Case Study Workshop

ICBR, Bangalore23rd May 2005

Agenda

• What is a case study?– Objectives– Tone– Content– Content

• Types of case studies• Case studies at ICBR• Getting started

What is a case study?• Is a narrative of a real life situation, with characters,

and one or more decision-making situations• Each section/subsection of a case is a part of the

story and moves the narrative forward• Case presents a situation and scenarios in a logical

sequence to illustrate an issue or a concept that’s sequence to illustrate an issue or a concept that’s related to the problem situation

• Case does not directly talk about a concept or analysis or solution

• Case does not provide analysis – only describes a situation

Why Case Study?

• Objectives of a business case study– Students: Introduce them to real life situations– Professionals: introduce them to a new

concept/technique or train them in certain skills– Improve analytical and problem solving skills– Improve analytical and problem solving skills– Illustrate the application of theory/concepts to

real life situations– Learning from others experience: about different

industries, different problem situations etc.

Types of case studies

• Factual – depicts real organizations and the situations in those organizations

• Fictional – based on real organizations and/or situations but do not use the real names

• Field-based – use of primary as well as • Field-based – use of primary as well as secondary data– interaction with several players in the organization,

interviews etc.• Library – secondary data from publicly available

resources

How to Go about it?

• Choose a topic• Select the theme/issues to be discussed• Data collection / assimilation• Draft/editing/final draft • Draft/editing/final draft

Choosing a Topic• Contemporary• Real/Realistic• Availability of Information• Enough Lesson Drivers

Something that can illustrate a problem situation – Something that can illustrate a problem situation – Something that can illustrate a solution to the

problem

• Stimulate Discussion

Theme/Concept

• Interesting• Decision Making Situation involving Strategy,

Finance, Marketing etc.

Content

• Theme• People• Settings/Timeline• Issues relevant to the main theme• Issues relevant to the main theme• Environment- Internal and External

Structure• Logical Flow• Vertical– E.g. For HLL, discuss each division like foods,

consumer products etc.

• Horizontal– E.g. For HLL, discuss each department like

Finance, Operations, Marketing etc. across all divisions

Structure contd…

• Introduction• Main Body• Conclusion• Exhibits/ Annexure• Exhibits/ Annexure• Footnotes/References

Opening of the Case

• Gist of the case• Gives the case setting– Talks about the main theme

• Should be dramatic and generate interest• Should be dramatic and generate interest

ExamplesLooking at downtown Seoul from his sunlit office room in Center, POSCO’s Chairman and CEO Ku-Taek Lee (Lee) thought about the progress that POSCO made in 35 years. In 1969, when he joined the company as a young engineer fresh out of college, POSCO’s first steel plant at Pohang was still in the very initial stages of construction. It was nothing but a grand plan in the minds of its founders. By 2004, POSCO was the most profitable steel maker in the world. It was the largest in South Korean steel industry and fifth largest in world crude steel production. POSCO was South Korea’s sole integrated steel maker and produced a wide range of products – hot and cold rolled steel, plates, rods and stainless steel for of products – hot and cold rolled steel, plates, rods and stainless steel for customers located in over 60 countries.

Euro came into existence on Jan 1 1999. Eleven countries had joined together and created a common currency and a common Central Bank that would control the monetary policies of these countries. Greece became a member of the Union in 2001. On Jan 1 2002 the national currencies of the member nations had been replaced by Euro coins and notes. By 2004 the Euro Zone (countries which adopted Euro as their currency) was home to more than 300 million people in 12 nations each having their own set of languages, customs and cultures.

