GUIDELINES ON CASE WRITING

History

The year was 1911. In the history of the famous Harvard Business School
(HBS), surprisingly, for the first time, they got a lawyer as the Dean of
HBS. When he started reviewing the pedagogy used at HBS, he was
surprised to find that the ‘Case Method’ was not used at HBS. He invited
the entire faculty and informed that in Law Schools, the case method is
an accepted norm and why it cannot be used in Business Schools. He
requested all the faculty members to compile data on various
organizations and develop cases in their areas of specialization which can
be used for learning by the students. That was for the first time the ‘Case
Method’ came to be used in B-Schools. Since then, most of the good B-
Schools are using the same all over the world.

The management education in India started some time in the early 1960
with the setting up of IIM-Kolkata. This was followed by IIM-
Ahmedabad and later at Bangalore, Lucknow, Kozikode and Indore.
Today in 2008, management education is the most sought after discipline
all over India. This has given rise to the proliferation of B-Schools, few
good ones and large number of ones who are not up to the mark. There
are institutes who offer full time, part time as well as distant learning
programmes.

Till 1978, most of the cases used by IIM’s and better known B-Schools in
India were borrowed from the HBS. They had to pay a certain royalty for
the use of the same. In the initial stages, the case method suffered from
the following lacunae:

All the cases were from American origin. The Indian students had
no exposure to those environments. They found it difficult to
associate with the issues involved.

The cases were quite lengthy, sometimes, going into as many as 30
pages and more. Indian students did not have the patience to read
the entire case.

There were very few data bases which were available to compile
the secondary and macro level data on the Indian markets. There
were no budgets available to do primary research.

A majority of the faculty members were not exposed to use the
Case Method in their pedagogy.

The use of Case Method was very much restricted in the initial years..

Perhaps, the first book on cases of Indian origin was Indian Cases in
Marketing Management (1) published in 1978. It had 62 cases covering
every type of industry as well as every aspect of marketing management.
It got rave reviews in business periodicals. Many B-Schools in India
started using them, surprisingly, infringing the Copyrights Act! Today,
large number of cases written by Indian authors are now available in
every discipline like Strategic Management, Marketing, Finance and
Human Resources Management to name a few. With Indian corporate
scene becoming more dynamic after the liberalization in 1991, more
material was available from every sector. This included Sectors
(Government, Public, Private and others), Size (Small, Medium &
Large), Nature of Business (Manufacturing, Trading & Services) and
Geography (Domestic, Rural & International)

What is a Case?

A Case is a description of an organization at a certain period of time,

containing its history, its external environments and internal operations.
It exposes issues, problems and aspirations at a particular juncture. It
could be in any functional area of management.

The Cases written are always real. They are built around a theme and
expanded to make them interesting. However, from a legal point of view,
most of the times, the names of the organizations as well as the persons
are changed. They provide quantitative as well as qualitative data.

Limitations of Case Method

Undoubtedly, the Case method is a good tool in learning. However, it

suffers from the following limitations:

The cases can become outdated. For example, a case written in
early 70’s on Typewriters will have no relevance today as the
product has become obsolete with the advent of computers. Also,
the Balance Sheet given say for the year ended 2006 may not be
of much use because two more years of Balance Sheets will now
be available. It may not be possible to keep on updating the cases
regularly.

It requires some domain knowledge of the industry it covers. For
example, if there is a case on CNC Controlled Vertical Turret
Lathe which is priced in excess of Rs.40 lakhs and will have an all
India potential of around 40 per year. If you do not know this, you
may recommend advertising on TV which will be meaningless!

The secondary data on the industry covered may not be available
easily. In that case, the students tend to base their arguments only
on the data given in the case. This could be inadequate.

In spite of these limitations, the Case Method is one of the best ways of
learning in B-Schools.

Objectives of Case Method

Case Method serves many purposes. The main ones being as given
below:

It exposes students to different types of organizations and

problems faced by them in different functional areas. In a span of
two year’s full time programme, a student can be exposed to as
many as 100 cases on different subjects. This he/she is unlikely to
obtain in his entire span of career of approximately 36-37 years.

It helps students’ acquire skills to apply various concepts,
tools/techniques taught in the class room to apply to practical
situations.

It cultivates habits of compilation of facts, both at macro & micro
levels on the industry under study.

It inculcates the habits of diagnosing problems and analysis of the
same.

It helps in evaluating the alternatives and formulating workable
plans.

The Case Method is invariably used in groups. It, therefore,
develops Team work.

It results in a Focused Approach amongst students because most of
the cases have a theme and they have to identify the same. This
makes them think clearly.

The Case Method is with Zero Risk. In reality, when a student
starts working and takes a decision resulting in failure, it will result
in his/her ouster.

