Business case studies for students provide a unique and relevant business education resource that students can use in business related studies. The case studies provide a summary of actual or fictitious accounts of business dilemma that provides students with an opportunity to analyze indicated business issues from different perspectives. Besides, the business case study for students enables learners to use problem solving skills to illustrate business theory and show the application of such theory to solve the business dilemma presented. Accordingly, business case studies for students are suitable for learners taking business related courses because they actualize the complexities of business and help students to understand course content by presenting relevant context.
Determine the Level of Students and the Appropriate Case Study Approach
The case study should be appropriate for the intended student level suggesting that business case studies for the undergraduate level should provide information where the expected response can be provided with the level of experience and knowledge that students possess. In this case, undergraduate level case studies should have one central dilemma. For MBA students, the case studies can present multiple and complicated issues that require solving multiple dilemmas. Markedly, writing a case study for students requires determination of the case study’s approach based on the intended objectives. The main approaches that one can choose from include:
- The analytical approach which necessitates the development of a case study that prompts students to uncover and understand what scenarios occurred in a particular context and why.
- The problem oriented approach that aims at prompting students to identify major issues and suggest solutions to the problems.
Establish the Business Case Topic
Business courses have diverse topics that range from human resource management to marketing. Notably, writing a case study requires the identification of business course content to limit cases of overlapping concepts and themes. Common topics from which case studies can be formulated include:
- human resource management,
- marketing,
- organizational leadership,
- project management,
- organizational change management.
Develop a Case Study Narrative
A business case narrative is a comprehensible story that provides summarized and integrated information concerning the case study’s focus. The narrative should provide relevant data such as background information concerning a company, issues facing an organization and the management, and facts that signify a dilemma. For instance, the case study narrative can highlight information concerning a company, historical changes, and market performance, changes in organization and economic situations, and early indicators of failures and key quotes from the leaders or workers in the company. The narrative should provide key information from which a student can highlight the main issues of concern and develop solutions depending on the case study objective.
Overall Guideline
- Determine the business areas that the case study should be oriented and the assessment objectives.
- Develop a plot that is correlated to the chosen business topic.
- Structure the case.
- Find appropriate information to fill the business concepts, theories, and processes
- Provide key indicators for problems in the case study.
- Provide guidelines that students should follow when analyzing the case study.