31 Aug Case Study: Fortressing or Market EXPANSION
Appendix 1: Case Analysis
Case reports should fulfill 3 basic requirements.
- Identify all pertinent issues to be addressed by management.
- Analyze and evaluate the company’s situation–both internally and externally–with regard to the mentioned issues and potential solutions.
- Evaluate potential alternatives against decision criteria in order to select a recommended course of action, and develop an implementation plan that is as realistic or ‘do-able’ as possible and that addresses the issues identified. It’s important to explain carefully how your recommendations and plan will correct the issues and realize the goals and opportunities that have been identified as well as outline why the solution that you have chosen is superior to the other alternatives that you have generated.
The report should be balanced so that about 60% of the report is given over to identifying pertinent issues and evaluating the company’s situation. It follows that about 40% of the report should be devoted to detailing the alternatives, recommendations and an implementation plan. Provide ample examples in the report of strategic thinking, using strategy concepts to develop insights. Not all strategy tools will be significant for each case.
Show clearly how your recommendations create fit and synergies among the firm’s internal activities and with shifts in the external context. Explain how the firm is now better able to take advantage of changes that are present or anticipated in its environment.
The case reports will be graded using a three-part structure.
- Stylistics: Does the basic sentence and report structure enable the reader to understand the points being made? Are the conventions of written grammar followed? Is the presentation professional? Are the various sections of the report sufficiently developed and integrated?
- Critical thinking: Is a convincing, integrated argument that is evidence-based being developed in the case report? Are the serious issues raised in the case treated with comparable emphasis? Are these issues dealt with in sufficient depth? Does the analysis relate to key issues and do the alternatives address these effectively?
- Content: Is too much case material repeated? Are the three major requirements for the case report fulfilled? Namely, does the report: (1) identify all of the pertinent issues in the case (2) evaluate and analyze the company’s situation and in relation to external developments (3) offer an “actionable” set of recommendations that clearly spells out how the described activities will create a sustained competitive advantage and superior performance. Finally, quantitative analysis is essential to the evaluation of strategy in relation to performance and the selection of appropriate alternatives.
Students are responsible for applying the appropriate strategy concepts and tools. However, this material should not overwhelm the case analysis and should provide value add. Base answers heavily on the events and information described in the case. The company and its context should provide the center of the report. Do not use outside research or go beyond the timeframe of the case.
Appendix 2 provides the rubric that will be used to grade cases. The rubric provides an outline for the format of a case report and indicates the relative importance of each section.
Appendix 2: Format and Rubric for Written Case Study Reports
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Letter Grade Odette Grading Policy
Criteria (Weight %) |
F Very Poor |
D Poor
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C Fair
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B Good
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A Very Good – Excellent |
Comments |
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Form + Style (20 %) § Grammar, spelling + readability § Effective use of thesis statements § Professional appearance, e.g., page numbers and titles for tables, charts + appendices § Integration between sections of report |
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Key Issue(s) (5 %) § Concise identification of main issue(s) |
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Analysis (30%) § External + internal overview § Correct use of strategy concepts + frameworks § Use of qualitative + quantitative data, including financial analysis of firm1 § Insightful evidence-based development and evaluation vs. repetition of case details § Effective summation of external +internal analysis |
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[Criteria and Options] + [Recommendations] (TOTAL 15%) § Identification + use of suitable decision criteria to rank options § Development of practical options in relation to identified issue(s) + prior analysis § Qualitative + financial evaluation and comparison of options2 Recommendations (10%) § Justification and Integration of recommendations |
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Implementation (20%) § Detailed + practical action to put recommendations in place (both short & long-run) § Timeline of sequence of actions, e.g. Gantt chart § Controls + timeline to measure if plan is on track § Contingency plan |
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1 Understanding a firm’s strategy, implementation and performance requires financial analysis. Reports that do not include financial analysis in this section will lose a full grade level ( i.e., will drop from an A- to a B- (10%) on this report section).
2 Review of financial implications is essential to develop and rank alternatives. Reports that do not include financial analysis in this section will lose a full grade level (i.e., will drop from an A – to a B- (10%) on this report section).