It helps in developing good communication skills amongst students
as they have to make their presentations either in written or oral
form clearly, forcefully and in convincing manner.

It can provide Career Guidance to students. The can overcome the
confusion and decide to choose their career path.

Case Analysis

The write-up below can help both the students as well as the faculty to
make use of the Case Method.

Read the case given to you carefully. First, hurriedly and later
carefully making notes of the important issues covered.

Carry out a situational analysis of both internal and external
environments.

Identify the problem areas/s.

Analyze the reasons for this situation, why it happened.

Use various concepts, tools & techniques to analyze.

Evaluate the various options available.

Recommend a choice

Recommend an action plan.

Do Secondary Research and compile data relevant to the
industry and the organization.

Tools used in Case Analysis

There are large numbers of tools & techniques which are taught in the B-
School which are put to use while doing case analysis. These are
Management Innovations which have been developed by management
thinkers over last 160 years or so. A partial list of the main ones is given
below under the headings of respective functional areas.
Strategic Management

SWOT analysis

BCG Product Portfolio Matrix

McKinsey 7-S frame work

GE market attractiveness model

Porter’s model on competitive forces

Porter’s model on competitive advantage of nations

Ansoff model on generic growth strategies

Root cause analysis

Marketing

Sales analysis with respect to products, territories and end users

Market share analysis

Marketing expense analysis, sue of marketing ratios

Consumer behavior theories, attitudinal tracking

Product life cycle

Strategic marketing (STP)

Marketing audit

Finance

Financial ratio analysis

Inter firm comparison

Break even analysis

Sensitivity analysis

Investment appraisal techniques

P/e analysis

Behavioral analysis

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Herzberg’s motivational theory

McGregor’s theory X & Y

Theory Z

Managerial grid

Situational leadership

Intrapreneuring
Case writing

The Case Writing is both a Science as well as an Art. It is akin to story

writing. The students as well as faculty who are desirous of writing cases
in any functional area will have to cultivate the abilities of writing precise
and interesting prose. Given below are several tips to make a beginning:

Decide the functional area in which you want to write a case. It

could be in Strategic Management, Marketing, Finance, HR,
Systems and others.

The cases will emerge from the secondary as well as primary
sources. You will have to continuously look for germ of an idea
for writing a case.

Look for data from newspapers, business magazines, annual
reports of companies as well as from audio-visual media which
you feel can be developed in a Case.

When you visit an organization, interact with managers and
CEO’s of different companies; ask them about any peculiar
situation they are facing. It could be about launch of a new
product/ service, handling a difficult customer, how they won an
order against tough competition, looking ahead in the future,
handling issues like attrition of personnel, matters of intellectual
property rights (IPR), overcoming problems of rejection & quality
control and many others.

Management Consultants are also good sources of data for case
writing. As they are assisting different types of businesses in
solving their problems, many of these assignments can be
converted in case studies.

Compile data both on external as well as internal environments.
This is the Science part of case writing.

Put this data in an interesting manner which will arouse the
curiosity of students. This is the Art part of case writing.

There is no hard and fast rule on the length of a case. It will also
depend on the quality and level of students. Those who are
working executives and are pursuing part time courses may not
find time to read a lengthy case. For them, 1-2 pages of a case on
a theme will be more appropriate. For full time students in better
known B-Schools, a case could be of anywhere up to 30 pages.
That typically is the length of a case given at HBS. This will help
 in cultivating the habit of reading, being precise in problem
identification.

It is not necessary to give all the data in the case. As seen earlier, a
Case Method is to bring home the importance of Data Collection,
purposely; some data can be kept missing. Either the students will
have to do secondary research to collect the missing data or will
have to make certain assumptions. This is the general practice in
case analysis.

A dramatized presentation will make a case more attractive and
will catch the attention of the students.

The quantitative data should be relevant and such where the
various tool & techniques taught to them in the classroom and
discussed earlier can be put to use.

Please remember that Case Method is not Arithmetic where there
will always be only one answer. A case analysis can give rise to
different alternatives and all of them could be correct. The
students’ should be encouraged to think differently and come out
with unusual alternatives.

As the saying goes, the ‘Proof of Pudding is in Eating’. More you would
start writing cases; more you would find it easier over a period. You will be
able to cultivate a style which will be appealing to students and help in their
learning. Attached is a sample case written by the author based on only a
news item which appeared in a business magazine.
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References
1. Sarwate Dilip M. ‘Indian cases in Marketing Management’ First
edition 1978, Abhijit Publishers, Pune
2. ICFAI Business School ‘Case Method’

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Sample Case study

Philips electric shaver

The Problem
How do you dare redesign an icon? When the Dutch company Royal
Philips Electronics pioneered the rotating blade electrical razor in 1939
and sold it in 1947 in America as the Norelco Shaver, it designed a brand
as much as a product. ‘Norelco’ stood for modern, industrial and
technological vibrant brand. In the early 1960’s, Norelco launched the
first fully cordless razor and had 18% of the electric shaver market. By
1978, it controlled 60% of the US market.

