Strategic Management

Summarize your current level of responsibility and decision-making ability in your company. What role do you play in your organization’s strategy? What are your career goals for the next five years? What steps do you see yourself taking to achieve these goals? How will a UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA help you reach your goals? Although the levels of my responsibilities are not those typical of a non-degreed manager, I have worked twice as hard and derived much pride in an extremely successful management career despite not having a bachelors degree..

In addition to promoting my sense of hard work I have over than 3 years of increasing management responsibility at Velocitel, I have been currently assigned overall responsibility of implementation and management of the companies supply chain as well as all subcontractor qualification and relationship management. I report directly to the President and Chief Operating Officer. As part of the overall senior management team, I own the Velocitel supply chain and purchasing. I interface with fortune 50 senior executive customers in the telecommunications industry space.

My team comprises of 6 logistic managers and 4 warehouse managers, each managing a local presence in our largest territory markets. In the last three years I have been included in every major corporate strategy definition meeting, business analysis, and senior client interaction. I am often engaged by senior executives as an internal consultant for my strong problem-solving capabilities. In addition to becoming highly skilled at process risk consulting, I have also significantly improved my project management and ‘new service’ development abilities in the last three years.

After graduating from UNC, I will seek to stay with my current firm as a senior executive or with its parent company in the business development group. In addition to providing me with an opportunity to apply what I have learned, it will expose me to the practical issues of new business creation and integration due to the company’s growth strategies. I have learned that an important part of being a manager is developing vision, knowing not only what my company is doing next month but also what you t it should do three years from now.

Knowledge gained through courses like “ Strategic Thinking and Change” and “ Global Supply Chain Management”” will allow me to take these considerations into account, balancing it with reality. Five years after earning an MBA, I, I believe that I am ready to take the next step toward my dream of working for those less fortunate by becoming the CEO of a nonprofit or NGO, such as St. Boniface Haiti an organization I have had the pleasure of being involved with.

I want to be the one that directs the course, creates a vision and executes it. A path of management roles in large NGO’s that focus on a business acumen will serve as the necessary ground for being an innovative leader hopefully leaving my mark on lives and the world,  I feel that UNC is the place to receive my Executive MBA education. The close community, the unique geographical location and the strong emphasis the MBA program has on team players and teamwork creates an atmosphere conducive to strong learning.

This special trait reflects also in the UNC alumni community. Speaking to UNC Alumni, I was impressed with their willingness to go to great length to assist each other. 2. What are your primary strengths? What aspects of yourself would you like to improve? What do you hope to learn during the MBA for Executives Program that will help you refine your strengths and minimize your weaknesses? I am lucky enough to have experience leading projects dealing with establishment of new business units, and reorganization projects.

I have a great deal of strength in dealing with strategic implementation projects. I bring with me diverse knowledge and experience of creating and managing change within an organization. I possess multi-dimensional leadership skills and have led various cross-functional teams in complex projects that streamlined business processes and added value. I am an open-minded person, a good team player and an excellent communicator. With work experience in third world countries, this gives me the benefit of seeing things from a broader perspective.

This translates well into professionalism, strong values, and humility. I am sensitive to the fact that different people require different types of direction and treatment. Although I often work with diverse and challenging groups, I am generally able to reach consensus and create a shared vision and purpose. This allows me to establish team priorities and proactively set our mutual direction. I am working on being more assertive about my viewpoints; I attribute this lack of confidence to the absence of formal business training.

Although I have improved a lot, I still need to be more effective in defending my ideas and getting my point across to executive management. I think time at UNC will guarantee the development of these skills. Finally, the gaps in my formal business training specifically in-depth knowledge of accounting and marketing. require me to ask more questions than my peers. Although I am comfortable with both additional training at UNC will surely address these areas of needed improvement. 3. MBA for Executives students learn a great deal from both the faculty and their classmates.

At UNC, they are expected to contribute by interacting with classmates and faculty in study teams and in the classroom. How will you differentiate yourself from your classmates? Provide examples of your professional experiences that will distinguish you from your classmates and will provide valuable insights for them. 4. (Optional) what would you like to tell us that would help us evaluate your application? Or, what unique personal qualities or life experiences outside of work distinguish you from other applicants?

Gap, the company, has a large network of physical locations. At the beginning of February 2008, the company had 3,167 stores, including 1,249 in the US and 1,918 in international locations such as Canada, the UK, France, and Japan. Gap has also entered franchise agreements to operate Gap stores or Gap and Banana Republic stores in Singapore, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Indonesia, and Korea. Comparatively, Gap’s competitor, Abercrombie & Fitch Co, operated 1,035 stores in the US, Canada, and the UK. Another competitor, Aeropostale merchandise operates 828 stores. Gap’s large physical network of stores enhances the company’s sales penetration and gives it a competitive advantage. Building financial strength Gap’s cash flow from operations reported a significant growth in FY2008. The net cash provided by the operating activities increased by 66% from $1,250 million in FY2007 to $2,081 million in FY2008. The company’s operating margins increased from 7.69% in 2007 to 8.34% in 2008. The strong cash position would boost the company’s dividends. Unlike Gap, its competitors recorded a decrease in net cash from operating activities. For instance, Aeropostale’s cash flow from operations decreased from $177.4 million in FY2007 to $171.08 in FY2008. Similarly, American Eagle Outfitters’ cash flow from operations decreased from $749.3 million in FY2007 to $464.3 million in FY2008. Gap’s strong cash position provides the company with a strong financial base to pursue its expansion plans.

Strong financial leverage

The gap is financially leveraged to a significant extent. The company’s long-term debt to shareholders’ equity ratio was 1.27 in FY2008 compared to 3.63 in 2007. This is primarily due to a decrease in long term debt in recent years. The company’s long term debt has been reduced at a CAGR of 70% during 2005  from $1,886 million in 2005 to $50 million in 2008. The company’s capability of paying its debt is reflected through its high-interest coverage ratio. The ratio increased from 29.88% in 2007 to 50.58% in 2008. Low debt and high-interest coverage ratio provide the company with the flexibility to ramp up its operations. Further, Gap has strong financial leverage compared to competitors. Macy’s, one of the , recorded an increase in long term debt at a CAGR of 23.3% from $3,151 million in 2004 to $9,087 million in 2008. Reduced long term debt eases the debt burden and gives the company greater scope for growth.

Weaknesses

The weak performance of comparable stores. The company witnessed a declined in revenues from comparable stores of Gap and Old Navy brands. Comparable store sales compare sales of stores that have been open for a year or more. Gap North America witnessed a fall in comparable stores sales by 5% in FY2008 over FY2007 and Old Navy North America recorded a decline of 7% in the same period. The primary reason for the decline was the company’s weak product assortment at the stores. Due to the decline of comparable store sales from Gap and Old Navy brands, the company’s total revenues declined by 1% in FY2008. Comparatively, American Eagle Outfitters witnessed an increase in comparable-store sales by 1% in FY2008. Another competitor, Aeropostale, recorded an increase in comparable-store sales by 3.3% in the same period. A weakness in comparable-store sales indicates the inability to retain customers and could lead to a loss of market share.

