About Leaderonomics.com. Leaderonomics.com is a leadership portal owned by Leaderonomics, a social enterprise passionate about transforming nations through leadership development.Leaderonomics.com features leadership insights, trends, CEOs, thought leaders, HR leaders and inspiring real-life stories for your personal and professional development. Harvard Business School publishes case studies to teach its students, and sells the case studies to people who are willing to pay big bucks for it. You can, however, access the 1Mby1M case studies a few different ways online: 1. Entrepreneur Journ.
Business case studies are teaching tools that are used by many business schools, colleges, universities, and corporate training programs. This method of teaching is known as the case method. Most business case studies are written by educators, executives or heavily educated business consultants. However, there are times when students are asked to conduct and write their own business case studies. For example, students may be asked to create a case study as a final assignment or group project. Student-created case studies may even be used as a teaching tool or a basis for class discussion.
Writing a Business Case Study
When you write a case study, you must write with the reader in mind. The case study should be set up so that the reader is forced to analyze situations, draw conclusions, and make recommendations based on their predictions. If you aren't overly familiar with case studies, you may be wondering how to best organize your writing. To help you get started, let's take a look at the most common ways to structure and format a business case study.
Case Study Structure and Format
Although every business case study is a little different, there are a few elements that every case study has in common. Every case study has an original title. Titles vary but usually include the name of the company as well as a little info about the case scenario in ten words or less. Examples of real case study titles include Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple and Starbucks: Delivering Customer Service.
All cases are written with a learning objective in mind. The objective might be designed to impart knowledge, build a skill, challenge the learner, or develop an ability. After reading and analyzing the case, the student should know about something or be able to do something. An example objective might look like this:
After analyzing the case study, the student will be able to demonstrate knowledge of approaches to marketing segmentation, differentiate between potential core customer bases and recommend a brand positioning strategy for XYZ's newest product.
Most case studies assume a story-like format. They often have a protagonist with an important goal or decision to make. The narrative is usually weaved throughout the study, which also includes sufficient background information about the company, situation, and essential people or elements. There should be enough detail to allow the reader to form an educated assumption and make an informed decision about the questions (usually two to five questions) presented in the case.
The Case Study Protagonist
Case studies should have a protagonist that needs to make a decision. This forces the case reader to assume the role of the protagonist and make choices from a particular perspective. An example of a case study protagonist is a branding manager who has two months to decide on a positioning strategy for a new product that could financially make or break the company. When writing the case, it is important to ensure that your protagonist is developed and compelling enough to engage the reader.
The Case Study Narrative/Situation
The narrative of a case study starts with an introduction to the protagonist, her role and responsibilities, and the situation/scenario that she is facing. Information is provided on the decisions the protagonist needs to make. Details include challenges and constraints related to the decision (such as a deadline) as well as any biases the protagonist might have.
The next section offers up background information on the company and its business model, industry and competitors. The case study then covers challenges and issues faced by the protagonist as well as the consequences associated with the decision that the protagonist needs to make. Exhibits and extra documents, like financial statements, might be included in the case study to help students reach a decision about the best course of action.
The Deciding Point
The conclusion of a case study returns to the main question or problem that must be analyzed and solved by the protagonist. Case study readers are expected to step into the role of the protagonist and answer the question or questions presented in the case studies. In most cases, there are multiple ways to answer the case question, which allows for classroom discussion and debate.
Case studies are narratives that tell the story of an actual business with a real problem or strategy. Many business schools use real case studies as a teaching tool in the classroom.
If you attend a graduate business program, such as an MBA program, you could look at hundreds, or even of thousands of cases, throughout your academic career. You may even be asked to write a case study or a case study analysis.
Looking at case study samples is a good way to familiarize yourself with cases so you can be comfortable working with them. Some business schools and organizations sell case studies online for a fee. Harvard Business Review sells millions of case studies each year.
But buying every business case study you want to look at isn't always practical, so here are some of the places online where you can find free case study samples. The case studies on these sites are specifically geared toward business majors.
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MIT Sloan's Learning Edge
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management has a knowledge-sharing resource known as LearningEdge. It features lots of valuable learning and teaching tools for management educators and students.
One of the more useful things that you will find here is a collection of case studies that are designed to spark discussion about topics like leadership, business ethics, operations management, entrepreneurship, strategy, sustainability, and related topics. Some of the cases are decision-based, while others are demonstrative.
Free Business Case Studies With Solutions
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The Case Centre
The Case Centre sells case studies but they are also committed to providing free case studies to promote the case study method as an educational tool.
After registering for a free account on the site, you can browse their large selection of free case study samples from business schools and organizations around the globe. Some of the cases are recent on timely topics, while others date back 10 years or more.
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Acadia Institute of Case Studies (AICS)
Free Case Studies For Teaching
The School of Business Administration at Acadia University has a non-profit center known as the Acadia Institute of Case Studies (AICS). This resource provides educational materials in the form of case studies to help educators and instructors teach real-world business scenarios in the classroom.
https://viewerbrown885.weebly.com/jar-of-beans-download-for-pc.html. Most of their case studies focus on entrepreneurship and small business. However, they do have case studies on a wide range of topics, including accounting, finance, marketing, e-business, strategy, human resources, and related topics.
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Schroeder Inc.
Business Case Studies
Schroeder Inc. is a private firm of consultants providing a selection of case studies they have done for various organizations. The Schroeder Inc. case studies cover a wide range of topics of interest to business majors, including business planning, growth planning, organizational instruction, operational planning, and related topics.