But, in most recent years, electric shavers have been overshadowed by

the blade wars of the wet-shaving world. Gillette has captured the high-
tech high ground with its multi-bladed razors. By 2004, though Phillips
held 50% of the electric shavers’ market, only 18% of all men used solely
electric shavers, according to company’s market research. Last year,
Phillips decided to talk to consumers to figure out how to redesign the
Norelco electric shaver to give as close a shave as possible.

The Research

Phillips interviewed 5000 men in the US, Europe and China. Its target
customer was between the ages of 35 and 54, an experienced shaver who
is likely to spend more for a premium razor that will last six to seven
years. The company searched for some undiscovered consumer need that
might be met with a dynamic product- and found an opportunity in an
unlikely place. It learned that one of the most common frustrations of
shaving has nothing to do with the face: it’s those pesky few flat lying
hairs on the neck under the chin. The men interviewed by the company
had to shave over those hairs six or seven times, often irritating their skin
and leaving welts or spawning in-grown hairs. Phillips decided to
develop a razor that closely shaves those neck hairs the first time. To do
so, it needed to design an electric shaver with much greater
maneuverability to navigate the tricky area around the jugular vein. Its
research also led the company to a name for the new model: ‘Arcitec’, a
combination of ‘the arch of the neck’ and ‘technology’.

Prototyping

Phillips’ team of engineers, and business strategists led by Nico

Engelsman, a senior vice-president for business management, and senior
design director Tammo de Ligny also studied consumer trends among
potential customers. They learned from interviews that their customers
wanted materials that radiated strength, like stainless steel in razor head.
The teams also looked in hundreds of magazines, and ads showing cars,
phones and men’s accessories. For color, they drew inspiration from the
silver Motorola RAZR phone, the BMW Z4 Coupe, and the Volant silver
series skis. They made the Arcitec models black, charcoal and silver.

The designers began working up rough pictures of solutions to tackle that

neck-shaving. Then they started proto-typing and testing plastic models
with consumers, iterating very quickly. To make electric shaver more
flexible and maneuverable than previous models, they created a bigger
separation between the shaving head and the handle that men grasp as
they shave. That allowed the head to pivot 360 degrees. Their testing also
made clear that they had to miniaturize the moving parts to make the grip
easier as men moved the shaver under their chins along their necks. In the
final testing in October 2006, the designers tried out the razors in four
sessions with four different panels of 50 participants each. In the first, the
blades did not protrude enough to give a close shave. The designers
raised the blades, but went too far. The blades were too high, irritating
the skin. On the third try, they got it right. They also tested the razors’
performance using what they call as ‘paint brush test’. They shaved paint
brush bristles made of the thickest synthetic hair possible to evaluate how
the shaver would perform on the toughest whiskers.

Marketing

Phillips started selling Arcitec in US and Britain in July 2007 and in the
rest of the world in September 2007. Prices ranged from USD 169 to 249,
depending on the model. The company decided not to market it as
aggressively in India or China yet. Why? In India people can get a shave
at the corner stand at Rs.20 or 50 cents! So that huge market is not yet
primed for a premium product like Arcitec, Phillips learned.

Chinese men, the company found in its research generally have less hair,
and Asian hair tends to be rounder in shape and thicker in diameter than
the Caucasian hair, making it stronger but slower growing. So the
Chinese don’t necessarily need a razor with three rotating blades like
Arcitec. Electric shaving is growing in popularity with young men in
China. However, Phillips will launch a double-headed razor there along
with Arcitec to give customers some options.
And what about female consumers? Phillips’ research shows nearly half
of electric shavers purchased are gifts and 75% of them are bought by
women for men. Yet, wives, girl friends, and moms don’t know much
about men’s razors and are terrified of choosing the wrong one, the
company found. So Phillips will create a special marketing campaign for
female shoppers , and will have video demos online through
Amazon.com showing typical male shaving dilemmas, like getting at
those nasty little neck hairs.

The Arcitec’s packaging will represent Phillips broader attempt to unify

all its products under one brand name worldwide. For decades, the
company sold its products in the US market under many brands,
including Norelco. The Phillips logo will appear above the Norelco logo
on the packaging. And in the future, Phillips plan to phase out the name
‘Norelco’.

Present market data

The price ranges for shaving products in the US markets are as follows:

Electric shavers: USD 150 to 250

Razors: USD 10 cents disposables to 1.50 per blade for higher
end.

In the other markets, the prices can be considered proportionate in local

currencies.

You have been hired by Phillips to study the Indian market and to
develop a business plan to launch it in India in near future. Recommend a
business strategy to Phillips.

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