Case Analysis Outline

Case Title

Problem Statement

A brief summary of issues of the situation.  Identify the most relevant problems facing the decision-maker.  This sets up the context of the problem.

A statement of the problem to be addressed.  Identify the root cause problem.  Avoid rehashing facts.  Focus on a statement that defines the problem in the context of the decision to be made.  This statement will provide a goal to keep your analysis focused on the task.

Situation Analysis

Insights and conclusions from the evidence.  This is not simply a list of the facts of the case.  Rather, it is a summary of the evidence in the case with your insights and conclusions about the meaning of the evidence.  Each of your points should also be followed with an insight or conclusion that addresses the problem.

Organized by competitive priority, business process, organizational function, SWOT, or other logical division of the evidence.  Performance and customer service issues can be organized by the categories of competitive priorities – Cost, Quality, Time (speed), and Flexibility.  A common method of organizing analysis is by the core business processes – customer relationship, order fulfillment, innovation development, supplier relationship – or the sub-processes of one of these.  If the case involves organizational issues of a firm, organize by function – sales, marketing, operations, accounting, human resources, information systems, etc.  Of course, using the classic Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats approach is effective.

Make good use of quantitative information.  Summarize information into tables of comparisons.  Calculate data provided into summary statistics.  Graphically present numerical information to “see” insights.  Make illustrations to visualize the process, layout, or situation.  Use other data analysis methods as appropriate to the information available.  Attach this work as appendices to the case analysis.  Summarize and reference the appendices from the analysis.

Alternatives

Outline the alternative decisions.  During review of the case, a choice of alternatives will become apparent.  All decisions have alternatives, outline the clear choices.  Consider presenting unusual or creative alternatives that have practical applications.  State the pros (for) and cons (against) for each alternative.  All choices have positives and negatives associated with the choice of action.  Outline them in an unbiased manner.  If you had a tentative solution decision, the process of evaluating the alternatives may change your decision.