Guidelines for Preparing A Case
No two cases are the same just as no two management situations in real life are the same. Given that qualification, there are some "better" ways to go about examining an operations management situation leading to informed and hopefully correct decisions whether they be for class preparation or in a written report.
Consider these general steps and questions as you tackle a case.
WHO IS THE DECISION MAKER? What is this person's position, what is the decision confronting them?
From their perspective, what are their objectives or major concerns? When writing up a case you write for this person(s) so know your audience!
SIZE UP THE ORGANIZATION. What product(s) do they make or services do they deliver? What do their customers expect and competitors offer? What do you have to do well in their industry? (Key Success
Factors (KSF)) What is the company's competitive advantage if any? How did it arrive at its current situation? (Some history is not worth repeating!) Is it financially sound? What kind of management is running the company? What is the nature of the process by which products are made or services delivered? While it is always necessary to spend some time sizing up the organization in preparing the case, it is not necessary to devote a large amount of space for it in a written report. The decision maker(s) must be assumed to know what is written in the case.
ANALYSIS - PUT THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE. What is the nature of the problem or opportunity requiring a decision? What are the causes or sources? Sometimes you have to dig deeper into all the verbiage of the case and find the real root cause or leverage point for management action. How good or bad is the situation? How critical is it to the firm's short and long term performance? What is your evidence? (This may be defined quantitatively and/or qualitatively.) What are the specific problem areas and what is their priority for management? Putting a situation in perspective is similar to making an argument to motivate a decision maker to take action. Therefore you may examine the impact of a problem or opportunity on the profitability of a firm, or the severity of its quality and productivity problems on customer satisfaction.
Remember sometimes there is no real problem (i.e., there is an opportunity to seize an advantage) or what is thought to be the obvious problem is not.
ALTERNATIVES. Since you know the situation and what is required of you for future action, what are the alternatives for action? You may have to look at a number of alternatives for a number of probable scenarios. Remember that alternatives can be defined by not only what they involve but by when they are to be done (e.g., wait a year or do it now). It is very important at this stage to define the criterion that will be used to
