A case simulates a real-world situation and provides context for analysis and discussion. It presents significant issues without conclusions and requires students to think critically to develop inferences and determine the best conclusions or decisions based on the evidence provided. Analyzing a case involves breaking it down into its constituent parts to understand relationships and develop hypotheses to explain problems or guide decisions. The process is iterative and involves defining the situation, asking questions, developing hypotheses, assessing evidence to prove hypotheses, and considering alternatives. Case discussions are collaborative learning opportunities to develop arguments and learn from others' perspectives.

1. What is a CASE??

2. Case
 Imitates or stimulates a real
situation.
 Verbal representation of reality
 Puts the reader in the role of a
participant
 Unit of analysis varies enormously
from an individual to a department, a
company, an industry, country or the
world

3. myths….
 Cases are stories with knowledge
embedded in them that students have
previously received through
text, expert or both
 Case is a container of truth
 Case analysis is the process of finding
the correct answer
 Case discussion is an opportunity to
tell the instructor that the student
has found the right answer

4. Purpose of a case
 To represent reality
 To convey a situation with all its
currents and rough edges
 To shift the learning process from
authority and officially sanctioned
truth to unease of ambiguity and
multiple meanings
 To develop inference making as a
primary skill

5. Characteristics of case
 Presents significant business issue or
issues
 Has sufficient information on which
conclusion can be based
 No stated conclusions
 Case methods are heuristic

6. Complicating
properties of a case
 Information that includes noise
 Unstated information that must be
inferred
 Non-linear structure in which
relevant information is scattered
 Often disguised or left to inference

7. Role of student in a
case
 Construct conclusions from
information in the text
 Filter out irrelevant or low-value
portions
 Furnish missing information through
inferences
 Associate evidences from different
parts and integrate into a conclusion

8. How to analyze a case
Analysis=origin=Greek word=dissolving
 to break something into its
constituent parts
 to study the relationships of the parts
to the whole

9. Case Analysis
 THINKING not READING is the key
 Reading is never the primary source
of case analysis
 As you read, you ask questions about
the content
 You seek for answers from the case
itself
 As you find partial or full
answers, you think about how they
relate to the big picture

10. Types of case
situations
 Problems
 Decisions
 Evaluations
 Rules

11. Problem case
 Something important has happened
and we don’t know why it did
 Analysis should begin with a problem
definition
 Work out an explanation of the
problem by linking the outcome or
performance to its root cause

12. Decision case
 Many cases are organized around an
explicit decision
 Analyzing them requires:
 Decision options
 Decision criteria
 Decision evidence
 The goal is to determine the decision
that creates the best fit between the
available evidence and the criteria

13. Evaluation case
 Express the judgment about the
worth value or effectiveness of a
performance, act or outcome
 Finally the outcome can be the
subject of an assessment
 Evaluation assesses worth, value or
effectiveness
 Evaluation expresses the best fit
between the evidence and the criteria

14. Rules case
 Quantitative method
 For this type you need to know:
 The type of information needed
 The appropriate rule to furnish the same
 The correct way to apply the rule
 The data necessary to execute the rule
 The scope of such a case is very
narrow, useful only in specific sets of
circumstances but very productive in
them

15. Case analysis as a
process
 The key word is ACTIVE READING
 Interrogative and purposeful
 Iterative
 Three concepts contribute to active
reading:
 A goal
 A point of view
 A hypothesis

16. Goal of analysis
 Information familiarization
 To infer conclusion
 Justification of your conclusion
through evidence
 You have thought about other possible
conclusions and why yours is
preferable to them

17. Point of view of
analysis
 Adopt the point of view of the
“protagonist”
 Put yourself in her shoes
 Ask ,”why is the person in this
dilemma”??

18. Hypothesis of analysis
 One of the most useful tool for
resolving the protagonist’s dilemma is
a hypothesis
 Hypothesis= a tentative explanation
that accounts for a set of facts and
can be tested by further investigation
 Cases don’t allow just any hypothesis
 The available evidence in the case
sets the rational limit on the range.

19. Description of process
 The process has five phases:
 Situation
 Questions
 Hypothesis
 Proof and action
 alternatives

20. situation
 The most difficult part seems to be
the beginning
 Start by asking: what is the
situation?
 Bridge the gap between no knowledge
and knowledge enough to form an
hypothesis.
 Usually reading the first and the last
section is sufficient.

21. questions
 What do I need to know about the
situation?
 This requires further study-content
inventory
 Build a map of useful contents
 Scan the sections and exhibits
 Capture any thought, record and any
new questions

22. hypothesis
 Most important phase of work
 For problem cases, think about causes
and find if they exist in the case
 For quantitative evidence, find which
is most relevant else formulate one
 For protagonist, consider whether she
is the potential cause, how she
contributes to the problem

23. hypothesis….
 For decision cases-review the criteria
 Review decision options
 Apply criterion that seems to identify
the most evidence
 Investigate the strongest decision
options

24. hypothesis…
 For evaluation cases-review the
criteria
 What are the terms of evaluation
 If any preference, what are the
reasons
Taking notes help you organize and
remember information, avoid marker
pens, instead use pencil and pens
Take a short break, come back and look
again

25. proof and action
 Remember, you want to prove
something and look for something to
prove
 Assess evidence and look more if
something is missing
 Think in practical real world and not
ideal world terms
 Think about tangible actions and
write them down

26. alternatives
 May sound paradoxical but here you
question your own hypothesis, its
strengths and weaknesses
 And what is the strongest alternative
to it.
 What if hypothesis is wrong-through
mistakes we learn more about the
thought process called CASE
ANALYSIS

27. Case Discussion
 Aren’t opportunities to recite
knowledge learned elsewhere
 Its an opportunity to use knowledge
and intuition to generate new
knowledge
 Take responsibility of your view of the
case, develop an argument and listen
to others who disagree with you
 Arguments enhance learning

28. Case discussion…
 Collaboration-is what the case
method is all about
 It is a complete reversal of the lecture
model
 Everybody works a team with
instructor as a coach

29. Classroom risks
 Language barrier
 Gender differences
 Unrelated educational background
 Intellectual fear
Remember, you share any or all these
fears with many others

30. Reducing risk-the
wrong way
 Canned comments
 Speeches
 Delay and assess

31. Reducing risk-the right
way
 Speak up early
 Be prepared-thorough yet flexible
 Listening is participating
 Remember how to laugh
 Be patient with yourself
 Reflect on what you learn
 Understand the social factor