Geographic concentration

Gap remains heavily dependent on the US. The company derived over 83.6% of its revenues from the US in FY2008. The company has a weak presence in other geographies, including Canada, Europe, and Asia. In contrast, competitors such as Hennes; Mauritz (H; M), Levi’s, Tommy Hilfiger have more globally diversified operations, which provide them with a better revenue profile. The geographic concentration of operations increases the company’s vulnerability to adverse market conditions in the US and limits growth opportunities.

Opportunities

Growth in online retail spending Online shopping is steadily growing in popularity in the US. Retail e-commerce sales in the US recorded totaled $127.7 billion in 2007 and are expected to grow 14.3% at $146 billion in 2008. Further, sales will increase at an 11.3% average annual growth rate during 2007–12.

Operations Research (O. R. ) has been termed The Science of Better. The term Operations Research (OR) describes the discipline that is focused on the application of information technology for informed decision-making. In other words, OR represents the study of optimal resource allocation A problem in the real world is modeled, usually in mathematical terms, then mathematical techniques, together with data analysis and computational algorithms, are applied, in order to find ways to do the job better. The word Operations derives from the many successful applications of O.

R. To military operations in the sass. But, since then, most O. R. Applications have been to peaceful activities, especially to business management, of which planning industrial production, and scheduling airlines, and other transportation, have been prominent. The name Management Science denotes the same discipline, with some emphasis on business management. Practitioners of Operations Management will find many of these techniques relevant. The areas of Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Decision Sciences, and Manufacturing Management deal with similar applications.

The goal of OR is to provide rational bases for decision making by seeking to understand and structure employ situations, and to utilize this understanding to predict system behavior and improve system performance. Much of the actual work is conducted by using analytical and numerical techniques to develop and manipulate mathematical models of organizational systems that are composed of people, machines, and procedures. OR’s role in both, the public and the private sectors is increasing rapidly.

In general, OR addresses a wide variety of issues in transportation, inventory planning, production planning, communication operations, computer operations, financial assets, risk management, revenue management, and any other fields where improving business productivity is paramount. In the public sector, OR studies may focus on energy policy, defense, health care, water resource planning, design and operation of urban emergency systems, or criminal justice. To reiterate, OR reflects an analytical method of problem solving and decision-making that is useful in the management of organizations.

In OR, problems are (1 ) decomposed into basic components and (2) solved via mathematical analysis. Some of the analytical methods used in OR include mathematical logic, simulation, network analysis, queuing theory, and game theory. The actual OR process can in general be described via three steps. (1) A set of potential solutions to a problem is identified and developed (the set may be rather large). (2) The alternatives derived in the first step are analyzed, and reduced to a smaller set of solutions (the solutions have to be feasible and workable). 3) The alternatives derived in the second step are subjected to simulated implementation and, if feasible, exposed to an actual analysis in a real-world environment. It has to be pointed out that in the final step, psychology and management sciences often play a rather important role. Generally speaking OR improves the effectiveness and the efficiency of an institute the term operations in OR may Suggests that the manufacturing application Category represents the Original home of OR. That is not quite accurate, as the name originated from military operations, not business operations.

Nevertheless, it is a true statement that OR’s successes in contemporary business pervade manufacturing and service operations, logistics, distribution, transportation, and telecommunication. The myriad applications include scheduling, routing, workflow improvements, elimination of bottlenecks, inventory control, business process re- engineering, site selection, or facility and general operational planning. Revenue and supply chain management reflect two growing applications that are distinguished by their use of several OR methods to cover several functions.

Revenue management entails first to accurately forecasting the demand, and secondly to adjust the price Structure over time to more profitably allocate fixed capacity. Supply chain decisions describe the who, what, when, and where abstractions from purchasing and transporting raw materials and parts, through manufacturing actual products and goods, and anally distributing and delivering the items to the customers. The prime management goal here may be to reduce overall cost while processing customer orders more efficiently than before.

The power of utilizing OR methods allows examining this rather complex and convoluted chain in a comprehensive manner, and to search among a vast number of combinations for the resource optimization and allocation strategy that seem most effective, and hence beneficial to the operation. Businesses and organizations frequently face challenging operational problems whose SUCCessfUl solution requires certain expertise in applied autistic, optimization, stochastic modeling, or a combination of these areas.

To illustrate, a company may need to design a sampling plan in order to meet specific quality control objectives. In a manufacturing environment, operations that compete for the same resources must be scheduled in a way that deadlines are not violated. The manager of a supermarket must determine how many checkout lines to keep open at various times during the day and evening so that shoppers are not unnecessarily delayed.

The area of operations research that concentrates on real-world operational problems is called production systems. Production systems problems may arise in settings that include, but are not limited to, manufacturing, telecommunications, health-care delivery, facility location and layout, and staffing. The area of production systems presents special challenges for operations researchers. Production problems are operations research problems, hence solving them requires a solid foundation in operations research fundamentals.

Additionally, the solution of production systems problems frequently draws on expertise in more than one of the primary areas of operations research, implying that the successful production researcher cannot be One-dimensional. Furthermore, production systems problems cannot be solved without an in- depth understanding of the real problem, since invoking assumptions that simplify the mathematical structure of the problem may lead to an elegant solution for the wrong problem.

Common sense and practical insight are common attributes of successful production planners. At the current time, the field of OR is extremely dynamic and ever evolving. To name a few of the contemporary (primary) research projects, current work in OR seeks to develop software for material flow analysis and design of flexible manufacturing facilities using pattern recognition and graph theory algorithms. Further, approaches for the design of re-configurable manufacturing systems and progressive automation of discrete manufacturing systems are under development.

Additional OR projects focus on the industrial deployment of computer-based methods for assembly line balancing, business process reengineering, capacity planning, pull scheduling, and setup reduction, primarily through the integration of the philosophies of the Theory of Constraints and Lean Manufacturing. Quality in Research Companies need to compete both by bringing new products to the market and by improving existing products and processes. These two aspects constitute the rationale underlying this master’s programmed.

However, in addition to the factors discussed, we think that there should also be additional focus on the quality of operations research and the dissemination process of findings from such research. This has tremendous implications for the importance of operations research technology transfer to the national level. Broadly defined, this field deals with the efficient design and operation of systems, usually seeking to determine an optimal or effective utilization and allocation of scarce resources.

The tools of OR lie in the mathematical doodling and analysis of physical or economic systems, and its scope of application arises in varied walks of life, in the areas of business, industry, government, and national defense. As stiffer competition and lower resilience to business shock make companies and industries walk a tight line that separates success from failure, the emphasis of this field on both long-term (strategic) and short-term (tactical) efficiency and cost effectiveness are increasingly promoting its use in widely diverse areas.

Although the importance of quality in research might seem obvious, we have found that quality and methodological rigor are often lacking. To identify proven strategies aimed at improving routine immunization services in developing countries, we recently conducted a literature review assessing both results and methodological rigor. The lack of quality and rigor for most studies and the overall paucity of well-conducted published studies was striking, especially in light of the longstanding Expanded Programmed on Immunization (PEP) and the widely recognized importance and cost- effectiveness.

