
The 10 Commandments of Case Analysis: (adapted from A Guide to case Analysis)

1. Go through the case twice, once for a quick overview and once to gain full command of the facts;
then take care to explore the information in every one of the case exhibits.
2. Make a complete list of the problems and issues that the company’s management needs to
address.
3. Be thorough in your analysis of the company’s situation.
4. Use every opportunity to apply the concepts and analytical tools in the next chapters
5. Do enough number crunching to discover the story told by the data presented in the case
6. Support any and all opinions with well-reasoned arguments and numerical evidence; don’t stop
until you can purge “I think” and “I feel” from your assessment and instead are able to rely completely
on “My analysis shows”.
7. Prioritize your recommendations and make sure they can be carried out in an acceptable time from
with the available resources.
8. Support each recommendation with persuasive argument and reasons as to why it makes sense
and should result in improved company performance.
9. Review your recommended action plan to see if it addresses all of the problems and issues you
identified – any set of recommendations that does not address all of the issues and problems you
identified is incomplete and insufficient.
10. Avoid recommending any course of action that could have disastrous consequences if it doesn’t
work out as planned; therefore, be as alert to the downside risks of your recommendations as you are
to their upside potential and appeal.

Final Thoughts & Checklist -

Have all the outstanding issues been addressed?
Are your recommendations logical? Does it illustrate good judgment?
Are your recommendations substantiated or backed up by analysis?
Do you require any additional analysis / data to support your recommendations?
Will your report be useful to the intended decision-maker?