Learning with cases

A Practical guide
Business cases are powerful learning tools. Business cases allow students to “step into” the position of a
particular decision-maker in an organization. As such, cases provide students with the opportunity to
develop their analytical and problem-solving skills while practicing decision making in a complex
situation and coping with ambiguities. More specifically, business cases enable you to learn by
connecting theory with application and by teaching others. This short and practical guide is designed to
provide a clear and simple, step by step approach to enhance your learning experience. 1
Expectations from learners
To gain the most from the case method and fully develop your skills, you are expected to
1. Take an active role in your learning: come prepared to class and contribute to the learning of
the group by teaching others, actively participating, taking risks and learning from your peers.
2. Follow a code of professional conduct: help cultivate a climate of respect, trust and openness.
The process of learning with cases involves three steps:
1. Individual preparation: this step is the foundation on which the quality of your learning
depends.
2. Small group discussion: this step will allow learning by discussing your ideas with others.
3. Class discussion: this step is designed to push the total quality and quantity of learning beyond
the level achieved in the other two phases. 

How to prepare a case for class?

It is important to remember that when analyzing a business case, you are expected to take the role of
the main protagonist in the case. In other words, you are asked to address the case as a problem solver
or decision-maker as opposed to commentator or bystander. Sometimes your instructor will prompt
your reading with assignment questions. These questions will help guide your small group and class
discussion. Follow these two steps to maximize your learning:
The short cycle process
Complete this process when you first read your case:
1. Read the first and last two paragraphs of the case and stop to reflect.
2. Briefly answer the following questions:
1
This guidelines have been adopted from Mauffette-Leenders, L. A., Erskine, J. A., & Leenders, M. R.
(2005). Learning with Cases. London, Ont: Richard Ivey School of Business University of Western Ontario.
 a. Who is the decision-maker (position, title responsibilities, etc.)?
b. What appears to be the issue (concern, problems, challenges, or opportunity) and its
significance for the organization?
c. Why this issue arose, and why am I, as the decision-maker, involved?
d. When do I have to decide, resolve, act or dispose of this issue? Is there an urgency?
3. Quickly review the case exhibits to get an overview of the scope and kind of material presented
in the case
4. Review the case subtitles to get an initial impression of how the case is organized.
5. Skim the body of the case
6. If provided, read the assignment questions and reflect on how to approach the case.    

The long cycle process

This process involves a more detailed reading of the case and the steps to solve the case.
Part 1: Detailed reading of the case
Once you completed your short cycle process, you are ready to carefully and thoughtfully engage in
reading the case. Makin notes to summarize your ideas, raise questions, list specific concepts and record
observations, is a good practice. Business cases usually contain both facts and opinion. While you have
to take the case facts at face value, you can certainly question or challenge opinions.
Part 2: Analyze the case
Define the issue: develop a comprehensive statement of the issue(s) involved in the case. Who are the
key players, and what are the key concerns (use your short cycle process)?
 Immediate and underlying issues: Make sure you distinguish between immediate and
underlying issues. For example, a hiring decision or a purchase decision is an immediate issue.
Underlying or essential issues, on the other hand, are broader and more general issues in
nature. For example, a hiring decision might relate to the concept of values and culture; or a
purchase decision that might refer to the design of information systems in the organization.
Immediate issues are ones that need to be resolved within the time-frame indicated in the case.
 Importance: is this issue is of strategic importance to the organization or not? Could it make or
break the organization?
 Urgency: try to determine the urgency of the issue. Is this decision critical and must be
addressed immediately, or can it wait for some time?  
  Causes and effects: try to establish the causes of the problem to determine what may be the
“root” cause of the problem.
 Constraints and opportunities: What are the constraints and opportunities that might impact
your analysis and recommendations? These may not always be explicit in the case, but they may
be implied by the environmental context or the date and location of the case.
 Quantitative and Qualitative analysis: Students tend to prefer the qualitative over the
quantitative. Be careful, however, not to get lost in the numerical analysis and provide little
reflection about what these numbers mean.  
Generate alternatives: Once you identified your crucial issue, it is time to develop several different ways
to address it. Generating options is the creative part of the case. You are most likely to bring your values,
age, gender, background, theoretical and practical understanding, training, expertise and culture into
this part. Make sure your alternatives are realistic and plausible, given your causal analysis and
understanding of the issues(s).
Select decision criteria: Decision criteria provide the basis for evaluation or assessment measures, and
they can be both quantitative and qualitative. To reach a decision, you will need to define the criteria
against which to compare all possible alternatives. Some common decision criteria are profit, cost, ROI,
staff turnover, productivity, ethics, employee morale, motivation, and corporate image etc.
Assessment and selection of alternatives: Weighing the pros and cons of your options against your
decision criteria will help you in making the final decision. At this point, you may want to consider:
 Short vs. long terms impact: this is a matter of judgment and justification. What is short and
what is long term? Which is preferable: beneficial results in the short time and mediocre in the
long run or an alternative with good long term prospects but no immediate pay-offs?
 Predicting outcomes: What are the benefits expected from your decision? You could use a
decision tree diagram to help to visualize and quantifying options and alternatives.  
 Selecting the preferred alternative: There is rarely only one sensible course of action to a case.
It is your analysis, the use you make of the information available, and your justification for your
decision that counts. The important thing here is that you can create a path to your answer.