Also some of the broader issues, innovations and implications across a spectrum of disciplines which co-inhabit the same ecosystem. The history has been presented as the paradigm of detonation management, defined as the use of technological, quantitative methods, and decision making techniques in order to make business decisions based on data and analyses rather than solely on intuition. The history of this paradigm has been presented as a series of periods, each of which have unique characteristics, whilst simultaneously being part of an overall evolution.

Using the themes that are particularly prevalent in the analytics period, examples of possible research directions for the OR community have also been presented. Above all the analysis demonstrates that OR does not exist entirely in isolation; the community must embrace and engage with the wider concerns of the ecosystem and paradigm or risk declining into obscurity. With other academic and practitioner communities engaging with analytics and increasing research in these areas, OR is in danger of being left behind.

Whilst arguments may be made that such research directions risk diluting the OR ‘brand’, the original conception of the discipline was to use the most relevant methods available to solve business problems, a tradition such research falls firmly within. Many businesses are currently uncertain of how the economic recession will affect demand for their services and products. For global permeate Norse Kooks, this IS a familiar situation. Over the past decade, the company has experienced declining demand for its products as electronic media have replaced newsprint publications.

As it struggles to survive, the company has been forced to make some difficult decisions, including closing paper production lines and entire mills. As decision makers become more involved in implementing Total Quality Management, questions are raised about which management practices would be emphasized. In this exploratory investigation of the relationship of specific quality management practices to quality performance, a framework Was constructed.

It focuses on both core quality management practices and on the infrastructure that creates an environment supportive of their use. In addition, it incorporates two measures of quality performance and their role in establishing and sustaining a competitive advantage. Path analysis was used to the management, with multiple regression analysis determining the path coefficients, which were decomposed into their various effects. Weak linkages were eliminated.

The trimmed model indicated that perceived quality market outcomes were primarily related to statistical control/feedback and the product design process, while the internal measure of percent that passed final inspection without requiring rework was strongly related to process flow management and to statistical control/feedback, to a lesser extent. Both measures of quality performance were related to competitive advantage. Important infrastructure components included top management support and workforce management.

Supplier relationships and work attitudes were also related to some of the core quality practices and quality performance measures. The driving idea behind OR is to collaborate with clients to design and improve operations, make better decisions, solve problems, and advance managerial functions including policy formulation, planning, forecasting, and performance measurement. The goal of OR is to develop information to provide valuable insight and guidance.

By utilizing OR methods, the objective is to apply to any given project the most appropriate scientific techniques selected from mathematics, any of the sciences including the social and management sciences, and any branch of engineering, respectively. The work normally entails collecting and analyzing data, creating and testing mathematical models, proposing approaches not previously considered, interpreting information, making recommendations, and aiding at implementing the initiatives that result from the study.

Moreover, utilizing OR methods allow to develop and implement software, systems, services, and products related to a client’s methods and applications. The systems may include strategic decision-support systems, which play a vital role in many organizations today. Profitability in Research profitability is a prime concern in all organizations. Operations management uses various tools and strategies to try and improve if not maximize profitability. Operations management, which encompasses supply chain management and logistics, deals with how well some function is performed.

This research analyzes the specific strategy of production mix efficiency and what mediating effect it has on the relationship between operations management and financial profitability. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling was utilized to analyze the relationship between he three constructs. This research found that operations management alone does not have a positive impact on profitability. However, the strategy of production mix efficiency has a positive mediating effect on profit, which provides a potential answer to firms trying to increase profits through operations.

Analyzing a strategy of operations management for the purposes of increasing profitability. The strategy of production mix efficiency looks at factors involved in the process of producing goods. Some variables here are the number of items each firm makes and the time and costs involved in ACH. The study is a logistical aspects of business. The purpose of this paper is to provide operation managers and firms with an in-depth understanding of what factors have a more direct impact on profitability.

Operations management is concerned with all areas that affect the company on a daily basis. According to Jaggy (1992), one of the goals of operations management is to achieve profit minimization. In order to achieve this, there are various factors that can be utilized. A few of these strategies are production mix efficiency, product route efficiency, and resource commitment. This research analyses production mix efficiency. Counting (1996) describes a situation in which a management process that is not optimized will result in less than optimal results.

Such results lead to solid and hazardous waste, as well as increasing operational costs. This forward supply chain issue creates a desire and need for a well-organized and robust reverse logistics System. Supply chain disruptions pose an increasingly significant risk to supply chains Synergy demands these forward and reverse systems be linked for effective communication and scheduling purposes. Typically, supply chains will consist f an independent system for the reverse chain however, it will work hand in hand with the forward chain.

Without such integration, Stock (1992) notes that several problems may arise because firms do not understand they can positively affect the environment through reduction and recycling of waste. Industries are in the habit of utilizing virgin materials rather than recycled ones. Lastly, there exists a perception that recycled materials are inferior to virgin ones. It is important with regard to profitability to make the most of the materials a firm has. This is achieved by using the materials the firm has to produce the optimal mix of products to achieve maximum profitability.

• By assurance middle income individuals looking for a bargain on the necessary complementary goods that come with house and property ownership. The Restore relies on customers having a demand that forces them to come to the store to make their purchase. They acquire the majority of their product from foreclosure purchases and donations. They hire a mixture of volunteers and paid employees. The Restore lacks the specialization of major furniture and household appliance firms but models their business structure around a low-cost model which is easily obtained through Habitat for Humanity’s charity status.
• The Habitat for Humanity firm as a whole focuses on building houses for the homeless, it has been doing so since 1976. It funds its ventures through stores across the nation like the Restore and the aforementioned foreclosure purchases. The recipients of the house do not receive their housing for free, however. They have an affordable payment plan set up based on their annual income. The profits from these houses are used in turn to build more houses and to pay for the numerous full-time employees that work for the organization. Charity status allows them to sell products gained in foreclosure.
• Volunteers aren’t compensated for their work. Reduced taxes. Appliances and furniture are acquired at little to no cost. Demand is high because they sell to all the people that purchase houses through the habitat. They get a steady influx of other customers thanks to the low prices. Convenient location on a frequently busy road. A wide array of products. Simple business structure. Church support provides good community advertisement. Habitat provides a proven business structure through which to run the store. Lack of specialization. Lack of consistent quality in products. Managing a mixture of hired employees and volunteers.
• Having to follow a strict set of moral codes and rules. Non- Guaranteed product supply. The restore and Habitat as a whole would do well to implement a training program similar to the one used by modern fast food industries. It would ensure that the leaders running their assets would be the best qualified for their respective Jobs. The company as a whole should make it a requirement that the managers send in reports of the effectiveness of their business model on a bi-quarterly basis so that adjustments can be made, it is also noteworthy that a degree of freedom and leniency are more than practical in any equines.
• While a stable command structure is important, it is even more so important that intelligent leaders, which the training program would ensure, should be allowed to take initiative without fear of being reprimanded so long as it follows the business standards and moral code, and is justifiable. Habitat has already covered expansion seeing as that they have restores scattered across the globe, so a logical next step would be to focus on high-end retail. Setting up Restores that cater to more lucrative opportunities.

