Week 15 - Case Study Analysis Presentation

The Ten Commandments of Case Analysis (Adapted from Thompson et. al.)

1. Go through the situation twice, once for a quick overview and once to gain full command of the facts; then take care to explore the information in every one of the case exhibits.

2. Make a complete list of the problems and issues that the company’s management needs to address.

3. Be thorough in your group’s analysis of the company’s situation.

4. Look for opportunities to apply the concepts and analytical tools in the text chapters—all of the cases in the book have very definite ties to the material in one or more of the text chapters!

5. Look for opportunities to apply international/global concepts to the cases. Make sure your group addresses issues that may be similar or different in international settings.

6. Support any and all off-the-cuff opinions with well-reasoned arguments and numerical evidence; don’t stop until you can purge “I think” and “I feel” from your assessment and, instead, are able to rely completely on “The analysis shows.”

7. Prioritize your group’s recommendations and make sure they can be carried out in an acceptable time frame with the available resources. Include the timeframe and resources needed to comply with the recommendations.

8. Support each recommendation with persuasive argument and reasons as to why it makes sense and should result in improved company performance.

9. Review your group’s recommended action plan to see if it addresses the problem and issues your group selected—any set of recommendations that does not address all of the issues and problems you selected is incomplete and insufficient.

10. Avoid recommending any course of action that could have disastrous consequences if it doesn’t work out as planned; therefore, be as alert to the downside risks of your group’s recommendations as you are to their upside potential and appeal.