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Howtowriteamanagerialcasereport2017.pdf

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How to Write a Managerial Case Report Dr. Carol Prahinski, © 2017 A business case is a reflection of a real managerial situation. It really happened. You are the main character, or decision maker, in the business case. So, quickly put yourself into his or her shoes; be familiar with your personal and professional background and the situation. In other words, pay attention to the details; some of them may be important to persuade your manager or the Board of Directors that your recommendation really is the “right” one. The decision maker is usually mentioned in the first paragraph and the case usually revolves around the decision maker – e.g., the interactions, knowledge, and key actions. In developing a managerial report, it is not enough to simply conduct and report your analysis. You must think strategically, consider multiple alternatives, and logically interpret the environment (and people) in which you operate. You must persuade your manager or the Board of Directors that your recommendation is the best one – not with an emotional appeal, but with logic. You must make a decision on the information provided within the case. Regarding your recommendation, no decision is 100% the right one – or the wrong one. The evidence, and your analysis, suggests that one alternative is the preferred one. Your job is to figure out which alternative it is. This moment is not a time to “go with your gut.” Again, we want a logical appeal. Since your recommendation inherently is not 100%, there are some disadvantages of your recommendation. Address the disadvantages. Part of your recommendation should include suggestions on how to mitigate them. When grading the report, I look for the correct identification of the issue, depth in your analysis, reasonableness of your alternatives and recommendation, and a viable action plan. I evaluate your logic to solve the problem. Information or Lack of Information

 As leaders, we do not have full information. We must make decisions based on incomplete or erroneous data. At best, we muddle through our analysis.

 For any business case, do NOT conduct additional outside research. The purpose of a case is for you to creatively attempt to solve the issue with the given information. If you determine that the company went in a particular direction (after the case date), and you recommend that direction, you may have made a terrible decision. Outside knowledge will typically limit your creativity. I do not recommend it.

 If you believe that you do not have enough information to make a decision: o Would you have enough information if you were this decision maker? If yes,

assume you have the needed information and move forward. If you make an assumption, include that assumption within your report. Make sure that your assumption is realistic.

o How significant is the missing information to your ability to make the decision? o When students say “I need to collect more information” or “I need a meeting,” it

is a refusal to make, or to avoid making, a decision. To be an effective leader,

you must take the information you have now and make a decision now. You can’t wait. Your business changes daily and you must respond now.

 Usually, in a case report, you have enough information to make a decision. But, if you really do not think you have enough, conduct a sensitivity analysis by asking yourself the following:

o If I had this additional piece of data/information and it suggested zero (one extreme), how would it affect my decision?

o If I had this additional info, and it was 100% (the other extreme), would my decision be different?

o If these answers are different, where is the tipping point? o Include a summary of this discussion within your analysis section.

Report Headings Use headings to segment the report. I recommend the following sections for most case reports:

 Executive Summary (described on page 5 and 6)  The Issue  Business Environment  Decision Criteria  Alternatives and analysis (sub-headings within this section may be appropriate)  Recommendation  Action Plan

Do not place any heading on the last line (bottom) of a page. Issue

 The issue can usually be stated in one or two sentences.  The determination of the issue is the most important aspect of this process. If you

address the wrong issue, your alternatives and analysis will focus on the wrong concern. In addition, you won’t address the most important problem; you won’t get the promotion you are hoping for; you may get fired.

 Be careful to not focus on the symptoms. (For example, excessive inventory and employee burnout are symptoms).

 In a few business cases (particularly recent Harvard cases), there may be multiple issues presented in the case – one may be the main issue; the others may be minor concerns. The main issue will have the most information associated with it; minor concerns may be incompletely presented. Focus on the main issue.

Usually, issue identification occurs at two levels:  Strategic (“Big Picture”) Issue

o A strategic issue ties to the overall success of the organization, and includes the goals and direction the organization must (should) take to compete effectively.

o Top management is actively looking to solve the issue; the decision looks long-term, e.g., past 12 months on the horizon.

o What do we have to do well to support the goals of the organization?

 Tactical Issue These issues address day-to-day concerns. Examples include: design issues that affect the Product/Process Matrix, bottleneck and capacity issues, variability, quality, and infrastructure, such as rewards and incentives.

Business Environment

 The purpose of this section is to understand the implications of the customers, KSFs, competitors, company and industry. Consider the competitive priorities, business strategy, and supply chain strategy. Assess the level of agreement between the different functional strategies.

 One of the most critical discussions is: Who is your main customer? What is most important to him/her?

 This section can vary considerably depending on the case. The business environment matters and is an important part of the decision making process.

 Apply tools that you’ve learned, in this course and in other courses, to assess the industry, company, competitors and customers.

o Some tools include: Porter’s Five Forces, SWOT, Kraljic, Fisher’s Supply Chain Strategy, Product Life Cycle, Product-Process matrix, among others.

