Guidelines for Improving Performance in Case Analysis Report Writing

 

1.0      Overview

 

Thiscourseexperienceinvolvestheextensiveuseofcase,assignmentand/or projectreportstohelpstudentsapplyconceptsanddemonstratemasteryofthekeyknowledgeelements.Priortothiscourse, fewstudentshavesignificant experienceanalyzingandpreparingthesereports,whichcanmaketheprocessdifficultand/orfrustrating.Asaresult,theseguidelineshavebeenwrittento helpensurethattheprocessisbothrewardingandasourceoflearning.

 

Iftheguidelinesandsuggestionssetforthinthis notearefollowed, thentheprobabilityofsuccessshouldbegreatlyenhanced.

 

 

2.0      Purpose

 

Thecourseexperienceconsistsoftwo majorlearningcomponents.Thefirstcomponentinvolvescommunicationandunderstandingofknowledge,toolsandtechniques.Thetextbookreadings,guestlecturersonbest practicesand/orcollaborativegroupreflectionsaroundbusinessliteraturecanaddtolearningsuchskills.

 

Thesecond involvesapplicationofknowledge,toolsandtechniques.Writtencases,assignmentsand/orgroupprojectscanassistindevelopingthis skill.

 

Ineachoftheseinstances,youwill be calledupontoaddressaproblemexistinginthecasecompany.Youwill beaskedtotakeanill-structuredproblemorsituationandconvertitintoawell-structuredproblemthatyouthenproceedtoresolvethroughyouranalysis,alternativesandrecommendation.Youwillbe askedtoactnotasastudent inthiscourse, but ratherasaneffectiveproblemsolverandasa manager.

 

 

3.0      YourRole

 

Thefirstkeytoeffectivereport writingistoidentifyyour role.Inmostcases,studentsassumethattheyaretoresolveproblems identifiedbythedecision-makers inacase/assignment.Thisisoftenawrongassumption.Remember–youplayaveryimportant roleinacase/assignment.Butwhichperspectiveshould youtake?