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CASE ANALYSIS OUTLINE This outline if for both the individual and the team case write-up

Management

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CASE ANALYSIS OUTLINE

This outline if for both the individual and the team case write-up. The team case analysis score is the same for all team members

1.         Major Problem or Issues

This section of the report states the major problems or issues faced by the organization over the next 5-10 years.  A problem is something that stands in the way of achieving objectives and an issue is a situation that the organization must deal with to fulfill its vision/mission and accomplish its objectives.

 

2.         Analysis

            This section of the report details the analysis related to the major problems and/or issues identified in 1 above. The thorough analysis of the company’s situation will lead to viable alternatives to solve the problem or deal with the issues.

 

            Analysis for single line of business organizations:

A.        Organizational vision/mission, objectives, current strategy

B.        SWOT analysis

C.        Competitive Analysis

D.        Financial Analysis

E.         Implementation Issues/Problems

6. Evaluation/Control Procedures

What are the strategic implications of the above analysis?

 

Analysis for multi-line of business organizations:

1.       Portfolio analysis
2.       Resource allocation/restructuring needs

What are the strategic implications of the multi-line of business analysis?

 

3.         Alternative Solutions to Problems/Issues

This section of the report identifies 3 or more viable alternatives the company could pursue to solve the problem or address the issues.  Do nothing is not normally an alternative.

A.        List of 3 or More

2. Pros and Cons of Each Alternative

4. Recommended Course of Action\Justification

The section of the report details the chosen alternative and why this alternative is better than the other listed in 3 above.

5.   Implementation Plan

  This section of the report spells out “Who will do What, When, and With what Resources”.  A good strategy that is not well implemented will produce less than satisfactory results.

Case Analysis

            Case analysis is an exercise in decision making-it puts you in the role of a decision maker or a team of decision makers. A decision is defined as a choice among alternative courses of action. This indicates that some process has been followed to get to the choice event.  Strategic decisions affect an organization for 5-10 in the future while tactical decisions affect the organization for a shorter period, perhaps a year or less. For example, “Do we enter a new business?” would be a strategic decision while “How much should we budget for advertising this year?” is a tactical decision. When analyzing a written case, you are to put yourself in the position of a company executive or a consultant-knowing what they knew then and make a choice or recommend a choice. You are not trying to update the case or find out what the company did in a situation. (Hindsight is better than foresight-but not when analyzing a case.) Besides, what the company did may not have been the best course of action.

            The decision-making process begins with an identification of a problem or issue faced by an organization. A problem is something that stands in the way of accomplishing an objective(s) whereas an issue is something that should be dealt with to guard/improve a company’s situation. Once the problem/issue is defined, the next step is a detailed analysis of the internal and external environment so you are you have the information you need to develop alternative solutions to address the problem/issue.

            After a set of two or more alternatives are developed, the pros and cons of each alternative need to be evaluated to determine the impact of selecting and alternative. The next step is to select or recommend a course of action which deemed the “best” course of action to address the problem/issue. Then justify the choice of a specific course of action-why this alternative is better than competing alternatives. By the way, there is no “correct” answer in a case analysis. Two people could analyze the same case and come to different conclusions but have logically justified their decisions based on information in the case.

            Finally, implementation of the chosen course of action is needed. Who will do what, in what time frame, and with what resources” Answering these questions, put “feet” to the decision and requires action to implement the chosen alternative.

            Using the case analysis outline provided will take you through this process.