Case Study Guidelines
Case Study Guidelines: Use these six headings in your case study
1. Statement of the Problem(s)
State
in a few sentences the problem that exists within the case study. There may be
multiple problems. Always keep your audience (a Board of Directors who may have
hired you) in mind while formulating the problem statement; they may have
opposing views on the situation.
2. Summary of the Facts
Briefly,
sum up the facts in the case. It may include pertinent history or background
information, industry trends, or other relevant data.
3. Analysis
Analysis
is often the most difficult portion of the case to write and should be
completed before any attempt to develop physically the writing of the case.
The
tools associated with analysis are comparison, contrast, and synthesis.
Comparison is looking for and then finding similarities among other elements
being analyzed. Contrast is looking for and finding differences between
elements. Synthesis is integrating the information and formulating a consistent
interpretation of the case.
Other
tools include performing an Environmental Scan, a SWOT analysis, or simply
listing pros and cons to several key alternatives.
4. Recommendations
This
section provides direction. Based on the information and analysis, state your
recommendations. This is your "argument." Using the information of
the case and the analysis, you "argue" that certain steps should or
not be taken. Your audience must be able to understand the reasons
for your recommendations. These recommendations should not be summative in
nature, but specific. It is not appropriate from a consultant position to
simply suggest "more research" unless you define who, what, where,
how, why. Nor should you recommend hiring a consultant. Essentially, you ARE
the hired consultant.
5. Conclusion
This
section is for concluding remarks.
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