 Make sure that you determine the implications without merely repeating case facts.  This section should be about ½ page to 1 page in length. You may find exhibits helpful.

Do not spend too much time in this area. Allocate your time well. Decision Criteria

 How are you going to evaluate these different alternatives? Select three to five decision criteria, e.g., the criteria which will be used to evaluate the alternatives. The decision criteria should be an extension of your key success factors. Be specific on how your alternatives will be measured. For example, if cost is a decision criterion, specify what type of cost will be analyzed (labor, investment, or some other cost) and how it will be measured (e.g., total dollars and impact on profit.)

 As an example, when evaluating two summer internships, your decision criteria might be salary, benefits, location, job requirements, learning opportunities, connection with the boss and cultural fit (with the business unit, organization, and community), to name a few. Pick the most important criteria (as it relates to your strategy and objectives) and evaluate the alternatives based on the selected criteria.

o Some students will create a table to reflect the comparison of the decision criteria to each alternative and apply subjective weights to each criterion. Make sure there is alignment with the company and functional strategy.

 This section is fairly short, e.g., two or four lines long.  Criteria is plural; criterion is singular (Latin).

Alternatives

 To address the issue, you have multiple alternatives. What are they? List them. Ideally, you have two to five alternatives. Some of these alternatives may have been mentioned in the case (e.g., the business manager is considering two alternatives). Do not be limited by the ones that are mentioned in the case. Sometimes there are additional viable

alternatives. Is there another one that has not been considered by the decision maker? Do you have enough information to adequately evaluate this additional alternative?

 If you find that you are mixing and matching alternatives, you’ve probably mashed several issues together. Separate the issues, and then generate alternatives for each issue.

 If you think you have about 20 alternatives, you have too many. Pick the top two to five for your analysis. Ideally, your alternatives are mutually exclusive. Yet, business problems are not always so cleanly dissected. Sometimes, it is messy. Determine a way to present it clearly. Tables are usually a great way to summarize your message and convey multiple perspectives of it.

 All alternatives are viable. But usually, one of them is better than the others. I’m hiring you, the manager, because I know you can determine which alternative is best.

 Status quo (the existing state of affairs) is never a good alternative. Minimize or eliminate your discussion of the alternative of status quo.

Analysis

 The analysis section is heavily weighted.  Some analysis is conducted prior to determining the alternatives; additional analysis is

conducted to evaluate and compare the alternatives.  Quantitative – analyze the numerical information presented. Some cases provide lots of

data. Again, focus on the issue. What questions do you have that the data may help you answer? Ask your question; examine the data to determine the answer to your question. Then, move on to the next question. Use whatever mathematical tools you have at your disposal to resolve your question – even if you learned the tool in a different course. Some tools may be regression analysis, payback, cost analysis and capacity analysis. Be creative to solve your concerns.

 Qualitative – list the pros and cons of each alternative. Avoid superlatives and derogatory language about the various alternatives.

 A table in the appendix is a great way to summarize key points and save space in your report.

 As a side note, never repeat case facts. Remember that you are this decision maker; you and I know your company’s details, as stated in the case. You want to extend these details and draw implications from them. For example, your company has purchased material from the supplier for 20 years (case fact). What does this fact suggest regarding the relationship between the two companies? Draw implications from this case fact, and others, presented in the case. Repeating data from the case wastes space and bores your reader.

 Assess how each alternative stacks up on the selected criteria. It is more difficult to assess qualitative criteria, but it is just as important.

Recommendation

 Make a decision.  Start with “I (or we) recommend that…”  This section is approximately two to five lines in length.

 Ensure that your recommendation directly stems from the analysis and decision criteria. This is not the time to decide that you made a mistake in your analysis and to recommend something else.

 Make sure that the recommendation was one of your alternatives that was analyzed.  I see many different recommendations. Having the same answer as me is not critical to

receiving a good grade. Yes, some answers are better than others.  Avoid using words such as “I feel that…”, “I think that…”, or “I believe that…” In

general, these words undermine your authority. Persuade through the highlights of your analysis. If you can include the results of your numerical analysis, your presentation will be more powerful.

 Address the cons (disadvantages). Mitigate them. The most effective recommendations include a discussion of its weaknesses, along with suggestions to address those weaknesses.

 Consider contingency plans. If this alternative doesn’t work out, what is your back-up plan?

Action Plan

 Allocate no more than one half of a page to the action plan.  An action plan is an overview of the steps needed to implement your recommendation.  The action plan typically covers six to 12 months (depending on the case).  WHO will do WHAT? WHERE, WHEN and HOW will he/she/they do it? Briefly

outline what steps must be done (in sequential order, ideally).  Some students have found it helpful to use an exhibit, such as a Gantt chart, to display

sequential steps.  Do not suggest a meeting. I have seen too many ineffective meetings. I have seen some

students suggest a meeting under the mistaken belief that the meeting attendees will figure out and resolve the issue.

