Final Research Paper

DBA 730 Case Research Paper Guidelines and Rubric

From the syllabus: The case research paper proposal will provide the students an opportunity to identify a question of interest and propose how to research it using the case study method. The proposal topic must be approved by the instructor before the final research paper is produced. The final case research paper is expected to be a high quality research paper that will provide new insights into the question the student identified in the proposal. Students will be encouraged to revise their cases and submit them to an academic conference where cases are commonly accepted (e.g., Southeast Case Research Association annual conference).

Assignment: Common elements of a case include:

- The opening hook - History about the company and/or protagonist - Background information about the industry the company and/or protagonist is in - Description of the primary actors - The primary situation/dilemma (NOTE: this section should NOT contain your

opinion and solution for the dilemma) - The closing hook

While not every case has each of these elements (or are not in the order above), your case should have most, if not all of them. If one of the elements is omitted, you should provide your instructor with a rationale for why this is the case. Regardless of the generic elements listed above, each case must contain the “Four C’s” (characters, conflict, complications, and causality -- see Vega, 2013; p. 71-72) A proposal of your case topic is due in Module 2. The final draft of your case is due in Module 7.