Introduction of the case study
Why study cases?
School of laws has studied cases for many years as a means of exploring legal concepts and understanding the practices of the courts. Harvard Business School began inviting executives and managers into their classrooms after the First World War, hoping to provide students with some insight into thinking of successful businessmen. Not long afterward, professors of business began writing down the narratives of these business managers in an effort to capture the ambiguities and complexities involved in the day-to-day practice of commerce and administration.
The idea spread to other school of business and migrated from graduate to undergraduate programs. Today, many business educators use case studies because their narratives are so valuable in developing analytic and critical thinking abilities, as well as organizational and communication skills. You can memorize lists, procedures, and attributes. You can guess successfully at the answer to a multiple-choice question. But you cannot memorize the answer to a problem you have never encountered, nor can you guess at the options available to a manger who must resolve a complex, difficult, often ambiguous situation.
Types of cases
Field cases.Field casesare written by professors and students of business with the cooperation of managers and executives who experienced the events and problems described in the case. They involve extensive interviews with people who are often identified by name as the narrative unfolds. Information contained in these cases is known best- and sometimes only-to insiderin a business. Newspaper accounts and descriptions of events contained in the business press may play a role in establishing key facts, but the sequence of events, what was said to whom, what each manager knew at the time, and which managerial options were open to the priicipals of the case are often a mystery to the public-at large. Library cases.Unlike a field case, library or public record cases do not involve special access to the business being studied. They do not involve interview material or direct quotes which are unavailable elsewhere. And they most often do not somehow a part of the public record, available to anyone with a library card and basic research skills.
Producing a case solution
To produce a case solution that demonstrates you are ready for management- level responsibility will involve the following steps:
Read the case: the first step to a successful case solution is to read the case,carefully and with an eye for detail-more than once.
Take note: your notes should focus on the details you will need to identify the business problems involved the case, the issues critical to solving those problems, as well as the resources available to the managers in the case. Those notes will be helpful in producing a case solution.
Identify problem: you may identify more than one problem in one case. Complex cases often involve several such problems simultaneously. They may be technical in nature and involve accounting or cost-control systems. They may involve the use of technology. You might see supply-chain problems in the business you are studying. Or, you may see human problems that involve supervision, communication, motivation, or training.
Specify an object for the managers involved. Once you have identified one or more business problems present in he case, think about the outcomes you would most hope to see for the company and people you have read about.
Explain how to communicate the solution, in the management communication case study, you will be asked to identify key audiences for your message. That means identifying which groups you want to communicate with and the means you will use to reach them. Write it up. Different professors will have different expectations about what they want from you in a written case solution. They will not provide you with specific, detailed instructions regarding their expectations, but they will certainly tell you if you’re missed the boat or have produced a solid response. Just provide your professor with your best thinking and be as detailed as you think you can within the page limits you have been given.
What you should expect?
If you read the case thoroughly,identified the business problems, rank-ordered the critical issues, proposed various solutions, and communicate them, you can expect to be more-or-less as well prepared for classroom case discussion as your classmates.
What you should not expect?
You should not except you can get a right answer and a single discipline focus on to each case. Your task is to read, identify, and understand the business problems in the case. By identifying, rank ordering, and exploring the critical issues it contains, you should be able to propose a workable solution, identifying how to implement and communicate it. From that point forward, you must explain your choices in writing and be ready to defend them in the classroom.
Case study menu
Chapter 1 Management Communication in Transition
Case 1-1: Odwalla, Inc(A) pp.13
Case 1-2: F.W Woolworth Company: A New Image and a New Workforce pp.18
Chapter 2 Communication and Strategy
Case 2-1: Great Casuolty VS. Estate of G. Witherspoon (A) pp.30
Case 2-2: Great Lakes Garments, Inc. pp.33
Chapter 3 Communication Ethics Case 3-1: Excel Industries (A) pp.51
Case 3-2: A Collection Scandal at Sears Roebuck & Company pp.55
Chapter 4 Speaking
Case 4-1: A Last Minute Change at Old Dominion Trust pp. 78
Case 4-2: Preparing to Speak at Stapled, Inc. pp.79
Chapter5 Writing
Case 5-1: Cypress Semiconductor Corporation pp.107
Case 5-2:Farberware Products of America pp.114
Case 5-3: Volvo of North America, Inc. pp.116
Chapter6 Communicating Nonverbally
Case6-1: Olive Garden Restaurants Division pp.167
Case 6-2: Waukegan Materials, Inc. pp.170
Chapter7 Communicating in Intercultural and International Context
Case 7-1: Oak Brook Medical Systems, Inc. pp.183
Case 7-2: Big Dog Software, Inc. pp.185
Chapter8 managing Conflict
Case 8-1: Hayward Healthcare Systems, Inc. pp.198
Case 8-2: Dixie Industries, Inc. pp.199
Chapter9 Business Meetings That Work
Case 9-1: Sequoia Medical supply, Inc. pp.217
Case 9-2: Spartan Industries, Inc. pp.221
Chapter10 Dealing with the News Media
Case 10-1: American Rubber Products Company, Inc. pp.245 Reference
O’Rourke, S. (2002) management communication: A case-Analysis Approach. Beijing: Prentice Hall.
Case (name)
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