MOL Case Analysis Guiding Thoughts
Last revised: 02/28/06
Case studies provide simulated opportunities to develop solutions that resolve the kinds of problems that accompany organizational leadership. A case analysis allows people to act as decision makers to develop solutions for real world situations.
They do this by organizing facts into a useful framework, analyzing situations objectively and forming conclusions regarding optimum alternatives. This includes unraveling a variety of problems in compressed time.
Good decision making flows from analysis and explains how to understand uncovered evidence. Prudent use of graphs or charts can sometimes strengthen a presentation.
READING
- Read the opening paragraph for an orientation to the situation.
- Skim the case text to note its main issues and exhibits.
- Review the last paragraph and any identified items for consideration.
- Study each included exhibit and footnote.
- Read the case in detail, guided by understandings you formed from the major issues.
- Conduct appropriate analyses to understand the facts of the case and the problem(s) to be solved.
- Evaluate possible solutions to recommend alternative decisions.
- Present your analysis and recommendations as assigned.
WRITING
- Always respond to specific questions posed in your assignment. Verify the accuracy of facts, references and Bible verses you use. Organize your arguments well within the structure that follows. Use headings to transition between ideas. Selectively use the most relevant parts of the case. Ignore the rest.
- Do not research beyond the material provided in the case unless instructed. Most cases are designed to be self-contained, simulating the limited information and conditions of uncertainty that leaders encounter in real world situations.
- Cases should be written from the role of the decision maker at the time the decision is to be made. Even if you think you have information about actions subsequent to the case, suspend any related judgment for the purposes of your analysis and discussion. Consider the presented situation with an open mind for possible alternatives.
Summarize your finished document for the executive decision maker after completing all the other sections of your analysis. A summary is not an Introduction or a repetition of the Recommendation. The summary occurs at the beginning-instead of after the Recommendation-to make work for your reader easier.
As the final part of your assessment, make the section brief. Compose a single paragraph or page to summarize your significant thoughts, findings, and conclusions for the executive decision maker. Label the section with a heading so decision makers do not skip it. This should be the sole summary in the document. Do not restate the assignment.
Begin by recognizing what the apparent problem is. Rarely is this what requires executive consideration, yet recognizing it can ameliorate the presenting concerns and will facilitate analyzing the actual issues.
State and explain briefly the main dilemma or challenge apparently confronting the decision maker in the case scenario. This might or might not be the problem to resolve, as leaders must contend with ideas and information that can instigate inappropriate decisions. As well, limited resources often prevent complete or desired analysis.
Then explain your analysis. Tell the story. Most audiences are clever, so invite them in to what you uncover in an interesting way. Do not bore your audience. Your analysis should lead you to understand what the addressable issue is. What is troubling in the organization? What is working in the organization? Once you make this clear, move on to deal with it.
Interpret the most meaningful case facts. Select, organize and explain their meaning and implications. Cases are summaries of organizational situations. In effect, the organizational complexities are reduced to a few pages. Do not summarize these summaries. Do support your reasoning with evidence from the case. Presume your audience is familiar with the situation. Focus your analysis with concepts addressed in the program.
Open this section by stating the real problem. Use the insight gained in your analysis to identify the genuine or underlying problem(s) confronting the decision makers in the case. Identify the problem(s) clearly and succinctly. Support your conclusions. If you believe the real and apparent problems are the same, discuss why that is so.
Contend with what your analysis uncovered. Tell how it is important and how it relates to the situation. By doing this, relevant alternative actions should become obvious. Responding to actual concerns promotes the heart of leadership. Missing reality limits organizational options, sometimes fatally.
Explain the alternatives leadership should consider. How are these alternatives possible for the organization? Help decision makers appreciate the best that can exist—that will exist. Provide value-congruent opportunities to the situation. Label each alternative with a number and short descriptive name. Make each alternative complete to itself. Be specific. Each alternative should be sufficiently unique to execute without the others.
Explore at least two alternative solutions to the real problem that do not continue the status quo. Provide a brief description for each alternative course of action. Also include a complete sense of the advantages and disadvantage of each. Be direct, clear and thorough.
Select one of your listed alternatives to recommend. Choose! Merriam-Webster indicates the power or quality of decision-making is being decisive. Decision makers will authorize resources of people, time, money, information / technology and raw materials to your project or to someone else's. Persuade them to adopt yours.
Articulate the most critical understanding the executive decision maker should understand. As is common to decision making, you typically will need to omit certain elements in favor of others more germane to the decisions you make.
End by proposing a clear plan of action to implement your recommendation. Persuade the decision maker in the case how to proceed. Explain why this is reasonable. Avoid deciding to gather additional information. In real life, decision-making seldom can draw on everything desired. State what you assume to be true if important information is absent that would support your decision.