How to Analyze a Case The Case Study Handbook:

How to Read, Discuss, and Write Persuasively About Cases By Do No Harvard Business School Press Boston, Massachusetts

This chapter was originally published as chapter 3 of The Case Study Handbook: How to Read, Discuss, and Write Persuasively About Cases, copyright 2007 Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the publisher. Requests for permission should be directed to permissions@hbsp. harvard. edu, or mailed to Permissions, Harvard Business School Publishing, 60 Harvard Way, Boston, Massachusetts 02163.

The case method is heuristic—a term for self-guided learning that employs analysis to help draw conclusions about a situation.

Analysis is derived from a Greek word meaning, “a dissolving. ” In English, analysis has two closely related denitions: to break something up into its constituent parts; and to study the relationships of the parts to the whole. To analyze a case, you therefore need ways of identifying and understanding important aspects of a situation and what they mean in relation to the overall situation. Each business discipline has its own theories, frameworks, processes and practices, and quantitative tools. All of them are adapted to help understand specious  types of situations.

Michael Porter’s concepts are productive when investigating competitive advantage—but they aren’t very helpful for deciding whether to launch a product at a particular price or choosing the best method to  nance the growth of a business. Porter’s ? ve forces can describe and explain the industry context in which a  rm operates.

1 No one would expect Porter’s framework to guide a product launch decision. Specialized methods are fruitful because they’re tailored to  t well-de ned purposes. They’re often complex, though, and hard to apply, especially for people who are just learning how to use them. No This document is authorized for use only by Imtiaz Ahmed until October 2010. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp. harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. tC

STARTING POINT FOR UNDERSTANDING

A case is a text that refuses to explain itself. How do you construct a meaning for it? Start by recognizing some contextual factors that help limit and narrow the analysis. Cases are usually studied in a course. A marketing case requires you to think as a marketer, not a strategist or manufacturing manager. Courses are often divided into different modules or themes de? ed by certain types of situations and, often, concepts, theories, and practices appropriate for these situations. You can expect to encounter the themes in the cases that are part of the modules and opportunities to put to work the analytical tools and best practices you have learned. Past case discussions provide a foundation for thinking about a new case, and study questions can call attention to important issues. You should make use of all these contextual factors, but they don’t amount to a method for analyzing a case.

ANALYSIS

This book teaches an approach to cases that complements business concepts and theories.

Its purpose is to provide a starting point for analysis that aids the use of theories and frameworks and quantitative formulas, all of which are indispensable for reaching conclusions about a case and building an argument for those conclusions. The case situation approach identi? features of a case that can be helpful to its analysis and encourages active reading.

THINKING, NOT RE ADING, IS KEY

Problems Students new to the case method usually believe the most reliable way to understand a case is to read it from start to ? nish and then reread it as many times as necessary. That’s why many business school students think speedreading courses can help them. ) They rush into a case, highlighter in hand, reading as if the case were a textbook chapter. For case analysis you need to know when to read fast and when to read slowly. You should also spend more time thinking about a case than reading it. When you begin work on a new case, you don’t know what to look for. That is the major dilemma that confronts everyone who reads a case. In an active approach to a case, you start thinking before you read the case. And as you start reading it, you ask questions about the content.

Then you seek answers in the case itself. As you ? nd partial or full answers, you think about how they relate to each other and to the big picture of the case. You don’t make knowledge by reading. Reading is never the primary resource of case analysis. Reading is simply an instrument directed by the thought process that makes meaning from the text. Four types of situations occur repeatedly in cases:

• Decisions
• Evaluations
• Rules Do No People sometimes react indignantly to this classi?

They insist that there are a multitude of situations portrayed in cases, and it’s misleading to say they’re reducible to four.

The four are not the only situations found in cases, but many case situations do belong in one of the four categories, and when they do, an awareness of which one can help organize analysis. This approach isn’t the only correct way—it is one way. Try it and see if it helps. This document is authorized for use only by Imtiaz Ahmed until October 2010. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.

TYPES OF CASE SITUATIONS

The greatest value of the case situation approach may be that it causes you to think about how you think about case studies. Problems Do The word problem has many meanings. The meaning can be vague, referring to something that’s dif cult or troubling. The denition of problem as a case situation, however, is quite speci? c. It is a situation in which there is a signi? cant outcome or performance, and  there is no explicit explanation of the outcome or performance. To put it simply, a problem is a situation in which something important has happened, but we don’t know why it did.

In one, a well-trained, well-intentioned manager has tried to introduce a worthwhile change in the sales strategy of an organization—a change supported by a detailed, data-driven analysis everyone admits is a breakthrough—and has failed to get any of the sales staff to go along. In another, an accounting manager of a manufacturer notices that two good retail customers suddenly have accounts payable that are large and overdue enough to be worrisome.

Both of these cases describe situations that involve negative outcomes. The causes of these sorts of outcomes are important to know for a practical reason: the knowledge can help improve the situation. The change effort may be self-destructive because it has weaknesses that are not apparent, or the manager may be good at many things but is a poor change agent. The manufacturer’s retail customers may have large accounts payable because they have sloppy internal controls—or they may both be on the verge of bankruptcy. These possibilities illustrate why accurate causal analysis is vital.

A conceptually  awed change is addressed very differently from an individual who isn’t well suited to lead change. If both situations exist, the corrective action is that much more complex. Retail operations that need to clean up their accounting processes might require the manufacturer to engage in negotiations over a period of time, but two ? rms with bad debts that might go bankrupt require the supplier’s immediate attention. Success can also be a problem in the special meaning used here. Take the case of a company that specializes in outdoor advertising.

It operates in three different market segments, but the case doesn’t tell you which is the most pro? table, much less why. Another case describes the development of a country over a period of thirty years or so; after severe political and social upheaval, the country slowly recovers and exceeds the performance of most countries in the region. But the case doesn’t state how much more successful No This document is authorized for use only by Imtiaz Ahmed until October 2010. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.

HOW TO ANALYZE A CASE

the country has been relative to its neighbors, and while it provides a great deal of data, both economic and demographic, it doesn’t enumerate the reasons for the country’s revival. Problem analysis begins with a de? nition of the problem. That seems obvious, yet many cases don’t state a problem. So ? rst, you need to realize a problem exists and then de? ne it for yourself. Next, you work out an explanation of the problem by linking the outcome or performance to its root causes—this is the main work of problem analysis.

To carry it out, you’ll need relevant tools, the specialized methods of business disciplines such as organizational behavior or operations management. Do No Many cases are organized around an explicit decision. The second paragraph of “General Motors: Packard Electric Division” (reproduced in this book) begins with this sentence: “The Product, Process, and Reliability (PPR) committee, which had the ? nal responsibility for the new product development process, had asked [David] Schramm for his analysis and recommendation as to whether Packard Electric should commit to the RIM grommet for a 1992 model year car. Like many cases, this one complicates that decision immediately: Schramm must make up his mind within a week, and the product development people and manufacturing disagree over which way to go. The existence of an explicit decision is an important distinction, because nearly all business cases involve decisions. In many of these cases, however, the decisions are implicit and dependent on another situation. Let’s take a case described earlier that involves a problem: the outdoor advertising company. The case implies a decision: What is the best strategy the company should pursue in the future?