Executive Summary

 Now, you are ready to write the most important piece of the report, the executive summary.

 The summary is located at the beginning of the report, just after your title page. It is usually single spaced, and usually ½ of a page in length. For our reports in this class, use double space and keep it to a maximum of one page in length.

 The purpose of an executive summary is to summarize the report to enable the busy manager to get the gist of the report quickly. The manager wants to know your assessment of the problem, alternatives, logic, and recommendation quickly. If they want to see the details, the manager will flip to the relevant section of the report to read your details. Your busy manager will probably not read the whole report, but you must be prepared that they will. After all, you don’t know which portion he or she may want to read it in detail. So, be prepared.

 The suggested content of the executive summary is that it contains all elements of the report with an emphasis on the components of the decision. A template is shown here:

I (or we) recommend that (our company) does (recommendation)…because of (issue). The following alternatives were considered (list alternatives)…Based on (decision criteria), (Alt #1) was preferred because (relate it back to the decision criteria). (Alt #2 and #3) would not adequately resolve the issue because... To implement this recommendation, we need to… (action plan) To address the (disadvantages of the recommendation), I (we) recommend… (action plan to mitigate the cons of the decision).

 Remember to use numbers ($, %) in the text to support and sell your message.  A specific example of an executive summary is:

I, Paul Finegan, recommend that our company purchase the TISMA equipment for the packaging of the Junior Mint 1.6 oz. boxes for the negotiated cost of $4.01 million. The TISMA manufacturers are able to provide the necessary equipment within our budget constraints and satisfy our requirements of limited equipment downtime during installation. One TISMA would replace the three machines currently used to package Junior Mints. The Red Rover equipment was also within our budget limits at $4.03 million, but representatives stated that the installation would not be done until January due to their schedule backlog. The capacity of the Red Rover equipment is also sufficient to replace our three machines currently in use. A disadvantage of this recommendation is that the high production speeds may cause excessive scuffing and crushing of the candy. With the new equipment, we must package the candy within three days of its production. Based on the analysis conducted by our Industrial Engineer, this constraint will rarely cause a concern; we currently use the candy within 1.5 days + 0.75 days of production. In the unlikely event that our inventory ages past three days, we can dedicate all new candy production to the TISMA line and the older candy to the packaging lines for the larger-sized boxes, such as the Eagle and Rosemont lines.

Note that the decision criteria are clearly described – cost, installation schedule, scuffing of the candy, and production capacity. Two alternatives are compared. A recommendation is made. The con is addressed. Also note that the business environment does not appear to have an impact on this decision. The issue was, “Which equipment should I buy?” If the issue had been different, such as “Should I buy new equipment?” the economy, our business strategy, and other factors, would be critical to the recommendation. For this executive summary, management had already decided to buy new equipment; you should not revisit that decision.

Presentation  Do not include student names on the report. Include only the team name on the report.

Separately, submit a peer evaluation with all team members listed along with your perspective of each person’s contribution to the project.

 Use Times New Roman, 12-font with 1” margins on all sides of the page.  Maximum page length is five pages, double-spaced, plus up to three pages of exhibits.

The title page, if you chose to use one, is not part of the five page limit.  The document will be printed in black ink; color is not an option.  Bullet points are acceptable if there is a noun and verb.  Graphs, tables and charts are a great way to present your data. Reference your exhibits in

the text of the report.  Explain your mathematical calculations; if I can’t follow the math, I cannot give partial

credit.  Grammar, sentence structure, spelling, and punctuation  it matters. I care about it. I

am a stickler about: o “This (verb)” and “it” are inherently vague; clarify your nouns to avoid

unnecessary confusion. o Spell all numbers that start a sentence. Within a sentence, whole numbers less

than 10 units should be spelled; whole numbers greater than nine should be written as numbers.

o Use commas after prepositional phrases and natural pauses. o Avoid slang and extreme words, such as “always” and “never.” o Proofread and check spelling o A question/answer format is not appropriate o Avoid using the word “you” unless you truly mean me (your professor). o Contractions are not appropriate. It’s = it is. “Its” is the possessive form. But,

again, try to avoid using “it” since the word is vague. o Also, see a separate document, “Sticklers’ Areas of Concern” for additional

guidance.  Be professional in your attitude and word choice.  In the event that a student, or a group, has presented a grammatically poor and

unprofessional report, I will take off points, up to a maximum of 5%, which will be clearly stated on the rubric feedback. I always give feedback on English skills; in the past year, I’ve taken off points twice for an obnoxious disregard to even a passing semblance of a professional presentation. I also take off 5% if the report exceeds the page limits and/or utilizes improper font and margins.