Case analysis paper

Case Study Guidelines

1. Do not repeat in summary form large pieces of factual information from the case. The instructor has read the case and knows what is going on. Rather, use the information in the case to illustrate your statements, to defend your arguments, or to make salient points. Beyond the brief introduction to the company, you must avoid being descriptive; instead, you must be analytical.

2. Make sure the sections and subsections of your discussion flow logically and smoothly from one to the next. That is, try to build on what has gone before so that the analysis of the case study moves toward a climax. This is particularly important for group analysis, because there is a tendency for people in a group to split up the work and say, "I’ll do the beginning, you take the middle, and I’ll do the end." The result is a choppy, stilted analysis because the parts do not flow from one to the next, and it is obvious to the instructor that no real group work has been done.

3. Avoid grammatical and spelling errors. They make the paper sloppy.

4. In some instances, cases dealing with well-known companies don’t include up-to-date research because it was not available at the time the case was written. If possible, do a search for more information on what has happened to the company in subsequent years. Following are sources of information for performing this search:

The World Wide Web is the place to start your research. Very often you can download copies of a company’s annual report from its Web site, and many companies also keep lists of press releases and articles that have been written about them. Thoroughly search the company’s Web site for information such as the company’s history and performance, and download all relevant information at the beginning of your project.

Standard & Poor's industry reports provide detailed information about the competitive conditions facing the company's industry. Be sure to look at this journal.

5. Sometimes instructors hand out questions for each case to help you in your analysis. Use these as a guide for writing the case analysis. They often illuminate the important issues that have to be covered in the discussion.

If you follow the guidelines in this section, you should be able to write a thorough and effective evaluation.

This week, you will work on the JetBlue case within your text.

· Integrating concepts and theories from the text, analyze the company's general and industry environment, internal resources and intellectual assets. Specifically, what are key forces in the general and industry environments that affect JetBlue's choice of strategy? What internal resources and assets does JetBlue have that may give it a competitive advantage?

· Integrating concepts and theories form the text, analyze the company's business-level and corporate-level strategies. Consider what are the components of JetBlue's competitive advantage and whether JetBlue's competitive advantage is sustainable.

· Conduct financial analysis and develop implications on a firm's strategy. Specifically, 1) What trends do you see in the expenses of JetBlue, and how does this cost impact JetBlue's pretax income, 2) During the years 2012 through 2016, one year stands out as particularly successful for JetBlue. Identify the year and describe the factors that played the largest role in making it an exceptional year for the company, and 3) What major year-to-year changes do you see in JetBlue's financial statement (Exhibit 4)? Given what you know about JetBlue from the case, how would you explain these changes?

· Develop recommendations(s) for a 3-5 year strategy. Provide an overview of the timetable and required resources.

· Construct a document in APA 6th edition format effectively demonstrating mastery of written communication with a targeted audience. Your analysis should be based solely on the information in the case. Other than the text, external sources should not be included. Your paper should be between 10-15 pages in length.

Other than the text, external sources should not be included. Your paper should be between 10-15 pages in length.