This decision can only be made after the company’s current strategy and how well it works are analyzed. The decisions featured in cases vary greatly in scope, consequence, and available data. An executive must decide whether to launch a product, move a plant, pursue a merger, or provide  nancing for a planned expansion—or the president of a country must decide whether to sign a controversial trade agreement. Regardless of the dimensions of a decision, analyzing it requires the following:

• Decision options
• Decision criteria
• Relevant evidence

This document is authorized for use only by Imtiaz Ahmed until October 2010. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. Finally, an outcome can be the subject of an assessment. The competitive position of a company, for instance, is the outcome of numerous decisions and performances as well as contingencies such as macroeconomic conditions. Like decision analysis, evaluation requires appropriate criteria.

Without them, there are no standards for assessing worth, value, or effectiveness. As in decision analysis, evaluative criteria are inferred from the particulars of a situation with help from specialized methods. Evaluating a company’s  nancial performance over a year period can be undertaken with a long list of ? nancial formulas, but the circumstances portrayed in the case come into play as well. The numbers may show that a company has a steadily declining This document is authorized for use only by Imtiaz Ahmed until October 2010. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.

Evaluations express a judgment about the worth, value, or effectiveness of a performance, act, or outcome. The unit of analysis of an evaluation can be an individual, a group, a department, an entire organization, a country, or a global region. An annual performance evaluation of an employee is a realworld example. So is a new CEO evaluating the performance of the company she is now heading. An evaluation can also involve the assessment of an act, such as a decision that has already been taken. Here is an example: op yo Evaluations

Identifying decision options is often easy because the case tells you what they are. As soon as you encounter a stated decision, you should look for a statement of the alternatives. If they aren’t stated, then the rst goal of analysis is to come up with plausible decision options. The most important part of a decision analysis is determining the criteria. A rational decision can’t be made without appropriate criteria. A decision case isn’t likely to state criteria—they have to be derived through careful study of the speci?

The criteria are used to develop evidence to complete a decision analysis. The goal is to determine the decision that creates the best ?

between the available evidence and the criteria. In the General Motors case, a possible decision criteria is value to the customer. The reader needs to ? nd evidence indicating which option delivers the greatest value to the customer. (That doesn’t settle the matter, though, because there are other criteria. ) One other characteristic of decision analysis deserves mention here. There is no objectively correct decision.

The standard for a good decision is the one that creates more bene? ts than the alternatives and has fewer or less severe downsides. rP os t HOW TO ANALYZE A CASE 5 6 ANALYSIS Do No This document is authorized for use only by Imtiaz Ahmed until October 2010. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp. harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. tC Quantitative methods can provide critical information about business situations. For example, say there is a need to compare the value of a company when a speci? c condition exists—a partnership with another company— and when it doesn’t exist.

The way to calculate future cash values—one that experts and experience support as reasonably accurate—is net present value. An NPV calculation is done according to a formula. Mathematically, there is a right way to perform the calculation; any other way provides an inaccurate result. For rules analysis, you need to know:

• The type of information needed in a situation
• The appropriate rule to furnish that information
• The correct way to apply the rule
• The data necessary to execute the rule Rules analysis exists in virtually every area of business. A breakeven calculation is a rule used in marketing.

In manufacturing, quantitative methods are used for process analysis, and accounting and  nance consist primarily of rules. The scope of rules is very narrow. For the most part, they are useful only in specic sets of circumstances, but in those circumstances are very productive. There is a correct way to execute or perform the rule,  Rules performance over the period, but it still may be doing well because the national economy is slumping and the company is actually doing better than its competitors. An overall evaluation expresses the best  between the evidence and the criteria.

In the example just given, measured against purely ? nancial criteria, the company is doing poorly. Yet, the evidence pertaining to macroeconomic and competitive criteria alters the evaluation: in a tough market, the company is actually performing better than its peers. Another requirement of evaluation is that it include both positive and negative sides. A leader has strengths and weaknesses, and both are included in an accurate evaluation. Moreover, there may be aspects of the leader’s performance that are ambiguous—he has delegated power widely, but it is too early to tell whether the managers below him can handle the power.

And this individual’s performance as a leader could be substantially affected by factors outside his control—corporate headquarters has intervened in his promotion decisions and insisted that certain favorites be elevated even though they aren’t the best-quali? ed candidates. rP os t Do and the output is of one type. A well-de? ned set of rules is needed to analyze a company’s liquidity. Those rules are the most useful in the situation, because they are designed to be. Each calculation speci? ed by a rule has a procedure that must be followed. If it isn’t, the result is a meaningless number.

Each calculation yields a precise output of a prescribed type (e. g. , a percentage less than or equal to zero). Qualitative methods are different from rules. There are often many alternative methods for obtaining the same or similar information. To analyze the quality of leadership in an organization or its competitive strategy, there are a large number of methods to choose from. There is no prescribed method that provides correct information about competitive advantage. In marketing, two different methods can be applied to the same situation, can produce very different results, and can both be useful—or useless.

A second difference between rules and qualitative methods is how they are executed. There is a correct way to execute a rule such as the formula for net present value; there is no objectively correct way to execute qualitative methods for analyzing competition. That is not to say that rules analysis lacks uncertainties and ambiguities. Any calculation about the future involves uncertainty. This uncertainty is built into formulas through assumptions, and assumptions involve judgment, not objective truth. Settling on a growth or in? ation rate over a certain period of time is speculative.

The key is the reasoning behind the choice. Central bankers can be wrong about in ation and growth, and so can the rest of us. Assumptions need to have a reasonable basis, but reasonable people can disagree about them. But note that the argument is about assumptions, not about the rules themselves. (Experts do argue about the  tness of rules and make changes to them, but after they do, everyone uses the changed rule and executes it the same way. ) Sometimes, though, an idiosyncratic assumption has no material effect on the result of a calculation.

In the earlier valuation example, you might assume a growth rate that is too optimistic, but if the rate is the same for the calculation with and without the partnership, it should have no effect on the comparison of the end values. The results of rules analysis frequently provoke sharp differences of opinion. What two people infer from the same numerical results can diverge. Economists are famous for looking at the same set of numbers and coming to vastly different conclusions about them, even though they all agree on the formulas and data that have produced the numbers.

The same is true in companies. One executive can read nancial numbers as con rmation that a strategy is working, while another can read them as a warning that disaster looms. In short, numbers don’t explain what they mean, and they don’t make decisions for you. No This document is authorized for use only by Imtiaz Ahmed until October 2010. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.

HOW TO ANALYZE A CASE 7 8 ANALYSIS

Do The way you analyze a case differs from the way anyone else does.

There is a difference, though, between personal study habits and a process for analyzing a case. The latter involves more than habits and practices. It concerns how you think about a case. The intention of this section is to suggest a process that has helped case method students become more ef? cient and productive. This process is designed for case discussion preparation, but it is easily adapted to a process for writing a case essay. (However, the way a case is analyzed for an essay is more prescriptive, since an essay must have certain elements.

