Mastering Business Cases: A Comprehensive Guide

1. TEPEK case-method Dr. Christiaan Stam Centre of Research in Intellectual Capital christiaan.stam@inholland.nl www.intellectualcapital.nl

2. What is a business case? • “A business case is a detailed account of a real-life business situation, describing the dilemma of the “protagonist” – a real person with a real job who is confronted with a real problem” (www.hbs.edu) Christiaan Stam

3. What does it look like? • Structure • Introduction (confrontation with problem) • Detailed description of the specific situation (what, who, when, why, how) • Controversial issues and alternatives • Elements • Real world scenario (based on a true story) • Supporting data and documents (can be anything) • Open-ended problem (with multiple potential solutions) Christiaan Stam

4. Assignments and questions • What is the situation ? • What issues are at stake? • What problems have to be solved? • What are the possible options? • What are underlying assumptions? • What would you do in this situation? • Etc. Christiaan Stam

5. Guidelines for Case Writing • A case should appear authentic and realistic • Use an efficient and basic case structure in writing • There must be a fit of the case with students’ educational needs, and the needs in practice • A case should not propound theories, but rather pose complex, controversial issues • There should be sufficient background information to allow students to tackle the issues • A case should be easy to read • Source: Schreyer (2004) Christiaan Stam

6. Business case method research • Planning • Organizing • Drafting • Revising Christiaan Stam

7. Business case method research • Planning • Identify the purpose of the case • What are the learning objectives? • How is the case used in terms of instructional sequence? • Identify the learners • How much do students know about the subject? • What are the functions of students in the case study? • Decide what information should be put into the case • Where is the source of the materials? • What makes a case? Christiaan Stam

8. Business case method research • Organizing • Structure in a narrative style • What does the narrative consist of (what, who, when, why, how)? • How is the narrative organized (chronologically, importance, event)? • Present the nature of the complexity • How should the case reveal the different aspects of the problem? • How does the case show different perspectives? Christiaan Stam

9. Business case method research • Drafting • Develop ideas • What is the central idea? • How should the central idea of the case be supported? • Revising • Identify and judge the writing elements in the case • What are the major case components? • What are the criteria to evaluate the case? Christiaan Stam

10. Teaching material • The purpose of the case, its justification and target niche. • Key points, issues and medium/long term considerations • Suggested student assignments, prior to class discussion • Suggested analyses which could provide answers to the questions formulated in the assignments • Recommended additional readings/references and audio-visual/computing aids • Suggested approaches to facilitate class discussions Christiaan Stam