Case Study Information
You are required to complete three case studies over the course of BUSI 4793. The case study descriptions can be found on the BSG website after you register for the BSG site with the confirmation code provided in the “BSG Resources” folder on Blackboard. A drop box will be provided on Blackboard for each individual case study under the appropriate “Week” folder. Case studies will be graded and returned to you within one week of submission. Please note that the Signature Assignment Case Study directions/requirements apply to all three case studies, except for the page requirement – the first two case studies only need to be 4-6 pages in length while your Signature Assignment Case Study should be the most comprehensive and detailed and be in the 8–10-page length.
Name Due Length Points Possible
Airbnb Case Study 3/27 4-6 pages 75
Nucor Case Study 4/10 4-6 pages 75
Tesla Case Study 4/24 8-10 100
Case Studies/Signature Assignment:
● 8-10 pages, not including cover page and reference page
● APA format
● Double spaced, Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, 1inch margins, stapled in top left corner
The cover page is mandatory for the Signature Assignment Case Analysis. The Signature Assignment is the Tesla Case Study.
Case Analysis:
Your goal in preparing the case should be to end up with what you think is a sound, well- supported analysis of the situation and a sound, defensible set of recommendations about which managerial actions need to be taken. The aim of case analyses is for you to become actively engaged in diagnosing the business issues and managerial problems in the case, to propose workable solutions, and to explain and defend your assessments.
In preparing a written case analysis, you should:
(1) identify all the pertinent issues that management needs to address;
(2) perform whatever analysis and evaluation is appropriate; and
(3) propose an action plan and set of recommendations addressing the issues you have identified.
Identification:
It is essential early on in your paper that you provide a sharply focused diagnosis of strategic issues and key problems and that you demonstrate a good grasp of the company’s present situation. Make sure you can identify the firm’s strategy (use the concepts and tools in Chapters 1 – 7 as diagnostic aids) and that you can pinpoint whatever strategy implementation issues may exist. Consider beginning your paper with an overview of the company’s situation, its strategy, and the significant problems and issues that confront management. State problems/issues as clearly and precisely as you can. Unless it is necessary to do so for emphasis, avoid recounting facts and history about the company.
Analysis and Evaluation:
Check out the firm’s financial ratios, its profit margins and rates of return, and its capital structure, and decide the strength of the firm’s financial ratios. Similarly, look at marketing, production, managerial competence, and other factors underlying the organization’s strategic successes and failures. Decide whether the firm has valuable resource strengths and competencies and, if so, whether it is capitalizing on them. Check to see if the firm’s strategy is producing satisfactory results and determine the reasons why or why not. Probe the nature and strength of competitive forces confronting the company. Decide whether and why the firm’s competitive position is getting stronger or weaker.
In writing your analysis and evaluation, bear in mind four things:
1. You are obliged to offer analysis and evidence to back up your conclusions. Do not rely on unsupported opinions, over-generalizations, and platitudes as a substitute for tight, logical argument backed up with facts and figures.
2. If your analysis involves some important quantitative calculations, use tables and charts to present the calculations clearly and efficiently. Don’t just tack the exhibits on at the end of your report and let the reader figure out what they mean and why they were included. Instead, in the body of your report, cite some of the key numbers, highlight the conclusions to be drawn from the exhibits, and refer the reader to your charts and exhibits for more details.
3. Demonstrate that you have command of the strategic concepts and analytical tools to which you have been exposed. Use them in your report.
4. Your interpretation of the evidence should be reasonable and objective. Be wary of preparing a one-sided argument that omits all aspects not favorable to your conclusions. Likewise, try not to exaggerate or over dramatize. Endeavor to inject balance into your analysis and to avoid emotional rhetoric. Strike phrases such as “I think,” “I feel,” and “I believe” when you edit your first draft and write in “My analysis shows,” instead.
Recommendations:
The final section of the written case analysis should consist of a set of definite recommendations and a plan of action. Your set of recommendations should address all of the problems/issues you identified and analyzed. If the recommendations come as a surprise or do not follow logically from the analysis, the effect is to greatly weaken your suggestions of what to do. Obviously, your recommendations should be made with caution. State how your recommendations will solve the problems you identified. Be sure the company is financially able to carry out what you recommend. Also, check to see if your recommendations are workable in terms of acceptance by the persons involved, the organization’s competence to implement them, and prevailing marketing and environmental constraints. Try not to hedge or weasel on the actions you believe should be taken. By all means, state your recommendations in sufficient detail to be meaningful—get down to some definite nitty-gritty specifics. Avoid such unhelpful statements as “the organization should do more planning” or “the company should be more aggressive in marketing its product.” For instance, if you determine that “the firm should improve its market position” then you need to set forth exactly how you think this should be done. Offer a definite agenda for action, stipulating a timetable and sequence for initiating actions, indicating priorities, and suggesting who should be responsible for doing what.
In proposing an action plan, remember there is a great deal of difference between being responsible for a decision that may be costly if it proves in error and, on the other hand, casually suggesting courses of action that might be taken when you do not have to bear the responsibility for any of the consequences.
A good rule to follow in making your recommendations is: Avoid recommending anything you would not yourself be willing to do if you were in management’s shoes. The importance of learning to develop good managerial judgment is indicated by the fact that, even though the same information and operating data may be available to every manager or executive in the organization, the quality of the judgments about what the information means and which actions need to be taken does vary from person to person.
It goes without saying that your report should be well organized and well written. Great ideas amount to little unless others can be convinced of their merit—this takes tight logic, the presentation of convincing evidence, and persuasively written arguments. The Signature Assignment will be graded according to the Case Analysis Rubric found at the end of this syllabus.