Chapters 10 through 12 will explain these elements. The key to the process is active reading. Active reading is interrogative and purposeful. You ask questions about the case and seek answers. Questions give a purpose for reading; they direct and focus study on important aspects of a situation. The moment you sense that you are reading without purpose, stop and regroup. It may be a good time to step away and stretch, do some yoga, or walk. Active reading is also iterative, meaning you make multiple passes through a case. With each iteration, the purpose of reading changes: you are looking for new information or looking at old information in a new way.

Three concepts contribute to active reading: a goal, a point of view, and a hypothesis. No This document is authorized for use only by Imtiaz Ahmed until October 2010. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. tC op yo However, the interpretation of the output of rules is distinct from the rules themselves. If the right rule is applied and correctly performed, and the rule doesn’t involve a controversial assumption (like the predicted growth rate of GNP), everyone will come up with exactly the same result.

If a qualitative method relevant to a situation is applied to the same set of facts in a way consistent with the generally understood meaning of its concepts, everyone will not necessarily come up with the same result. That is the fundamental difference between rules, as dened here, and qualitative methods. Rules aren’t pursued further in this book. Learning rules analysis means learning a certain category of rules—valuation, for instance—and when and how to use them. That learning is the province of accounting,  nance, tax, and other areas that are intensely rule governed.

However, it may be helpful to remember that when rules depend upon assumptions, the values chosen for them require an argument. Moreover, the information rules provide has great importance for the analysis of problems, decisions, and evaluations. Accounting rules can diagnose the nancial health of an organization. Macroeconomics is invaluable in evaluating a nation’s development strategy. Financial rules are indispensable to a decision about whether to sell a company at a given time and price. Rules are a large and important subset of the specialized methods necessary to understand case situations.

CASE ANALYSIS AS A PROCESS

Goal of Analysis No Do One of the most useful constructs for resolving the protagonist’s dilemma is a hypothesis. A hypothesis is “a tentative explanation that accounts for a set of facts and can be tested by further investigation. ”

It is indispensable to science and to any fact-based analytic activity in which multiple conclusions are possible. A hypothesis offers the advantage of a concrete statement you can test against case evidence. Say that the protagonist of a case must evaluate an individual she has hired—a rising star, but also a person who alienates many people inside the  and cuts some corners in his relentless pursuit of new business. The hypothesis is that the new hire should receive a high rating despite some aws in his performance. To test it, you’ll have to develop a This document is authorized for use only by Imtiaz Ahmed until October 2010. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp. harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. tC To anchor analysis, take advantage of what’s already in the case. Adopt the point of view of the protagonist—the main character. Put yourself in her shoes. Her dilemma should be your dilemma. If it’s a decision, set a recommended decision as your goal.

When you adopt the persona of the main character, don’t assume that you’re dealing with a cardboard cutout, a dramatic veneer. Consider the character’s strengths, responsibilities, and blind spots. By all means, too, be sensitive to the dilemmas characters and themselves in. Often, a good question to ask yourself is,Why is the person in this dilemma  Point of View Hypothesis At frst it may seem obvious. What other goal can there be for analyzing a case than to understand it? The problem is that “understanding” is too vague. Another way to think about the goal is, How do you know when to conclude the study of a case?

This is an important question. If you don’t have a concrete limit, you can drift along for hours, much of it taken up by distraction and undirected effort. Here is a more concrete goal: you are familiar with the information in the case, you have come to a conclusion about the main issue, you have evidence showing why your conclusion is reasonable, and you have thought about other possible conclusions and why yours is preferable to them. This substantive goal can be combined with a time limit. Allocate a set amount of time—two hours, for example—for each case.

At the end of the period, stop and settle for whatever you know about the case. This is a very good way to put constructive pressure on yourself to make the most of the time.

HOW TO ANALYZE A CASE 9 10 ANALYSIS

strong argument, based on relevant criteria, facts, and inferences, that backs a positive evaluation but also recognizes poor performance on other criteria. Cases don’t allow just any hypothesis. The available evidence in the case sets the rational limit on the range of hypotheses. A hypothesis that can’t be argued from evidence in the case is simply an unsubstantiated opinion.

However, there is a range of possible hypotheses about every case. A contrarian’s position—one that opposes what seem to be safer hypotheses and can be argued from evidence—can have a galvanizing effect in a discussion, forcing everyone to look at the evidence from an entirely new angle or consider evidence no one else has noticed. The rest of this chapter outlines a process for working on cases. The process has  phases:

1. Situation
2. Questions
3. Hypothesis
4. Proof and action
5. Alternatives

No tC The process is meant to be exible and adaptable. Experiment with it, using the cases in this book.

Many MBA students don’t give much thought to their case-study approach, not because it is unimportant but because they don’t see anything tangible to think about. Ultimately, the value of the process described below depends on whether it prompts you to think about your own process. Do The most dif? cult part of a case analysis seems to be the beginning. You have to bridge the gap between no knowledge about the case and knowledge suf? cient to form a hypothesis. That gap can look very wide as you begin reading a case thick with detail; it can seem to be all parts and no whole. Earlier in the chapter, I stressed that it is hard to do something when you don’t know what you’re looking for. To get started, you can structure analysis with a series of questions. The process I advocate is understanding the big picture lling it in with details. Start by asking this question: What is the situation? This document is authorized for use only by Imtiaz Ahmed until October 2010. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.

DESCRIPTION OF PROCESS

Do No Knowing the situation allows you to ask questions pertinent to a problem, a decision, or an evaluation.

The most important of these questions is: What do I need to know about the situation? Here are questions  to each situation:

PROBLEM

Who or what is the subject of the problem (e. g. , a manager, a company, a country)? What is the problem? Am I trying to account for a failure, a success, or something more ambiguous? What’s the signi? cance of the problem to the subject? Who is responsible for the problem (usually it is This document is authorized for use only by Imtiaz Ahmed until October 2010. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.

Usually reading the  and last sections of the case is sufcient to identify the situation. Decisions and evaluations tend to be stated at the beginning. Problems are harder to recognize, and more details about identifying them are provided in chapter

A characteristic of a problem case is the absence of any actionable statement made by or about the protagonist. Often, the main character is reacting on a situation and wondering what to do. Reading the  first and last sections of the case can often provide far more information than just the type of situation.

In decision cases, these sections may specify the decision options. That is true of the case “General Motors: Packard Electric Division. ” If you don’t and options at the beginning or end of a case, you should scan other sections. The opening or ending of a problem case may present a partial or complete description of the problem. In all types of cases, the initial and nal sections frequently express a tension or  important to the analysis. In “General Motors,” the first section identic es the decision  between two functional groups. The two sides of the , with the protagonist in the middle, can be reference points for analysis. Why do the product development people so strongly support an innovative component that they’re willing to take a formidable risk?

And why are the manufacturing people just as adamant that the company should not go forward with the component in the short term.After reading the openings and closing sections, you should put the case aside for a moment and consider what you have learned. Is the situation a problem, decision, or evaluation? Do you have any ideas about the causal frameworks or criteria that might ?

Does it seem you’ll have to cut through a large amount of information in the case or make many inferences because the information is scarce? Are there any hints in the two sections about causes, criteria, or even a plausible decision or evaluation? Do the hints seem reliable or just a way to throw you off?

