Business Management 2

(B6-BM2-13)
CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
 Case Study Analysis

Objectives

By the end of the session, students should be able

to:
• Explain the concept of case study
• Apply theory into real life situations.
 Case Study Analysis cont’

Main Source: Dalton, N.W(2002): Management

Practice, South African Institute of Management.
 Case Study Analysis cont’
Definition:
• A Case-Study is a partial and incomplete
description of a ‘real life’ problem situation (open
system), which relates to a unique setting, at a
specific point in time.
• A Case-Study Analysis is a means, or an
opportunity for testing a student’s creative
problem-solving and decision-making skills,
through the creation and analysis of a wide
variety of different solutions to a specific problem.
 Case Study Analysis cont’

• The case method attempts to solve the

problem by enabling the understanding of
the theory by application to real business
issues.
• The aim is to develop the skills to solve real
management problems and to use the
experience of others as a source of
knowledge.
 Case Study Analysis cont’
The case-study method of analysis is therefore
intended to help develop certain skills needed by
managers in a firm namely:
• Creative thinking skills
• Communication skills
• Analytical thinking skills
• Interpersonal (social) skills
• Theory application skills
• Self-analysis.
 Case Study Analysis, cont’
The primary objective of a case-study analysis
can be summarised as the acquisition and
development of:
• problem-solving skills;
• analytical - thinking skills, and
• creative - thinking skills.

Note: Provide solutions where possible

 Case study Analysis cont’
Case Study Analysis: Summary
1. First, study the case carefully, identifying the
management principles involved, where
possible.
2. Gain as sound an understanding as possible,
within the time available, read the case at least
twice.
3. Identify if there are major problems in the
case.
4. Are there minor problems in the case?
5. Are there policy issues or operational issues?
6. Suggest possible solutions.
 Case Study Analysis cont’
Example 1
Nintendo’s strategy disrupts the video game industry
Nintendo is a major game development company, developing both video
game consoles and game software. In April 2008 Nintendo was ranked
seventh in the annual Business Week- Boston Consulting Group ranking
of the world’s most innovative companies. The award recognized the
company as an innovator that had challenged the prevailing business
model of the video game industry with its new video game console, the
Wii. The video game console industry traditionally went into a new cycle
every five to six years. In 2006, when the newest generation of video
game consoles was introduced, Microsoft and Sony had continued with
their previous strategies of increasing the computer power of their latest
products, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.
 Case Study Analysis cont
However, Nintendo had planned something strategic…..and very
different. The company believed that the video game industry
had been focusing far too much on existing gamers and had
completely neglected non-gamers. Nintendo considered these
non-gamers to be the source of future growth. With this in mind,
it developed a radically different strategy and produced the Wii,
whose processing power was dwarfed by that of both
PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Nevertheless, it soon became
evident that Nintendo’s Wii was a runaway success. This
success was a result of clever strategic planning.

• Source: http://bx.businessweek.com/nintendo/
 Case Study Analysis cont’

Case Questions

1. What business is Nintendo into?

2. State Nintendo’s two major competitors.
3. Based on the case, Nintendo focused on strategic planning.
Explain any FOUR benefits of strategic planning to Nintendo.

4. Explain the strategies that were used by Microsoft and Sony

in making their products available to customers.
Case Study Analysis, cont’
Example 2:

Mary Roberts had been with the company three

years when she was promoted to manager of the
tax department which was part of the controller’s
division. Roberts started with the company
when she graduated from college as an
accounting major. She entered the organization
as a management trainee, and during the one-
year program she demonstrated considerable
leadership ability as an informal leader to her
peers. Mary also impressed many senior
managers in the company with her sense of
responsibility and her willingness to work hard.
 Case Study Analysis cont’
All of her training assignments were completed
on time with considerable skill for an
inexperienced person. Since she was very
interested in tax accounting, Roberts was
assigned to the tax department to be
developed further as Staff Accountant. Within
four months she became a Supervisor of ten
staff as a Staff Accountant to fill a vacancy
created by an unexpected early retirement.
 Case Study Analysis cont’
Her superior believed her to be the most qualified
individual to fill the position even though others in the
department had more experience in tax accounting.
None, however, demonstrated leadership ability or the
commitment to work that Mary possessed.

