Case analysis homework

Case Study Selection: All members of the BA 385 class who are pursuing Track A will conduct an analysis on the same case study—“Google, Inc., in China.” This is an important and well known incident that contains many of the themes of this course in the Business Environment. The case study will be a separate attachment along with this document. Note that the case study is a pdf file. It is 20 pages long. Limit your analysis to the material in the case study. Do not do additional research (except, you may do 5 minutes of research on the author and places of employment, if you wish). You cannot find the answers to the template questions on the Internet.

Note the Following: You must do your own work on this case study analysis. Do not collaborate with others. If you quote anyone or use information that should be credited, provide citations in footnotes or in notes-within-your-text. You may use simple citations, but there must be sufficient information for me to locate the source. Review PSU’s policy on Academic Dishonesty in the Syllabus. Sources of information you may use: the case study, textbook, lecture notes, Wal-Mart Case Study Example, and the Week 4 Addendum on Unexamined Presuppositions. You may also write to or ask the instructor for clarification.

Case Study Analysis Example. As a guide for writing your term paper, use my case study analysis example sent to you earlier in the quarter on “Wal-Mart: The Main Street Merchant of Doom.” This analysis will be useful to you for determining formatting and how to approach answering the questions. Do not, however, copy or closely paraphrase any parts of that case study into your term paper. Avoid being derivative. Do not use it as your template.

· Pledges. Before starting to write, sign the Pledge at the beginning of the template by typing your name on the signature line and the date. When you print out the final case study to hand in, then sign and date the ending pledge in ink.

· Template Footnotes. When using the case study analysis template, read and re-read all of the footnotes carefully. They have been placed in the template to help you with definitions, formatting, and suggestions on how to proceed (i.e., approach). Read all of footnote 1 in the template before you begin.

· A First Step. After completing the Pre-Analysis (Section I), read the case study and then tentatively identify the Key Issues (Section IV). You need to know what the key issues are before you begin analyzing the case study, since the key issues should influence your responses. The key issues must focus on one or more of the key concepts of the course. Next, go back to Section II and begin the analysis. Read footnote 6 in the template now.

· The Facts Section. This is a complicated case study with many facts. Avoid letting the number of facts or their technical nature overwhelm you. The only facts that you need to include in the Fact Section ((II)(A)) are the facts that will provide a foundation for understanding the key issues you have identified, for analyzing them, and for supporting your position in Section V. While it is better to error on the side of including too many facts, it is not a good use of your time to include a large number of unnecessary facts. Read footnote 7 in the template now. Note the sentence in italics. It is often useful to list the facts chronologically, thereby creating a time line.

· The Context for the Case Study Analysis. The context for your analysis of this case study is the Business Environment class. Therefore, the key issues should involve the type of issues that are discussed in the textbook and course. Wherever appropriate and possible, you should make reference to the concepts and terminology used in the textbook and course. When using concepts and course-specific terminology, define them. Read the 4th paragraph in footnote 1 in the template now.

· The Subject of the Case Study Analysis. The subject of the case study analysis is Google, Inc. during the period when they first began offering their services to the Chinese people. You should respond to the questions in the template on that basis.

· Section V: The Analyst’s Position. When stating your position on the key issues you will have identified in Section IV, you need in Section V to build a strong, logically developed, and persuasive argument in support of your position based on evidence (see the 2nd sentence of that question (V) and footnote 23). Section V is the most important part of the case study analysis. The analysis leads up to that point. Think of Section IV as the hypotheses, Section II as information gathering and selection of facts, and Section III as the analysis of the information upon which the “term paper” (that is, Section V) will be based. The answer to Section V will constitute approximately 25% of your term paper grade. It is rare to obtain a grade on the term paper higher than the grade for Section V.