Case Study Analysis

• Prof (Ms) Vaishali Chaudhari

 What is Case Study?
• A case study presents an account of what happened
to a business or industry over a number of years. It
chronicles the events that managers had to deal with,
such as changes in the competitive environment, and
charts the managers' response, which usually
involved changing the business- or corporate-level
strategy.
 Why Case Study?
1. Cases provide experience of organizational problems that
you probably have not had the opportunity to experience
firsthand.
2. In a relatively short period of time, you have the chance
to appreciate and analyze the problems faced by many
different companies and to understand how managers tried
to deal with them.
3. Cases illustrate what you have learned
4. Case studies provide you with the opportunity to
participate in class and to gain experience in presenting
your ideas to others. Also you learn to look at second side
of the coin.
ANALYZING A CASE STUDY
• Small Cases
• Big Case
• Case with or without Questions
____________________________________
• HR
• Marketing
• Logistics
• Finance
• Crisis Mgt.
• General Mgt.
• Others
 Steps in solving a Case
1. Define the problem

2. Identify alternatives for approaches to resolve the

problem

3. Select an approach to resolve the problem

4. Verify if the problem has been resolved or not

5. Plan the implementation of the best alternative

(this is your action plan)
 Step 1 : Defining The Problem
• List down the facts in the case study
• Analyze the facts to identify SWOT
• Make & state assumptions if required
• Define symptoms, & Sub problems
Ask yourself
 What can you see that causes you to think there's a
problem?
 Why is it happening?
If you feel you have reached the problem, check whether
by correcting this problem, situation get resolved. If not,
you have not reached main problem, continue with your
sub problems to find the root cause.
 Step II : Identifying Alternatives
• Look at potential causes for the problem: Write
down a description of the cause of the problem
and in terms of what is happening, where, when,
how, with whom and why.
• This description in light of SWOT will help to
identify alternatives.
• For big cases more information about the
company/industry/competitor is collected to gain
better insights.
• Various strategies(Plans of Action) to resolve the
problem are listed.
• Assumptions are stated very clearly here.
 Step III : Selecting Best Alternative

• When selecting the best approach, consider:

a. Which approach is the most likely to solve the
problem for the long term?
b. Which approach is the most realistic to
accomplish for now? Do you have the resources?
Are they affordable? Do you have enough time to
implement the approach?
c. What is the extent of risk associated with each
alternative?
Step IV : Verify if the problem has
been resolved or not
Step V : Plan the implementation of the
best alternative
A. Carefully consider "What will the situation look
like when the problem is solved?"

B. What steps should be taken to implement the best

alternative to solving the problem? What systems or
processes should be changed in your organization,
for example, a new policy or procedure?

C. How will you know if the steps are being

followed or not? (these are your indicators of the
success of your plan)
D. What resources will you need in terms of people,
money and facilities?

E. How much time will you need to implement the

solution? Write a schedule that includes the start and
stop times, and when you expect to see certain
indicators of success.

F. Who will primarily be responsible for ensuring

implementation of the plan?
 Sample Case 1
Hindustan Lever Ltd. (HLL), the Rs. 10,600 Cr. FMCG giant,
played the rural card with the blend of science & nature. It’s
third toothpaste launched after Close Up & Pepesodent is
Aim, which has neem & calcium. The paste is being
positioned as a product with unique blend of nature &
science. Competitively priced at Rs. 15.50 for 100 Gm pack,
the target of Aim is to convert toothpowder users to
toothpaste.
So what is such great about this product? Haven’t we seen
enough of neem toothpastes? Currently only 18% of
population use toothpaste while about 29% use
toothpowder. Further in rural market penetration of
toothpaste is very less. The company wanted to increase
market size itself. Hll commands an overall market share of
35.4% in oral care market of which close up has 19.5%
share while Pepsodent has about 15.9%.
The marketing strategy for this product also expected
to undergo radical change form conventional
positioning of toothpaste brand image. HLL
publicized Aim using wall posters, Handouts &
other visibility enhancing material in rural areas.
HLL launched the new toothpaste by poisoning the
benefits of neem & calcium. The brand name has
been selected for easy pronouncability & absence of
regional significance.
The brand was targeted to Northern & Western part
of India, but the brand did not appeal to rural
mindsets. Was it a mistake in the product itself or in
pricing, or even in Brand Communication? The
brand failed miserably in the rural market & finally
HLL had to withdraw the product in 2001.