The Tax Department Manager was promoted to fill a

vacancy in the financial planning department eight
months later, and he recommended to the Controller
that Mary Roberts be promoted to fill the position he
was leaving.
Case Study Analysis cont’

He mentioned that her work was excellent

and that she was a very effective
supervisor. The tax department had 45
employees including 3 supervisors, 10
clerical employees, and 3 typists. Several
people in the department were senior
personnel with 10 to 30 years of
experience in tax work. Some of these
were more technically knowledgeable in
taxation than Mary.
 Case Study Analysis cont’

There was some resentment in this group that

so young a person was made a department
head, and three of these people were
particularly upset because they desired the
promotion and felt they deserved it. What
made them even more upset was the fact that
the Tax Manager did not discuss the promotion
with them.
 Case Study Analysis cont’
Case Questions

1. What can Mary Roberts do about the resentful

senior employees?
2. Can higher management do anything to help
Roberts make the transitions to greater
responsibility?
3. Will her lack of technical knowledge hinder Mary’s
managerial effectiveness?
4. Should Mary’s superior have discussed the
promotion with the senior employees before
announcing it?
 Case Study Analysis cont’
5. Could some of the resentment be based on the
fact that Mary Roberts was a young woman?

6. Should she have turned down the promotion to

gain more technical experience?

7. Can a person turn down such promotion without

hindering her career in the company?
 Case Study Analysis
cont’
Example: Case 3
Bill Corwin was employed by a large bank for several years. He
started as a messenger, then was assigned to a branch. He
progressed in this branch from a bookkeeping clerk to a
platform assistant. In this position he had a variety of duties
largely centering on administrative assistance to the officers of
the branch.
The bank’s many branches were divided regionally, each region
having a group of officers responsible for the branches in that
region. Bill was transferred from the branch in which he had
worked for 12 years to a branch in another region. One month
prior to Bill’s transfer, one of the four officers had retired, and
two weeks after this retirement the branch manager was
hospitalized with a serious illness.
 Case Study Analysis
• At the time of his cont’
transfer he was told that the branch
was completely “run down” as to operational
procedures and systems. The branch had a normal
complement of 4 officers and 35 staff members.
• When Bill arrived at his new assignment, he found a
rather demoralized situation. Complete lack of interest
was shown by the two remaining officers and the rest
of the staff was not properly trained or disciplined. The
two officers did not know Bill, and they were informed
by the regional office that he was being assigned to
the branch as a platform replacement for only two
weeks.
 Case Study Analysis
cont’
• During his first week at the branch Bill
discovered that the senior clerks were not
qualified to train other staff members,
customer complaints were rampant, there
was both a record of excessive absenteeism
and excessive overtime, and the branch had
received very poor audit reports by the
bank’s internal auditors with the same major
exceptions reported on the previous four
audits.
 Case Study Analysis
cont’
After two weeks, Bill was called to the regional office and offered
the job of operations officer. He was told that he would receive
the official title in two months,. He was also told that the
present operations officer, who had held the job at this branch
for seven years, was to be relieved of all operational
responsibilities and that he would be instructed to work with Bill
until the branch was functioning effectively.

Bill returned to the branch and started on his assignment. He

found the former operations officer cooperative for about one
week. Bill then decided to go ahead without the help of the
former operations officer.
 Case Study Analysis
cont’
• Over the next three months he worked almost every
night until 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. He tried to correct the
problems that had developed over several years. The
training of employees involved considerable time, and
he found it necessary to release 12 clerks who were
causing trouble in various ways.
• The remaining staff and replacements started to function
smoothly. He received his title as promised. Then the
branch manager returned to work after his prolonged
illness.
 Case Study Analysis
cont’
• A week after his returned he called Bill to his
office and questioned his efforts in the
branch.
• He told Bill that the former operations officer
had mentioned that he was an upsetting
influence in the branch, had fired several
good people, did not know his job, and that
he left his job early several days a week.
 Case Study Analysis
cont’
Case Questions
1. If you were Bill, how would you answer the branch manager?

2. Did the regional office handle Bill’s transfer properly?

3. What should be done by the regional office now?

4. Do you believe that Bill can function effectively as a manager

in this branch?
Thank you!