2. Questions

HOW TO ANALYZE A CASE 11 12 ANALYSIS

the protagonist) and what might he need to know to do something about it? DECISION What are the decision options? Do any seem particularly strong or weak? What’s at stake in the decision? What are the possible criteria?

What might the most important criteria be for this kind of decision? Are any of the criteria explicitly discussed in the case (case headings can sometimes give good clues)? Who or what is being evaluated? Who’s responsible for the evaluation? What’s at stake? What are the possible criteria? What might the most important criteria be for this sort of evaluation? Are any of the criteria explicitly discussed in the case (case headings can sometimes give you good clues)? You won’t be able to answer these questions now. That will take further study. To make this ? rst pass through the text more targeted, it’s useful to do a content inventory.

Its purpose is to locate information that might be used to answer the questions about the situation. To perform a fast inventory, scan the headings in the text. Read a little of the sections, especially those that seem to have valuable information. Examine the exhibits to get a sense of what they convey. You will learn something about the case—sometimes a great deal more than you might expect. You’ll also build a map of the useful content. Because cases often aren’t linear in their organization, this map is very important; pieces of information related to the same issue will be found in different sections of the case and in the exhibits.

Use a pencil or pen to mark up the case. Mark high-value sections and circle facts, numbers, and statements of possible importance. Be sure to capture any thoughts about the answers to your questions, and record new questions that come to mind. Note what issues particular exhibits may illuminate, and what calculations might be performed later to yield relevant information. No tC Do Armed with a list of things you want to know about the situation and a map of the content, you are ready for this question: What’s my hypothesis? This is the most important phase of work on the case.

Through close study of high value sections and exhibits, you narrow the possibilities to the This document is authorized for use only by Imtiaz Ahmed until October 2010. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.

EVALUATION 3.

Hypothesis (45 minutes) rP os t one that seems most plausible to you. If there are three alternatives for a decision, test them, starting with the one you suspect has the most promise. Here are some other suggestions for structuring your work at this point:

PROBLEM

• Make sure you know the problem that needs to be diagnosed.

Consider whether the characteristics of the problem suggest causes.

• Pursue the diagnosis by looking at case information through the lens of the cause you are most certain about. • For each cause, make a separate pass through the case looking for evidence of it.
•  If the case has a lot of quantitative evidence, to what cause is it most relevant?

If you don’t have a cause relevant to the quantitative evidence, formulate one. Work up as much relevant, high-value quantitative evidence as you can.

In a case with a protagonist, consider whether she is a potential cause.

If you think she is, work out how she contributes to the problem. DECISION • Review the criteria you have come up with so far. Which do you have the most con? dence in?

Review the decision options.

Do any seem especially strong or weak?

• Apply the criterion that seems to identify the most evidence in the case.
• Investigate the strongest decision option with the criterion you have the most con?  Or, if you’re reasonably certain about which is weakest, see if you can dismiss that option quickly.
• If the case has a lot of quantitative evidence, which criterion is most relevant to it?

If you don’t have a criterion relevant to the quantitative evidence, formulate one. Work up as much relevant, high-value quantitative evidence as you can. Do No This document is authorized for use only by Imtiaz Ahmed until October 2010. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp. harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. tC op yo • Think about the frameworks that seem most appropriate to the situation. Quickly review the speci? cs of the frameworks if you aren’t sure of them.

HOW TO ANALYZE A CASE 13 14 ANALYSIS

If there are con? icts about the decision between individuals or groups, think about why that is.

Look at the decision from the point of view of each of the parties to the con?

If the protagonist is in a difficult position in relation to the decision, consider why that is.

EVALUATION

• Review the criteria you have come up with so far?
• Do you already have a sense of the bottom-line evaluation you favor?
• If you do, what are the reasons for the preference?

Pursue those reasons.

• Start by applying the criterion that seems to identify the most evidence in the case.
• Investigate the most positive rating or the most negative with the criterion you have the most con?
• If the case has a lot of quantitative evidence, which criterion is most relevant to it?
• If you don’t have a criterion relevant to the quantitative evidence, formulate one. Work up as much relevant, high-value quantitative evidence as you can.
• Do No This document is authorized for use only by Imtiaz Ahmed until October 2010. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.  Taking notes helps you organize and remember information, but it serves the equally important purpose of recording your thought process.

Without note taking, you can too easily stray from active reading. Of course, note taking can degenerate into transferring information in the case to a piece of paper or computer screen. Notes on a case don’t simply record facts. They capture anything that might lead to answers to the questions you’ve asked. It may sound trivial, but I recommend that students try to contain the “highlighter habit. ” This study aid is well adapted to the lecture model of learning, but it can be a detriment to case study. Highlighting sentences is satisfying because it makes you feel you’re doing something.

In reality, what you’re doing is marking sentences to think about later, and that’s a setup for passive reading. You should be thinking about statements the ? rst time you encounter them. That said, highlighters can be useful as a tool to differentiate related content: facts about one aspect of the case, for example, or text and numbers that belong to one category of evidence. op yo • What are the terms of the evaluation going to be (e. g. , strengths/ weaknesses)? Do any stand out in the case (e. g. , an obvious strength of an individual)? A pencil or pen is more conducive to active reading—to write down questions and make notes.

When you begin to gravitate toward a conclusion, stop work and write it down. The function of a hypothesis is to give you a position to try out, not anal conclusion, so listen carefully to your intuition. If you have time, put the case away after this iteration. Even a short break can be useful. There is scientic evidence that our subconscious minds are much better at dealing with complexity than our conscious minds. Turning your attention to something else allows that subconscious capacity to work on the information you have collected.

Proof and Action

A hypothesis drives a different approach to the case. You want to prove something, not look for something to prove. Ask these questions:

• What evidence do I have that supports the hypothesis?

What additional evidence do I need? Look at the information you’ve compiled and identify evidence supporting the hypothesis. Your frst priority should be to add to the evidence you have.

• What is the strongest evidence?
• Can you add more to it?

Now assess where evidence is missing.

• Where will you and more—or is there any evidence in the case?

Think about any factors you may have overlooked such as a cause, criterion, or evaluative category.

Go back into the case, with the single purpose of bringing out more evidence that aligns with your hypothesis. You don’t have to work from the ? rst page to the last. You can go directly to the sections and exhibits you think have what you need. Of course, you can work from beginning to end if that makes you more comfortable. Just be sure to stay focused on what you’re trying to prove. Let’s say that you’re building an argument for a decision option and one of the criteria is cost savings. You’ve noted some statements that imply your decision option will save money for the  and circled numbers that you thought were relevant to savings. Collect those numbers now, and work out calculations to estimate the total savings. You may then have one of those gratifying moments of case study: from those scattered numbers that looked so inconsequential when viewed individually, you’ve pulled together an estimate that indicates a very large annual savings—and that’s just one part of your argument. Also give some thought to the actionable content of your position. How would you implement the decision you’re recommending? What actions does your diagnosis or evaluation call for? Think in practical, eal-world, not ideal-world, terms. Don’t just sketch out in your mind a broad No This document is authorized for use only by Imtiaz Ahmed until October 2010. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.

