Your group will need to select one of the long cases made available by your professor. In both your in-class presentation and the supporting written report your team should provide the following:
I. Summary of the Facts
This section should present a brief listing of the key facts. It should not exceed one page. Brevity and conciseness should guide your work. Important assumptions should also be listed here and labeled as such.
II. Statement of the Problem
This section should present a brief treatment of the major problem or issues. It should include a concise statement of the major problem or issues you see in the case. This part of your analysis should not exceed one page. Remember, the more issues you identify, the more solutions are likely to be necessary or the more complex a given solution is likely to be. Thus, you will want to be careful about identifying too many issues.
Some questions to ask when formulating your definitions of the problem
are:
1. Have I identified the basic problem(s) or am I dealing with symptoms?
2. If I have identified more than one problem, are they separate or related?
3. Am I putting myself in the manager’s shoes and looking toward future actions?
III. Causes of the Problem
This section should provide a detailed analysis of the causes of the problem(s) you identified in Section II. A major objective is to illustrate clearly how you are using course concepts to better understand the causes of the problem. Show that you are applying course material?
Some questions to ask when presenting your causes to the problem section are:
1. Have I applied the appropriate course material?
2. Do the causes I have identified relate to the problem(s) stated?
3. When I draw conclusions or make assumptions, do I support these conclusions or assumptions with a sentence from the case or a quote or paraphrase from the readings or an example from class.
IV. Possible Solutions
This section should indicate a number of possible solutions. Each solution should also have listed the pros and cons which relate to it. Use the list of recommendation topics at the end of this document for inspiration.
V. Recommended Solution and its Implementation
This section should outline your recommended solution to the problem(s). The solution will be one or a combination of those listed in Section IV above. It should be specific: stating what should be done, by whom, and in what sequence. In short, it will include not only what should be done but how it should be done.
Some questions and concerns to keep in mind when writing your solution and implementation section are:
1. Have I indicated an awareness of the problem of implementation (the “how” aspect)?
2. Have I been too general? For example, a general solution might state: “The manager needs to realize that he/she should match his/her style to the situation.” A specific solution would indicate what style is most appropriate for the solution and how you will attempt to have the manager “realize” the appropriate style. Note the emphasis on how
as well as what.
3. Does my solution and implementation address the issues and causes identified in the previous sections? Does my solution take into account the pros and cons listed earlier?
VI. Justification
This section of your analysis should, using course concepts, tell why your solution and implementation will work. A major objective of this section is to show clearly how you are applying course concepts to arrive at a workable solution and implementation to the problem you have identified. Please stress the application of course concepts. Thus, course concepts are crucially important here as well as in Section III.
Some questions to ask when writing your justification section are:
1. Have I applied the appropriate course material?
2. Do I support my conclusion with appropriately referenced facts, quotes and explanations from the case, readings and class activities?
3. Does my justification recognize the pros and cons listed earlier?