Your full case report is to be a professional document, prepared according to the instructions in the modules and the Case Report Reference Guide, which includes:
Definition of Success
Critical Issues
Situation Analysis
Decision Criteria
Options Analysis
Recommendations
Your report may be no more than 1,000 words plus 4 pages of professionally formatted exhibits. Portions of submissions beyond the word/exhibit limit will not be considered for grading.
Case reports are graded out of 100 and considered in their entirety. Weakness in any one area of the case weakens the chain of logic and therefore significantly impacts the overall grade.
The following briefly summarizes expectations for each area of the case. For full explanation of the case process and report expectations, refer to the ENTR3100 Course Guide, your course presentation, and notes from class.
Definition of Success/Critical Issues
Success is specific, measurable, attainable/feasible, relevant to operation’s goals/vision, and presented with a time restriction (SMART).
Success is solution neutral
Problems or opportunities presented are critical to survival
Issues express root causes not symptoms
All are solution neutral
Weakness here limits overall mark potential
Situation Analysis
Summary of internal & external analysis with supporting detail in exhibits
Summary results from appropriate analytical tools with tables and support in exhibits
Financial position summary with appropriate support in exhibits
Analysis of what’s causing the current situation and conclusions provide context for decision making
Decision Criteria
Criteria relate to definition of success and critical issues
Consider qualitative and quantitative
Include targets and a constraint in at least one measure and in all that are appropriate
Are SMART in at least one measure and in all cases that are appropriate
They are objective (not leading)
Option Analysis
Options presented are complete & implementable/fleshed out
Analysis identifies relevant costs
Analysis forecasts potential ROI/profitability of options
Analysis clearly demonstrates option’s ability to achieve decision criteria and address critical issues
Risk/benefit analysis of each option performed
Recommendations
Flow logically from analysis
Includes immediate next steps
Implementation details and implications accounted for
Provides quantitative and qualitative justification
Deductions
Up to 100 marks may be deducted for poor spelling, grammar, sentence structure, syntax, presentation, illogical flow, failure to follow submission instructions, academic misconduct and/or plagiarism (see the Academic Integrity Statement in Moodle.)
The Objectives of Case Study:
To learn to identify organizational critical issues
To learn to draw insightful and meaningful conclusions about an organization by analysing the organization’s current situation.
To work with company opportunities and problems
To develop and evaluate possible solutions and courses of action
To learn by asking questions and discussing possible solutions
To build communication skills through discussion and debate
To build writing skills through submission of professional assignment documents
Proceed with Caution:
Although there are many merits to the case method there are some things of which you should be mindful. For instance, cases typically contain more information than would be available to you as a real-life manager of a company. Normally, as a decision maker in an organization you would not only have to analyse the situation and develop alternatives, you would also have to dig up some, if not all, of the pertinent information on your own.
Not only would you have to be able to identify the information that you need to consider, and hunt down all of the necessary details, but you would also have to put it all into some semblance of order. The information in cases is usually more organized than it would be in real life. In a real company situation, the data would be scattered all around about and you’d have to make some sense of it yourself.
So cases are really a simplified version of the decision making and analysis that awaits you in courses to come in your degree, and your professional life thereafter.
Writing a Case Report
A case report has the following 7 key areas:
Definition of Success
Critical Issues (approximately 2-5)
Situation Analysis
Decision Criteria
Options Analysis
Recommendations Implementation
Exhibits
Definition of Success & Critical Issues
(Approximately 100 words)
Here you outline what the organization is trying to achieve and then list the critical problems that are preventing them from achieving this success and/or the critical opportunities that, if properly leveraged, will help them achieve this desired success. This section of the report should be very brief and follow a format such as…
In order to (insert your SMART definition of what it means for this organization to succeed) they need to address the following:
(insert critical problem or opportunity #1) in order to avoid/prevent/manage etc. (insert consequence of action or inaction)
(insert critical problem or opportunity #2) in order to avoid/prevent/manage etc. (insert consequence of action or inaction)
etc…
NOTE: There is no need to provide background of the case. Include 2-5 critical issues that must be resolved within the next two years to survive/thrive. Keep in mind that:
Issues are solution-neutral
Issues describe root causes not symptoms
If you define the issues incorrectly, you are solving the wrong problems
Analysis
(Approximately 450 words)
What is the cause of this situation? What conclusions from your analysis led you to believe that the critical issues you identified are “critical”? What conclusions did you make about the internal and external environments of the firm that a decision maker must know in order to have a sound understanding of the critical issues, AND be sufficiently informed to make decisions about what should be done? Summarize your conclusions here. Be sure that you are summarizing CONCLUSIONS from your analysis and not simply summarising or repeating case facts.
Decision Criteria
(Approximately 50 words)
What criteria will be used to decide on what to do? What does a successful outcome look like? Are there any constraints under which the decision maker must operate? Define these in such a way that you can apply them to all options, and that they can be definitively applied. That is, make these SMART
Options Analysis
What could the organization do to address the critical issues? These should be full strategies to address the issues. What you suggest here is supposed to solve “critical” issues. The actions the organization could consider to address these things will need to be comparably substantial. For each fully formed, substantial course of action you need to demonstrate how well it performs against the criteria you established.
Recommendations/Action Plans
Of the options you considered above, which one(s) will you recommend? How will you address weaknesses or negative consequences of your plan? What are the first steps to implementation? Your recommendation should flow logically from analysis, criteria and options. No new analysis or options can be included here. Remember, strategy is about making choices: what to do and what NOT to do. It is rarely possible for a firm to do everything that you considered in your options. If you are inclined to recommend doing it all, you will want to reconsider carefully.
This section should be concluded with a timeline, total budget, expected returns and a risk assessment.
Exhibits
Items that support your statements in the main body of the report should be included here. They could be tables, diagrams, calculations or items such as SWOT, Porters, Value Chain, Segmentation, Financials, etc. They should appear in the order you mention them in your case. Each should be numbered, include a descriptive title and have a conclusion statement that gives context to the reader about what the exhibit is showing. This conclusion should answer the “so what?” That is, why should the reader pay attention to this exhibit? What conclusion(s) are most important from what is shown here?
Exhibits are NOT the place to dump narrative that you couldn’t fit in the main report due to the word limit. Use your words wisely. Be concise.
Notes on formatting Case Reports
Case reports are concise documents that convey critical decision making information in an efficient an effective report. Here are some tips to help you accomplish this:
Don’t repeat case facts! You can assume that your audience is the decision maker in the case. He/she is familiar with the details. You need to provide the conclusions from your analysis, that is, the value added info beyond what they provided to you in the case.
Use short sentences. Be direct. This is not an English essay. It is a business document. Write to be clear and understood, not fancy.
Don’t repeat yourself. Take the time to organize your work carefully to avoid duplication.
Make note of the word count. Writing more than 10% beyond the word count limit will not be considered for grading.
Use footnotes to:
Refer to exhibits. Include the exhibit number and title in the footnote
Cite information from your research using the Chicago Style
Include annotations to explain assumptions, brief rationale or short equations
EXHIBIT SHOULD be SMART, PEST, PORT FIVE, SWOT, ACCOUNTING CALCULATION, AND SO ON… BBA CASE /ANALYSIS REPORT.
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