Reference no: EM13719721

Case study - army crew team

A case is a description of a management situation. Most cases range in length from two to twenty-five pages of text and exhibits.

Cases are not written to illustrate a correct or incorrect handling of an administrative decision, nor is there an editorial bias that implies a particular conclusion.

When students are presented with a case, they place themselves in the role of the decision maker as they read through the situation and identify the problem they are faced with. The next step is to perform the necessary analysis - examining the causes and considering alternative courses of actions to come to a set of recommendations.

These are typically four to five pages (approximately 1000 words). The best papers will clearly and concisely deal with the question or issue assigned, incorporating material from the readings and outside material (if you feel that it is necessary/relevant to your argument). It is important that your case study be thorough, supported and concise. A good case study should contain the following:

- Introduction of the situation

- A clear statement of the central business problem in the case

- A statement and rank ordering of the critical issues in the case. You might also briefly explain why each issue is important.

- A list of stakeholders and what's at stake for each of them.

- A forecast of the most desirable outcome. If you could write a"Hollywood Ending" for this case, what would it be? What do the various stakeholders most want or hope for?

- A list and analysis of possible solutions to the problem.

- The optimal solution to the problem

- A plan for implementing and communicating the optimal solution.

You can get into trouble if you spend too much time/space on case facts and do not provide adequate analysis. Use the facts of the case to back up your conclusions and ideas.