Case Study

Analysing a case study in business courses

▪ What is a case study analysis in the context of a business course?
▪ Answering a series of specific questions about the case
▪ Responding to a more general assignment topic or question
▪ How to analyse a case study
What is a case study analysis in the context of a business course?
‘A case study is an account of an activity, event or problem that contains a real or hypothetical situation and includes the complexities you would encounter in the workplace’ (Mort, Cross & Downey 2002). Case studies are usually written as a narrative i.e. like a story, using the contexts of real life organisations. When you analyse a case study it helps you to practise applying knowledge, and your thinking, reasoning and decision-making skills, to a real life situation. Case studies in business courses are generally centred around a problem and a case study analysis will require you to:
▪ identify the issues or problems within the case
▪ identify and draw on particular theories to support your analysis
▪ make recommendations or suggest some solutions to the problems.
There are two main kinds of case study analyses set for assessment tasks.
▪ Firstly, you may be required to answer a series of specific questions about a case. This is an assessment task that is usually set in first and second year courses.
▪ Secondly, you may be asked to respond to a more general assignment topic or question, which is an assessment task that is usually set in the later years of a course.
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Answering a series of specific questions about the case
The questions that are asked at the end of the case study are designed to guide your analysis of the case. To complete this kind of analysis, work through the following steps.
Read the case study and the set questions
▪ Read the case, highlight or underline the main points and think about the main issues.
▪ Read the questions, break the questions down into key words and phrases and... [continues]

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