Disclaimer

This article focuses on How to analyze any Case Study effectively and in very practical
approach. This article is an individual initiative.
Objective is to share students experiences, expert advices and advance-practical
approaches with you so that you get most out of each learning component of
management education.
You can find multiple articles on Case study analysis but this article has been written out
of practical experiences and learning of many students of our college.

- Anuj Ramesh Kherde

14F507

Article Authors:
Tarishi Ahuja

tarishi.16@tapmi.edu.in

Anuj Ramesh Kherde

anujr.16@tapmi.edu.in

Objectives Of the CASE STUDY (Why do we have Case studies in MBA?)

1) What problems occur in the companies of various domain...sometimes you will find some
problems beyond your imagination..
2) To learn how to diagnose/extract these problems from the case.from really long descriptive
analysis and facts.e.g. Financial statements, Market shares, Perceptual maps, Dialogues,
Exhibits etc.
3) Learning methodological approach of reaching the roots of these problems
4) To ponder over all possible solutions and consider all opportunities in variety of solutions
5) To justify what you believe to be the best solution i.e. proving your answer with help of:
Costing involved i.e. Fixed cost- Variable cost- Operational cost- Manufacturing or
Service cost- Legal processing & Regulatory cost Etc.
Advantages to the company and to all stakeholders
Probable losses and opportunity cost i.e. what we can lose by opting a particular
option/solution
Change in Consumer perception, Revenue-Profit-Break even analysis
Impact on the Employees as well as on the Market
Probable reaction/response by protagonist-employees-society-competitors and
other market players
Operational expenditure involved
Government rules and regulations
Various constraints like Political-Financial- Social- Technical Etc.

Steps in analyzing the CASE - 7 Pointer Mantra

1. Case subject:Before beginning the case be thorough with the concepts, the case deals about. Other
than MAND all the cases will be preceded by concepts. Doing cases without knowing the
concept is of no use.
Imp. Note:- (Insider Tips)
You will find what the case is all about either in course pack or in first 1-2 paragraphs of
the case. Like, by knowing whether the case is about Employee conflicts or Distribution
management or Pricing decision, you will get specific dimension to think
2. Gain an overview of the case:- Case studies usually present information chronologically
so cull out the relevant information accordingly.
Imp. Note:- Do not highlight text like a mad person, first try to understand what
problem you are solving and then start collecting all the information related to that.
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3. Establish what has happened (the Business Problem):- Establish The who, what,
where, and when of the situation.
Imp. Note:There is at least one fundamental business problem in every case. Students as
Consultants should identify the same.
4. Determine the causes and issues: Consider all possible issues to see how well they are supported by the facts of the
case and how well they explain what has happened
Rank order the critical problems/issues
Try to separate symptoms from problems
Imp. Note:No petrol in bike is a problem but frequent stopping of bike, Irregular noise, Lower
speed, these all are symptoms when fuel is finished in vehicle
5. Develop possible solutions:See whether the aim is to have prevented what has already happened, to salvage the
present situation or to avoid similar problems in the future
Evaluate these solutions- Consider each possible solution give pros and cons for each
along with all the factors given above in Objectives section
6. Formulate recommendations: Recommend exactly what needs to be done and how the solution can be
implemented
Then a broad view of the situation should be taken
Sometimes it may be best to implement a relatively simple, inexpensive solution
with contingency plans for more elaborate solutions if the first ones fail
7. Learnings:- Trust us it is important to write one or two key learnings at the end of the
case discussion because in the last one year we have done 100+ cases and the learnings
serve the purpose of going through them.
Imp. Note:- This is really helpful for Summer Internships and Final Placements. Also
after spending a lot of money, there will be some outcome.
You write only one page of bullet points what needs to be done if specific type of
problem happens.
You will not remember any theory after MBA life but this paper will make you perform
better in your career. You have paid hefty prices for these cases at least try to follow
basic steps suggested by us.
Since these case studies are either real incidents or emulate them, they give a very good
understanding of how things work in the corporate world.
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