3.3 Case Study Analysis

WHAT ARE CASE STUDIES?

The case study is an account of an administrative problem or situation in a real or imagined organization. In addition to the description of a specific problem, a case study may include additional information necessary to place the scenario in context and an analysis of possible solutions or actions arising from the situation.

One author of case studies, Paul R. Lawrence, defined the case study as follows:

A good case is the vehicle by which a chunk of reality is brought into the classroom to be worked over by the class and the instructor. A good case keeps the class discussion grounded upon some of the stubborn facts that must be faced in real life situations. It is the anchor on academic flights of speculation. It is the record of complex situations that must be literally pulled apart and put together again before the situations can be understood. It is the target for the expression of attitudes or ways of thinking brought into the classroom.1

The purpose of using a case study in a teaching environment is to present the student with a scenario as close to that which he or she may encounter in subsequent work, in order that the student may be able to work through the problem and devise reasonable and workable solutions.

The case study puts the student in the problem solver’s shoes.

The case study does not provide answers. Rather, it raises questions and allows the student to work through the decision-making process and find his or her preferred solution. The case study generates an action-oriented teaching environment; the student must actively participate in the process in order to meet the learning objectives. Through this process, much of the responsibility for learning is naturally transferred to the student.

1 Paul R Lawrence, ‘The Preparation of Case Material,’ in Kenneth R Andrews, ed., The Case Method of Teaching Human Relations and Administration (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1953), p. 215.

Case studies can help the student develop the following skills:

• identifying and recognizing problems

• understanding and interpreting data

• understanding and recognizing assumptions and inferences, as opposed to concrete facts

• thinking analytically and critically

• understanding and assessing interpersonal relationships

• exercising and making judgments

• communicating ideas and opinions

• making and defending decisions.

A case study presents a realistic problem, one that might reasonably take place within the normal work environment. The case study will include the complexities natural in the work environment, such as questions of policy or procedure, issues relating to reporting relationships or hierarchies or financial or administrative concerns.

Case studies should be as realistic as possible.

Case studies are often based on actual situations, which may be fictionalized to protect confidentiality. They are usually institutionally organized, dealing with a situation within an organization or agency. In order to make the case study as realistic as possible, the author must report to the best of his or her ability the facts of the case at the time the problem existed.

(Excerpted from)

WRITING CASE STUDIES: A MANUAL

ADAPTED FOR USE BY THE ONLINE LEARNING CENTRE USE THIS MANUAL AS A GUIDE TO PREPARING YOUR OWN CASE MATERIALS

www.ntu.edu.vn/Portals/96/.../case%20writing%20manual.pdf