HOW TO ANALYZE A CASE 15 16 ANALYSIS

Think about tangible actions and write them down. Finally, give a bit of thought to the order of the actions. An action plan is a program in which actions are taken at a certain time for a reason. It isn’t a to-do list.

Would that make a difference to the diagnosis? Are there any holes in the diagnosis—could there be causes missing? What’s the weakest part of the diagnosis? Could an entirely different diagnosis be made? What would it look like?

DECISION

This document is authorized for use only by Imtiaz Ahmed until October 2010. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.

What’s the biggest downside of the recommended decision? How would you manage the downside? What’s the strongest evidence against the recommendation? How would a case for the major alternative look?

EVALUATION

Have you been objective and thorough about the evaluative ? ndings that oppose your overall assessment? Think how a different overall evaluation might be proved. Have you accounted for factors that the subject of the evaluation couldn’t control?

BUT WHAT IF MY HYPOTHESIS IS WRONG?

” Students have asked me that question many times. A hypothesis isn’t wrong; a hypothesis fails when you can’t make a credible argument for it from case evidence. If you  and yourself in that situation—and you will sooner or later—frst make sure the difficulty lies with the hypothesis and not with your evidence gathering.

You may have overlooked important information or not used specialized tools effectively. If you’re certain the evidence isn’t there, face up to it but realize that the work you’ve already done isn’t wasted. op yo It may seem paradoxical, but the last phase of analysis should be to question your own hypothesis: What is the greatest weakness of the hypothesis? What is the strongest alternative to it? The intention isn’t to undermine your hard work but to take a step back and look critically at the hypothesis and the evidence. Every position has a weakness, and you should be the one who recognizes it, not the professor or your peers.

Here are some ways to think critically about your work: rP os t You now have a good grasp of the case and probably have a good sense of what the evidence is and where it is. Your work with a new hypothesis is therefore likely to move along quickly. Another way of looking at the fear of being wrong is to ask yourself what the alternative is. I have not heard of a method of case analysis that never leads to dubious conclusions. In fact, making analytic mistakes is invaluable. Through mistakes, we learn more about the thought process called case analysis.

And a shaky analysis can sometimes be a symptom of risk taking, which is also an invaluable learning experience.

For any firm to succeed in its operations the compliance to industry norms is very important that is they must adhere to the rules of competition for market share within a particular industry. This always avoids unfair competition between firms in the same in the same industry. However sometimes a firm may break the industry competition norms through its policies of strategic choice in order to increase its market share and maintain its survival and growth in the industry. Macro environment are the outward factors that influence an organization.

These factors play a role in influencing the type of decision a company makes thereby affecting its performance too. The strategies that an organization embraces mostly depend on the outside factors. For instance, the political, demographical, legal, environmental, economical, social, technological factors impact seriously on an organization as a whole. These factors come in direct interaction with the organization’s routine operations, profit mechanism and its future stability in the market.

(Mark, 2001) Strategic management entails techniques used by the top officials of a company to influence a wider range of operations in an organization. Whatever method they come up with should yield the best results to the organization. That is the organization should remain stable, its profitability should go higher and have a good image in the eye of the public. For these type of results to be realized, the leadership team should be highly qualified and opportunity driven.

In order for this team to be successful, a critical broader look at the organizations dealings should be done. In addition, most time should be directed to working on ones organization and not working for ones organization, if this is not put to play, the ultimate goal will not be realized. Also, this style involves an extra mile in order to make the targeted customer to be satisfied. The leadership should acts as business architects who should be creative to elevate the image of the organization and maintain it’s stability to reach a success that is lasting.

The leadership should create a culture of creativity among its employees so as the strategy being embraced is elevated. To do this the channel of communication should be open. This foster a culture of coming up with strategies that are long lasting. (Mark, 2001) Discussion The macro environment factor exists in the life of the organization to which they is no control over them. In order to get the best results, strategic leadership and macro environment should be implemented jointly. The leadership team should scan for ventures that impact positively on the organization.

The information can be found in the media, magazines on management, and from other leaders who run the same business. This can be realized through, information gotten on the internet, papers that have financial information, talking to political parties so as to come can up with ideology that are beneficial to the organization, and sources that contain information on strategic management. Therefore, in order for the organization to interact with its larger environment fairly, the following factors should be put to play. (Hoyer, 2001)

Billabong International is a major competitor in the niche, highly competitive market of surfwear, worth $4. 5billion and growing 10-12% annually. With Billabong seeking to achieve annual revenue growth of 20-25%, the organisation is challenged to find ways to meet these revenue targets within the current confines of its competitive environment. To enable the organisation to achieve its growth goals, new strategies must be identified and implemented. This report has examined both Billabong and the competitive environment in which it operates in order to formulate strategic recommendations.

An internal analysis covering the company’s operations, finances, human resources, corporate governance and marketing strategy provides the framework to identify the core competences and areas of competitive advantage for Billabong. An external analysis of the competitive environment sets the framework for identifying strategic opportunities for Billabong in the market place. Once a set of strategic options were identified, analytical tools including but not limited to options ranking, stakeholder analysis and competitive strength grid were used to ascertain the attractiveness of each option.

The strategic options were reduced to two options that could be implemented over a short-term and long-term time frame. The short-term strategic option is one of increasing market share and revenue through market and product diversification. By adopting this strategy, Billabong will stretch their existing core competences into new market areas thus creating greater opportunity for revenue growth. Billabong’s corporate culture has been influential in the success of the organisation thus far and in implementing a stretch strategy, Billabong should look for new markets that have synergies with their current culture.

The current core competences of Billabong result from a number of processes of development. Billabong must continue to invest in the development of these processes with specific consideration given to an enterprise wide customer-centric focus. The recommended long-term strategy for Billabong is one which addresses the broader issue of an aging population. Billabong’s target market is the 10 to 24 year age bracket. The fact that the developed countries have a diminishing birth rate, the size of Billabong’s target market will subsequently diminish.

Through careful brand acquisition and marketing modified to an older audience, Billabong has the opportunity to take advantage of an aging consumer population. Whilst a strategy will generally fall into either a stretch or fit category, it should be noted that to define a strategy in isolation is inappropriate. All organisations will have some melding between a stretch and fit strategy. Going forward, Billabong must not only answer questions regarding strategies for revenue growth but also address issues regarding appropriate leadership for the organisation and determine whether the values of the organisation are sustainable.

This study provides a comprehensive and critical strategic analysis of Billabong International Limited’s operations, stakeholders and leadership structure, and the efforts taken to grow its market share since its inception in the early 1970s. Strategic tools including SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, McKinsey Growth Pyramid, leadership analysis and stakeholder mapping have been used to highlight factors that have contributed to Billabong’s success and to identify and assess strategic options.

This report looks inward at Billabong’s distinctive capabilities and assets that have contributed to the organisation’s continued revenue growth over the past three years. It also looks outward, providing a strategic analysis of the industry and its competitors in which Billabong operates and the potential opportunity of markets in which its core competences may yield competitive advantage. The stretch perspective – the strategy theory of identifying and developing one’s core competences which can then be stretched across several dimensions to achieve growth from a number of sources1 – figures prominently throughout this analysis.