How To Solve A Case

(Its Format & Method)

Case Analysis

Approaches to attack a case study and

its components
Analyzing A Case Study.
! Whenever you analyze a case, remember
that you are not an outsider, but a part of
the management around whom the case is
being presented.
! Remember to undergo a through analysis,
so that you can `onvin`e the reader that
your analysis is backed with sound
arguments and supported by concrete
solutions.
! Remember there might not be just 1 right
answer to the case but several options of
feasible strategies available.
! As there is no one single solution to the
case, similarly there is no single way to
prepare the case.

eneral
uideline
! Step 1: Skim the case and breeze through it. Skim it
for the 1st time
! Ask yourself questions like
! What sort of organization does the case concern, the nature
of the industry in which it is operating, External
Environment, management¶s problems.
! Step 2: Carefully read the case the 2nd time and start
making notes.
! Seek to identify the key problem facts, such as what
decision are to be made, who is going to make these
decisions, objectives of the organization and each key
player.
! What are the resources & constraints in the case.
Make sure to use the quantitative data as well
Reading The Case
! There will be a lot of information overload
in some cases, irrelevant information, too
little information or ambiguous information
or relevant information dispersed
throughout the case.
! Don¶t get worried but try to make the best
of it.
What to Do in a Case Study?
! In the case study it is required by you to logically
attack the case study.
! Identify the alternative course of action that the
management might take.
! List the Pros and Cons of each alternative.
! Always keep in mind the objectives of the
organization.
! Develop short term tactics for long term strategies
and give a comprehensive implementation plan of
the desired strategy.
What is Required?
! In a case you students will be identifying
and clarifying problems/ opportunities
being faced by the management of a
company.
! Analyze the qualitative information and
quantitative data.
Steps To Case Analysis.
! All to gather the case study includes
various steps.
! In some cases you will not have
information regarding some of the steps.
! Your objective is to use whatever
information is given, to the best of your
abilities.
! The following are the Steps that are
commonly used in a case study.
 STEPS TO SOLVE A CASE
1. Introduction
2. Situation Analysis
3. Identification of Problems
I. Main Problem
II. Sub Problem
4. Development of Alternatives
5. Evaluation of Alternatives
6. Selection of the Best Alternative
7. Implementation plan
8. Recommendations.
 ] INTRODUCTION
! In the introduction you will give a short synopsis
of the case.
! Inform the reader what industry does the
company belongs, what the time of the case, who
are the key players, what issue is at hand.
! Remember not to reveal any hard facts in the
introduction part as they have to be utilized in the
upcoming steps.
! Usually an introduction would include the
following:
Introduction
! Time of case
! Industry of operations
! Time of establishment of company
! Key People
! Important dates if any in the case
! Size of company
! Main Line of business of the company.
!
eographic Area (e.g. Region, Country or City in
which operations are being held)
! Others
! Remember: NO HARD FACTS.
½ ] A SITUATION ANALYSIS
 Elements of Situational Analysis
! Macro Environmental ! KSF¶s
Analysis
! DEEP-LIST Analysis ! USP¶s
! Industry Analysis ! Market Analysis
! Mission ! Market Share
! Sales
!
oal
!
rowth Rates
! Objectives
! SWOT analysis
! Segment and Target
Market ! Ansoff Matrix
! Marketing Mix ! Competitive Analysis
! PLC/CLC/ILC ! Financial Analysis
! Portfolio Analysis ! Strategic Analysis
The Macro Environment
! DEEP-LIST analysis
! Demographic
! Ecological
! Economic
! Political
! Legal
! Informational
! Social
! Technological
!
ive the factors of the above that effect the
case only
An Industry Analysis






 Threat of New
Entrants

èargaining ?
 èargaining

Power of 
? Power of
Suppliers ?
  èuyer


Threat of
Substitutes
Solutions From Porter¶s 5 Forces Model.
! By analyzing this model you will have to identify
either a industry is
! Attractive
! Unattractive
! Moderate.
! Remember these Five forces can have the
following effects.
! Either a force e.g
! Bargaining power of suppliers can be HI
HER OR
LOWER.
! If it is Higher, then it is NE
ATIVE FOR THE COMPANY.
! If it is LOWER, then it is POSITEVE FOR THE COMPANY.

! So a force that is is Negative

! A Force that is is Positive for the company.
! A Force can also have a Moderate p
effect
 Threat of New
p
Entrants

p

èargaining ?
 èargaining
Power of 
? Power of
Suppliers ?
  èuyer


Threat of
Substitutes p

Solutions From Porter¶s 5 Forces Model.
! Analysis Continued.
! You will evaluate these five forces and see how
many are positive, Negative or Moderate.
! Then At the end, you will after looking at the positive
and negative forces, give conclusion about the
ATTRACTIVENESS OF THE INDUSTRY.
! Remember that an unattractive industry does not
means that 2
 .
! A company can make profits even in an
unattractive industry and vise versa.
! e.g. Nishat Mills is making a profit, although the
Textile industry of Pakistan is UNATTRACTIVE.
Mission/
oals & Objectives
! Find any explicit or implicit statement of
the firms mission.
!
oals and Objectives:
! Look for the expressed or implied goals and
objectives of the firm
! The importance of this is that after your
analysis you can have a good picture of either
the company is really achieving/following its
mission/goals and objectives or not.
Marketing Mix
! Marketing mix = Objectives + 4 P¶s + STP
4 P¶s are
! Product
! Price
! Place
! Promotion
! STP stands for segmentation, targeting and
positioning.
Segmentation & Target Market
! Segments Dealing in:
1. Demographics
2.
eographic
3. Psychographics
4. Media
raphics
! Define the appropriate Target market that
the firm seeks to pursue.
! Customer Profiling
PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS
! Analyze the different business portfolio
and various aspects of it and apply the
appropriate model according to case.
Models applicable may be
! BC
matrix
!
E matrix
! Porters 5 force model etc.
DEFINE LIFE CYCLES IF
APPLICABLE
PLC/CLC/ILC
! ILC: Industry Life Cycle
! CLC: Company Life Cycle
! PLC: Product Life Cycle
Example of Portfolio Analysis
! The BC
Matrix
! Though this is a portfolio analysis that is
meant to analyze different businesses in the
entire portfolio.
! Identify where the Product/ Products or units
of the company fall in this matrix.
 è
 





