Problems Continue with Boeing 787 Dreamliner
Saint Leo University Graduate Business Studies MBA575 Global Business Management Case Study Method: How to Analyze the Cases
“Real world” cases place the student in a simulated organizational climate as a manager, leader, or nonmanager who must make decisions. A case is: ...a story of organizational issues which actually have been faced by people, together with facts, opinions, and prejudices upon which decisions must be made. A key feature of a case is that the decisions which require action must be made. With the case method, the process of arriving at an answer is more important than the answer itself. It is anticipated that by working through cases the student will develop an understanding of the process of reaching decisions and be able to convincingly support and communicate these decisions to others. Instead of sitting back and reacting to the comments made by an instructor, a student in analyzing cases is asked to make decisions typically with incomplete information and in a limited time period, which is usually the situation faced by most managers. There are no ideal solutions to any of the cases. Searching for the perfect answer will be futile. Instead, the student should learn to critically and thoroughly think through the issues, problems, facts, and other information presented in the cases. Critical thinking is required to make better decisions. Thorough thinking is needed so that decisions reached can be communicated and intelligently discussed in classroom discussions. Discussions about the cases should clearly illustrate the thinking processes used by a student. The preparation for discussion of the cases can follow a set pattern. One suggested pattern would be to: 1. 2. Read the case rather quickly to get a feel for what is involved. Reread the case and sort out the assumptions, hunches, and facts. Since all cases are rather incomplete, the student will need to make plausible assumptions about the situation. List them and be able to support the
“Real world” cases place the student in a simulated organizational climate as a manager, leader, or nonmanager who must make decisions. A case is: ...a story of organizational issues which actually have been faced by people, together with facts, opinions, and prejudices upon which decisions must be made. A key feature of a case is that the decisions which require action must be made. With the case method, the process of arriving at an answer is more important than the answer itself. It is anticipated that by working through cases the student will develop an understanding of the process of reaching decisions and be able to convincingly support and communicate these decisions to others. Instead of sitting back and reacting to the comments made by an instructor, a student in analyzing cases is asked to make decisions typically with incomplete information and in a limited time period, which is usually the situation faced by most managers. There are no ideal solutions to any of the cases. Searching for the perfect answer will be futile. Instead, the student should learn to critically and thoroughly think through the issues, problems, facts, and other information presented in the cases. Critical thinking is required to make better decisions. Thorough thinking is needed so that decisions reached can be communicated and intelligently discussed in classroom discussions. Discussions about the cases should clearly illustrate the thinking processes used by a student. The preparation for discussion of the cases can follow a set pattern. One suggested pattern would be to: 1. 2. Read the case rather quickly to get a feel for what is involved. Reread the case and sort out the assumptions, hunches, and facts. Since all cases are rather incomplete, the student will need to make plausible assumptions about the situation. List them and be able to support the