Case Study Grading Rubric Criteria 90-100% (Material Mastery) 80-89% (Solid Accomplishment) 70-79% (Respectable, Adequate) Below 70% (Mediocre or Unacceptable) Identification of the Main Issues/Problems Identifies & understands all of the main issues in the case Identifies and understands most of the main issues in the case Identifies and understands some of the issues in the case Identifies and understands few of the issues in the case Completeness Complete in all respects; reflects all requirements Complete in most respects; reflects most requirements Incomplete in many respects; reflects some requirements Incomplete in most respects; does not reflect requirements Analysis, evaluation, and recommendations Presents detailed, realistic, and appropriate recommendations clearly supported by the information presented and concepts from the reading Presents specific, realistic, and appropriate recommendations supported by the information presented and concepts from the reading Presents realistic or appropriate recommendations supported by the information presented and concepts from the reading Presents an incomplete analysis of the issues identified Research Supplements case study with relevant and extensive research into the present situation of the company; clearly and thoroughly documents all sources of information; uses only recognized business periodicals and journal articles as main sources Supplements case study with relevant research into the present situation of the company; documents all sources of information; uses mostly recognized business periodicals and journal articles as main sources Supplements case study with limited research into the present situation of the company; provides limited documentation of sources consulted; uses some recognized business periodicals and journal articles as main sources Supplements case study, if at all, with incomplete research and documentation; limited or no use of recognized business periodicals and journal articles as main sources Writing Mechanics Writing demonstrates a sophisticated clarity, conciseness, and correctness; includes thorough details and relevant data and information; extremely well-organized Writing is accomplished in terms of clarity and conciseness and contains only a few errors; incudes sufficient details and relevant data and information; well- organized Writing lacks clarity or conciseness and contains numerous errors; gives insufficient detail and relevant data and information; lacks organization Writing is unfocused, rambling, or contains serious errors; lacks detail and relevant data and information; poorly organized Case Study General Guidelines If you are new enough to business school that you have not experienced many written case studies, let me provide a simple introduction and approach. W ...

1. Case Study Grading Rubric
Criteria 90-100%
(Material Mastery)
80-89%
(Solid Accomplishment)
70-79%
(Respectable, Adequate)
Below 70%
(Mediocre or Unacceptable)
Identification of
the Main
Issues/Problems
Identifies & understands
all of the main issues in
the case
Identifies and
understands most of
the main issues in the
case
Identifies and
understands some of

2. the issues in the case
Identifies and understands
few of the issues in the case
Completeness Complete in all respects;
reflects all requirements
Complete in most
respects; reflects most
requirements
Incomplete in many
respects; reflects some
requirements
Incomplete in most
respects; does not reflect
requirements
Analysis,
evaluation, and
recommendations
Presents detailed,
realistic, and
appropriate
recommendations
clearly supported by the
information presented
and concepts from the
reading
Presents specific,
realistic, and
appropriate

3. recommendations
supported by the
information presented
and concepts from the
reading
Presents realistic or
appropriate
recommendations
supported by the
information presented
and concepts from the
reading
Presents an incomplete
analysis of the issues
identified
Research Supplements case study
with relevant and
extensive research into
the present situation of
the company; clearly
and thoroughly
documents all sources
of information; uses
only recognized
business periodicals and
journal articles as main
sources
Supplements case
study with relevant
research into the
present situation of
the company;

4. documents all sources
of information; uses
mostly recognized
business periodicals
and journal articles as
main sources
Supplements case study
with limited research
into the present
situation of the
company; provides
limited documentation
of sources consulted;
uses some recognized
business periodicals and
journal articles as main
sources
Supplements case study, if
at all, with incomplete
research and
documentation; limited or
no use of recognized
business periodicals and
journal articles as main
sources
Writing
Mechanics
Writing demonstrates a
sophisticated clarity,
conciseness, and
correctness; includes
thorough details and

