Week-4 Case Study

Case Study #1 - American Express,page 296.The assignment needs to be at least four pages in length. Be sure to follow the APA formatting for this assignment.

What are the critical issues or problems? What are the alternatives? What recommendations can be made? How can you justify your strategy? At least 3-5 journal articles required.

WHAT IS A CASE STUDY ?

There is no universally accepted definition for a case study, and the case method means different things to different people. Consequently, all case studies are not structured similarly, and variations abound in terms of style, structure and approach. Case material ranges from small caselets (a few paragraphs to one-two pages) to short cases (four to six pages) and from 10 to 18 page case studies to the longer versions (25 pages and above).A case is usually a "description of an actual situation, commonly involving a decision, a challenge, an opportunity, a problem or an issue faced by a person or persons in an organization." In learning with case studies, the student must deal with the situation described in the case, in the role of the manager or decision maker facing the situation.An important point to be emphasized here is that a case is not a problem. A problem usually has a unique, correct solution. On the other hand, a decision-maker faced with the situation described in a case can choose between several alternative courses of action, and each of these alternatives may plausibly be supported by logical argument. To put it simply, there is no unique, correct answer in the case study method.Please use the following guidelines:

Case Study Analysis

Case study analysis gives students an opportunity to apply theory learned in the classroom to real world situations.  Case studies do not have discrete answers.  Rather, they challenge students to exercise their own business judgment in a supportive, educational environment.  Students test their knowledge by analyzing situations; defining problems or issues; evaluating alternatives and/or forming conclusions to resolve the problem or issue; and making recommendations.

Case study analysis steps:

1. Gain familiarity with the case situation.  This can be accomplished by reading the case several times.  Read the first time to appreciate the general story before you begin to form conclusions or make analysis.
2. Define the issue or problem.  To make an analysis or recommendation, one must first determine what the issue or problem is.  As in the real world, note there may be more than one problem in a case study analysis.  (You can appreciate the importance of this step if you ever took your car in because it was running rough and paid for several repairs because the mechanic didn’t correctly diagnose the problem in the beginning.)
3. Conduct your analysis.  What are the possible causes of the problem or issue?  What alternatives are possible given the facts presented?  This is the most time consuming step, and the step with the greatest variation. There may be many possibilities.  It might be helpful to list all solutions you can think of before focusing on the most useful or valid.  There is not necessarily a right answer, but there may be several alternatives that lead to varying outcomes.  The quality of analysis will depend upon application of theory learned in the classroom and through research. 
4. Make recommendations.  Choose the recommendation you believe to be the best, justify it, and develop it.  Recommendations may be made in the form of an action plan to solve the problem or issue.  Or, recommendations may involve the choice of the best alternative for resolving the issue or problem. Recommendations made must be thoroughly developed and supported. 

References:

ICFAI Center for Management Research. (nd). Learning with cases. Retrieved January 2014  from http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/learn_case.htm