3
  

 




   
 
KSF
! This part will identify the KSF¶s of the
business or in other words the KEY
SUCCESS FACTORS
! KSF¶s are thing that are important while
operating in an industry. Remember you
have to list the factors for the industry and
NOT the internal company factors.
! These are the Key Factors for Success for
any business operations in an INDUSTRY.
USP
! The Unique Selling Preposition helps
identify the main differentiation upon
which the company is banking upon.
! The USP¶s have to be identified so that the
Positioning strategy of the company can be
analyzed.
Market Analysis
! Market Share:
! Look at Quantitative or Qualitative information that
describes the past and current market Share position
! Sales
! Sales
rowth rates or Sales figures will be plugged
here. This will help you to analyze the next point.
!
rowth Rates
! You will analyze the TRENDS in the patterns of

rowth or Decline of the above two factors.
Competitive Analysis
! Here you can analyze the Share Analysis of
different competitors or the Product
Attribute Analysis
Product Attribute Analysis
Competitor A.
Attribute Importance Rating Impact
( L/M/H ) (1-5)
Price
Quality
Features
Benefits
Style
Overall Rating:
Remarks:
SWOT ANALYSIS
! Here look at the
strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats
! Remember
! Opportunities and Threats are External
! Strengths and Weaknesses are Internal.
THE SWOT MATRIX

STRENGTHS Match MatchOPPORTUNITIES

Convert Convert
WEAKNESSES THREATS
Minimize/Avoid Minimize/Avoid
 Quantitative Assessment of Elements within the
SWOT Matrix
STRENGTHS OPPORTUNITIES
A currently untapped market
Size and Capacity
rowth & popularity of
Experience marketing discipline
Individual Benefit Field innovation
Increased competition

WEAKNESSES THREATS
Away from core value Business colleges
Adding value to customer Business might not
Maintain long term focus care about the program
Certification program Other certification programs
Awareness and value
Ansoff¶s Product-Market Expansion
rid
Ansoff's matrix provides four
different growth strategies:
! Market Penetration - the firm seeks to achieve growth
with existing products in their current market segments,
aiming to increase its market share.
! Market Development - the firm seeks growth by
targeting its existing products to new market segments.
! Produ`t Development - the firms develops new products
targeted to its existing market segments.
! Diversifi`ation - the firm grows by diversifying into new
businesses by developing new products for new markets.
3] Problem Identification
IDENTIFICATION OF MAIN PROèLEM
! Remember to distinguish the Symptoms
from the problem!
! Problems are identified in terms of
! Time
! Impact.
! i.e.if the time to solve the problem is less, and if
not solved the impact will be very high, it is the
Main Problem
IDENTIFICATION OF SUè PROèLEM

! Sub Problems have to be identified, so you

will only list them over here.
! The treatment to the sub problems will be
dealt at the last stage of case analysis.
! List a maximum of three (3) sub problems
over here.
 Analyze & Record the Problems & core elements.
Major problem or Issue
Description of Problem or Issue:
________________________________________
________________________________________
____________________________
Evidence that this is a major problem:
Facts: _______________________________
Symptoms or other effects: _______________
Opinions: _____________________________
Assumptions: __________________________
4] Alternatives to the Main Problem
!
ive at least three (3) viable alternatives
over here that can solve the main problem
! These alternatives can also be your
strategies that you wish to implement.
º ] EVALUATION OF EACH ALTERNATIVE
! Here you have to Evaluate ea`h individual alternative
separately.
! You will look at the Cost and èenefits of ea`h
alternative, or in other words the Pro¶s and Con¶s.
! To do this you will use the following Table.

Alternative #1: ____________________

Pro¶s Con¶s
1. . 1. .
2. . 2. .
3. . 3. .
6 ] Selection of Best Alternative
! This is the solution to your problem.
! Here you will after having performed an
analysis on all the alternatives, select one
alternative that:
! Has more Pro¶s then Con¶s
! Solves the problem completely
! Is your final Solution for the case
ÿ ] IMPLEMENTATION
! Implementation means to bring the best suited
alternative to the practical form.
! Here you will give details in how will you
implement the alternative.
! Basically you will answer the following:
! What to do?
! When to do it?
! How to do it?
! Who will be responsible for the implementation?
! Costs (if you `an give the implementation `osts)?
 ] RECOMMENDATION/S
! These usually help or rectify all the sub
problems that you have solved.
! Recommendations can be given in bullet
form or they can be given in paragraph form
as well.
! You might want to give recommendations to
each of the sub problems that the company is
facing.
PITFALLS TO AVOID IN SOLVIN
A
CASE.

Common Mistakes that analysts

make.
PITFALLS TO AVOID IN A CASE.
! Inadequately Defining the
problem
! Searching for the answer.
! Assuming the case away.
! Complaining of not having
enough information
! Recommending research or
consultants.
! Not thinking.
etting discouraged
! Relying too much on
generalizations.
! Postulating a different
situation
! Focusing too narrowly.
! Abandoning realism
! Setting up ³Straw Man´
alternatives.
! Rehashing case material
!