Tips and Tools

The following sections are included:

• CONTENTS
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• PREFACE

Recognising the role of case studies in preparing students for their careers by developing a range of skills, as also varying the learning environment in the classroom, there is a high and growing support for case methodology across the world. This book is focused on providing a set of very practical tips and tools for novice case writers to commence on their case writing journey, and for experienced writers to further hone their skills.

Where do cases come from? On the one hand, cases are everywhere and can be sourced from diverse and varied avenues. Good cases, however, are few and far apart. The most common mistake (and we use the word ‘mistake’ knowingly) of the novice case writer/instructor is to write any story that comes their way. A good article in the newspaper, a student or an executive eager to explain the company’s strategy, a description of an exotic company in a new territory or market — everything appears to have potential. This is probably one of the biggest potential pitfalls of case writing, as these great stories may not make for great cases. This chapter will discuss how to source a case, and also describe some common types of cases.

Once you know the teaching objectives and have decided what type of case (primary data, secondary data, armchair) you will be writing, it is time to develop an outline. Writing a good case study is like putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle — once you have all the pieces of the puzzle, you need to piece it together. As in a puzzle, where one typically starts by putting together the edges of the puzzle to create the outline, in a similar manner, it is good to start writing a case study by first designing the outline!

Case writing has a truly unique style. You want a case to be interesting and catchy with a little spice thrown in, and yet it is not a piece of pure fiction. It is also not a purely academic or research piece, where the style is probably a little less important than the content being conveyed. A case is somewhere in between, and what you have to do is ensure that all the writing skills you have learned over the years — both in creative writing as well as more formal outlets — are put to effective use as a case writer. While having a flair for writing is undoubtedly a great skill and advantage for a case writer, what really helps is knowing the science of case writing, which consists of the structure and the common conventions followed while writing a case study.

To begin with, every case should include a standard footnote on the first page that may read as follows: This case was written by Professor XXX and XXX at the XXX University. The case was prepared solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. Along with this disclaimer, you should also include in the footnote the version (date published) of the case, and the name of the copyright holder.

The Teaching Note is a guide to how a case should be taught by faculty. It describes the questions to be asked, the possible answers to those questions, and the key concepts and theoretical constructs to be taught through the case. Additionally, it would include suggestions on the time to be spent discussing the case, the structure of the discussion, and perhaps how the whiteboards in the classroom might be used. While cases without Teaching Notes are available through several distribution platforms, this is really not recommended and ideally you should not publish a case without the Teaching Note…

The following sections are included:

• The Editing Process
• Case Release
• Ensuring Academic Integrity
• Publication Avenues

After having written over 200 cases and presented at numerous case writing workshops, we put together a list of what we believe to be the seven most important factors that contribute to making a great case.

The following sections are included:

• Exhibit 1: Case Proposal Form
• Exhibit 2: An Example of the Introduction to a Case: Highlighting the 5 W’s
• Exhibit 3: An Example of the Case Outline