5. relevant data and
information; extremely
well-organized
Writing is
accomplished in terms
of clarity and
conciseness and
contains only a few
errors; incudes
sufficient details and
relevant data and
information; well-
organized
Writing lacks clarity or
conciseness and
contains numerous
errors; gives insufficient
detail and relevant data
and information; lacks
organization
Writing is unfocused,
rambling, or contains
serious errors; lacks detail
and relevant data and
information; poorly
organized
Case Study General Guidelines

6. If you are new enough to business school that you have not
experienced many written case studies, let
me provide a simple introduction and approach.
What are Case Studies?
Case studies are basically just business stories. As such, they
are about realistic, often complex situations
that often involve a conflict, choice or challenge that one or
more of the characters in the case must
negotiate.
Why Case Studies?
Case studies “bridge the gap between theory and practice and
between the academy and the
workplace” (Barkley, Cross, and Major 2005, p.182). They also
give students practice identifying the
parameters of a problem, recognizing and articulating positions,
evaluating courses of action, and
arguing different points of view.
When designing the class, I consulted with a number of HR
colleagues to find out what they thought was
most important to cover in a course of this type. If you know
HR people, it probably will not surprise
you to learn they disagreed on many things, and gave me a list
of course topics that would take three
years to cover. What they all agreed on was that case studies
were the best (two said “only”) way to
teach this material.
Professional management experience usually exhibits itself
through the identification of alternatives.
Think of a time when someone (maybe you) saw a workplace

7. problem through a different lens than
others, and was able to provide a solution the rest of the
stakeholders hadn’t thought of. In case
studies we put you in a variety of circumstances as a decision
maker. This provides an opportunity for
you to research better approaches to those problems when you
aren’t personally involved, and then
when a similar circumstance arises in real life, you have an
“alternative” to fall back on.
What is a good approach to use when answering a case study?
The following is not the only method to answer a case study,
but is a one several colleagues have
recommended, and it is a great way to begin if your experience
is limited with cases.
1. Read, analyze and examine the case thoroughly- take notes on
your reading, use a highlighter
and search for details not easily noticed on a quick read-
through.
2. Focus your analysis
a. Identify at least 2-3 key problems that you have to cover in
the case study. You may see
more than that, but recognize that it is almost never a single
problem.
b. Try to understand why these problems exist – Think in terms
of a root cause. For
instance, if the case deals with low morale among all
employees, “low wages” may be a
contributor, but it probably isn’t the root cause of the problem.
c. What is the impact of these problems on the organization? –

8. What is likely to happen
next if nothing changes? This is your impetus for change.
d. Who and what is responsible for these problems? Is it
cultural, financial, structural, a
people problem, etc.?
3. Uncover possible solutions by reading, experience, outside
research, and analysis. This is what
makes it a college level course. You need to find data and
solutions outside the readings
provided in class. This does not mean Wikipedia, the
Encyclopedia Britannica or your textbook.
Search for companies that had similar issues, find a solution to
the problem that has been used
before in another industry, talk to someone you know who has
experience, etc. Find answers to
the problem that go beyond the obvious and cite every source
according to APA guidelines.
4. Select the best solution by looking for its pros and cons and
checking whether the solution is
realistic or not. Research and latest trends are great- and they
help your grade, but a solution
that is practical, proven and inexpensive is usually the best
approach.
What is a good outline to use when writing a case study
analysis?
Try this format for your first case:
Outline:

9. a. Introduction – start with a summary of the case and the main
issues as you see them, formulate
a thesis statement and elaborate on it.
b. Findings – describe the issues identified and a brief analysis
of them. Analyses should be
supported by proper evidence and facts given together with
relevant theory and course
concepts.
c. Discussion is the main and crucial part of the case. This is
the largest part of the writing.
d. Alternative solutions and Implementation
e. References
How long does it have to be?
Most instructors hate answering this question, and many refuse
to do so. I am not one of them. APA
style formatting, double spaced, some standard font size 12, it
should be a minimum of three pages,
excluding the cover page and the reference page(s). I am of
course more interested in content than
length.
The Ideal Candidate
Ted sat back in his chair and smiled. He had found the right
candidate to manage the research