Remember: Good solutions do not guarantee a good grade. Your reasoning has to be consistent with
your recommendation and action plan.
Developing an action plan: Your decision need to be accompanying by action and implementation plan.
A good action plan provides a schedule or milestones, as well as the measures or signals for making
good progress. Your action plan must be specific and answer five basic questions: who, what, when,
where, and how? Here’s a good rule of thumb: the first 1/3 of your action plan should contain 2/3 of the
specific steps about who, what, when, where and how. Ease of implementation of a decision can be a
criterion for alternative selection, so applicability should be considered before the alternative selection
is made.

Missing information and making assumptions

Your analysis should be based, for the most part, on the information available in the case. However, you
may feel that you do not always have enough information to assess the situation. Ambiguity and lack of
data is a reflection of reality. Routinely, managers are forced to make decisions based on incomplete
information and make assumptions. Your assumptions should be plausible, realistic, and helpful in the
light of the circumstances of the case. Common types of assumptions are:
 Context assumption: For example, if the case tells you that you are a buyer for a large
corporation, it is safe to assume that the purchasing department will be reasonably large and
that you most likely report to a purchasing manager.
 The normal state of affairs assumption: This assumption is based on trust in the case writer.
Unless indicated otherwise, presume that normal state of affairs holds. For example, if it is not
explicitly stated, you can reasonably assume that the company or organization is in a satisfactory
financial position.
 Decision Criterion assumption: It is essential to identify your decision criterion assumptions
because it impacts the solution of the case. For example, an assumption of a two to three year
payback period on a purchase can be called a decision criterion assumption.
 If-Then Assumption: “If I do X, then Y is likely to happen.” This kind of assumption is often used
in the selection of the best course of action. You must argue both sides of the fence: “If it works
– fine; if not, then X, Y, Z.”
 The “Perfect Person” Assumption: This assumption is probably the most dangerous and least
useful. It goes something like that “I will just get rid of the current employee and hire the
‘perfect person’ who can address the situation successfully.”
Working on your case with your group
Here are few suggestions for standard group discussion:
1.      Each individual must attend the group discussion and be fully prepared
2.      Each member of the group must participate actively in the group discussion
3.      Achieving consensus or a “group position” is not necessary (unless asked for by the instructor)
4.      It is not required to have a group leader or a decision-maker
5.      Appointing a spokesperson is not needed (unless asked for by the instructor)
6.      Stick to the time limit