Mastering Case Analysis in Business: A Comprehensive Guide, Study notes of Marketing

Download Mastering Case Analysis in Business: A Comprehensive Guide and more Study notes Marketing in PDF only on Docsity! Comments on Marketing Case Analyses A case presents a situation involving a managerial problem or issue that requires making decisions and making recommendations. Seems simple, doesn’t it? However, analyzing a case and writing a case report are not easy endeavors; they are challenging and time consuming. The most intimidating part about case study is that there are no right or wrong answers; but let me remind you that there are rarely “clear-cut” right or wrong answers to problems in the real world. The key to success is to provide strong supporting arguments and to wisely use the available information. Most students experience difficulty in adjusting to the case study method of learning. It is undoubtedly easier to acquire factual knowledge through textbooks and lectures. The primary objective of the case method is to give you a hands-on opportunity to apply what you have learned in your course work. In addition, you can practice on realistic business situations in a very low risk environment, i.e. you won’t cost the firm several million dollars for making a poor decision. There is no magic formula, which I can share with you that will help you immediately become an expert in case analysis. However, there are some tips, which will help you get started on the right track, and more importantly stay calm while solving your first few cases. So here they are:  Practice is crucial! It will take you hours (maybe even a few days) to successfully solve the first case. By the end of the term, you will need one afternoon.  Read the case at least 3 times! Highlight all the information relevant to the case analysis, and write notes on the side of the page, especially if the case is long.  There is always more information that you can use and not all the information that you need will be provided. But don’t complain, you have the same information that was available to the manager when the decision was made.  Try to zero in on the most important points and issues in the case. Finding the real problem is half of the solution.  Don’t confuse symptoms with problems (i.e. decrease in sales may be a symptom, lack of motivation of sales force may be the real problem)  Be specific, not wordy. Your case analysis, especially your action-plan and recommendation, should include only relevant information.  Perform relevant analyses. Recommendations supported by sound quantitative analyses are superior to simple, opinion-based ones. Never ignore the numbers!  The only time you should do additional research is when you want to increase your knowledge about the industry or the products presented. Don’t waste time doing additional research for your alternatives.  When you don’t have enough information, make assumptions!  Stay calm! Give yourself some time to learn the concepts of case analysis. 1 Steps to the Written Case Study Step 1: Situation Analysis This is generally done through a short, concise SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of the case. The purpose of this is not the restate the information from the case, but to point out the relevant information necessary for the analysis. Thus, it is important that your situation audit be diagnostic rather than descriptive. The emphasis here is on analysis, diagnosis, synthesis, and interpretation of the situation. Students often feel that they need more information in order to make an intelligent decision. Decision makers rarely find themselves in situations where they have perfect information; therefore they have to make assumptions. There is nothing wrong with making assumptions as long as they are explicitly stated and reasonable. Strengths – internal organizational attributes that are beneficial to the problem/issue at hand Weaknesses - internal attributes that are obstacles/constraints Examples : advertising, service, market share, management, finance, distribution, research and development, etc Opportunities – external conditions that are beneficial to the problem/issue at hand Threats – external conditions that are obstacles/constraints Examples : customer needs and desires, competition and competitive activities, economic conditions, laws, administrative rulings, court decisions, market growth/decline, etc Step 2: Problem/Decision Statement Identification of the main problem, opportunity, or issue in a case is crucial. This should be brief, only 1-3 sentences; however it should be clear to the reader what the case is about, what needs to be done, and what questions need to be answered. A major pitfall in this step occurs in confusing symptoms with problems. You can frequently avoid incorrectly defining a symptom as a problem by thinking in terms of causes and effects. Problems are causes, and symptoms are effects. The key question you should always ask yourself is why. What is the cause? For example, why are sales declining? A final suggestion regarding defining problems is to state them concisely, and if possible, in the form of a question. Example: Should General Mills implement a cent’s off campaign, or should it use coupons to stimulate trial of its new cereal Gold Rush? 2