10. department. The whole interview and selection process had
been tedious, but Ted knew he had found a
winner in Mark. Not only did he have the technical and
management skill Ted was looking for, but his
references were sterling. With the offer call, he prayed that
Mark would accept as he called to make the
offer.
“Research, this is Mark”, said a hoarse voice on the receiving
end of the phone.
“Mark, this is Ted Fenton calling. You sound terrible. Are you
OK?”
“Oh, I’m much better than I sound. It’s just a cold. So what’s
up, Ted?”
“I’m calling to offer you the position here at $150,000 per year.
How does that sound?”
“Terrific, Ted. I accept! Just send over the formal offer and
I’ll give notice here.”
Finishing the call, Mark thought “Boy am I glad that’s over
with. It will be so great to have Mark heading
up our research department, and to finally be done with this,” he
said as he dumped a giant file of
resumes in the trash can.
Two weeks later, Joan Cutter, the Human Resources Manager,
arrived at Ted’s office with their newest
employee in tow. “Ted, I’ve brought Mark Simmons up for his
orientation. How would you like to get
started?” Ted coughed nervously and extended his hand.

11. “Mark…welcome aboard. We’re uh… so glad to uh…have
you,” he stuttered. “Mark…uh…uhm…could
you excuse us a moment please? I’ll be with you shortly.
We’ve got a crisis on our hands with
…uh…um…one of our government contractors. I’m sure I
won’t be long,” Ted said as he ushered Mark
out of his office to a waiting area across the hall.
Ted sped back to his office and closed the door. Still gripping
the handle, he slumped against the door
and began to grow pale.
“What is it, Ted?” Joan asked with sincere concern. “Are you
ill?”
“Christ, Joan, this isn’t the guy I hired. I hired a different
person. I know this guy’s name is Mark, but
he’s not the guy I wanted. How the heck did this happen?” Ted
was starting to develop visible drops of
perspiration above his lip as Joan responded. “Our paperwork
indicated you hired Mark Simmons. This
is Mark Simmons. Here’s a copy of the offer letter and his
file.” Ted looked at the file, flipping through
the application and resume. The papers rattled in his quaking
hands. He started to pace and then let
out a howl as his knee knocked against an arm chair. He raced
to his desk and started rifling through
papers until he remembered he had already thrown out all the
resumes. Then he looked at Mark
Simmons’s file again and began to put the pieces together. The
sudden realization caused him to slide
slowly and limply into his desk chair. “How could I have been
so stupid?” First he looked befuddled and
distraught, then his demeanor assumed a catatonic quality.
Joan was really growing concerned. She stared at him

12. awkwardly and finally broke the silence.
“Look, Ted, could you be a little more specific? I’ll see what I
can do to help you.”
“There’s nothing you can do. I screwed up. I don’t know how
I’m going to deal with this.”
“Deal with what?”
“The guy I intended to hire was Mark Simon, not Simmons.
When I called this Mark, I must’ve picked up
the wrong file. He had a cold when I called, so I didn’t notice
the difference in voice. I was so excited
when he accepted that I just handed the papers to Sue to send
out an offer letter. She handled the rest
and I just forgot about it. Joan, I don’t know how to say this
but the guy sitting out there is the last
person I would hire. He’s a total jerk- and a weird-o on top of
it. He’s ok technically, but during the
interview he started preaching all this religious stuff to me and
asked me about my church affiliation.
He pulled out some holy water and wanted to anoint me at one
point. I had a hard time keeping him
focused on the interview. We are in deep crap here.”
Joan was stunned. She could usually solve problems, but this
one was a doozy.
“It’s not like I can say, ‘Whoops, sorry we offered you the job
by mistake. You can go back to your cult
or wherever you came from.’ I mean Joan, this guy resigned
from a perfectly good job. You have got to
help me, Joan! I’ve just hired the employee from hell!” he

13. gasped, fearing her answer.