Doubts were expressed about the success of the Euro. But five years after its introduction, Euro seemed to have proved the pessimists wrong. It had emerged as one of the leading currencies alongside the dollar and the yen. There had been macroeconomic stability and inflation had been kept low. There was greater synchronization in business cycles and structural unemployment remained low. There was greater stimulation in competition and there was increased integration There was greater stimulation in competition and there was increased integration of financial markets. Of the fifteen member countries that were part of European Union (EU) at that time only Britain, Denmark and Sweden had chosen to remain outside it. Ten more nations joined the European Union in 2004 and were set to join the Euro Zone once they met the criteria set for joining Euro

“The ACQUISITION OF PEOPLESOFT will immediately make Oracle an even more profitable and competitive company” -Larry Ellison, CEO, Oracle

The acquisition of PeopleSoft made Oracle the number one Enterprise Applications vendor in the United States. With a base of 23,000 application customers, it became the second largest corporate application software provider in the world, after SAP of Germany. As per the final agreement, (which took 18 months to conclude) announced on December 12, 2004, Oracle would buy PeopleSoft shares at $26.50 per share or $10.3 billion overall. The battle was would buy PeopleSoft shares at $26.50 per share or $10.3 billion overall. The battle was often marred by bitter clashes and ill will. Analysts were, however, divided in their opinion on how the acquisition would shape up in the light of the events preceding the deal.

Main Body

• Company/industry background• Core issues to be discussed• Other issues incidental

Closing the Case

• Brings out the dilemma– Challenges faced– Gives the future outlook– Point out the probable directions the company is – Point out the probable directions the company is

likely to take

Though in the early days, Euro had proved the skeptics wrong, it still had a long way to travel. Experts stressed the need to boost non-inflationary growth, greater resilience to shocks and prudent management of the public finances among the member countries. There was also a need to reduce disparities in economic performances across Euro region. Labor mobility still remained low. However it was held that ultimately it was how Euro would balance its monetary affairs with fiscal measures that would determine its fate. As Governor Ben Barnanke of ECB said in a speech:

Further challenges will arise as new countries, including those currently at a relatively low level of financial development, join the European monetary system. Their accession will greatly complicate the harmonization process, system. Their accession will greatly complicate the harmonization process, but given what we know about the role of finance in economic development, the benefits for both the new members and the current ones could be very large

On the whole observers felt that while it was clear the De Beers cartel had all been but dismantled it would continue to dominate the industry albeit on a smaller scale. However, there was no clear view on whether it would have any benefit for the consumer. Diamonds survived because of two critical conditions. The first was De Beers’ control over supplies and production and the second was its successful strategy of creating an illusion that diamonds were so valued an item that no cost was great enough to obtain them. But with the developments over the later half of enough to obtain them. But with the developments over the later half of the 1990s and the early 2000s there appeared to be a question mark over these conditions. Not many believed that the monopoly of De Beers would last long.

Exhibits and Annexures• Exhibits– Its part of the main case– Supplements the body of the case– Usually presents facts or figures in a simplified

form such as tables, charts etc.form such as tables, charts etc.

• Annexure– Additional information to the case

Footnotes and References

• Footnotes– A note used to further explain a detail outside the

main text

• References– Bibliography consisting of a list of the sources

used

Writing Style

• Simplicity• Narrative• Timelessness• Timelessness• Completeness• Free from Bias

Editing

• Is theme coming out clearly?• Is all information captured?

– Will it stimulate discussion?– Will it stimulate discussion?

• Accuracy of facts– No discrepancies – No contradictory statements– No assumptions

• Check out references, footnotes, exhibits etc.

Summarizing important points

• Narrative form, easy to understand language• Factual, not judgmental• Thorough understanding about the

company/issue/environment• Leave out inappropriate information• Leave out inappropriate information• Ideally, should have a dilemma, some

controversy

• Logical flow of information • Should be interesting• No Analysis or conclusion• No ‘open and shut’ case• No ‘open and shut’ case• Drafts….Edits….Final

• Start with the present situation where a problem has arisen

• Background note of industry and company• Move deeper into the problems/

controversy/conflict• Conclude with the possible outcomes. These

outcomes to form part of discussion

Cases at ICBR

• Library cases• Factual cases- No hypothetical/fictional cases• Broadly cover the areas of strategy, marketing,

economicseconomics

Case Study Development Process• Trigger Generation• Trigger Identification• Information gathering• Finalizing the structure• Drafts and review by Team leaders• Peer Review• Peer Review• Interim Review• Final Review• Sent for uploading