Read the Zipcar Refining the Business Modelcase study PDF file.
Study and utilize the Zipcar Refining the Business Model, Spreadsheet SupplementMicrosoft Excel File as well.
Use the other PDF file readings as 5 of your 6 references. You HAVE to use each of those PDF files as references no matter
what!!!!
The instructor provided the following guidelines. Follow these guidelines CLOSELY:
Case Analysis Guidelines
A case analysis begins by a careful reading of the case. You will not be able to do a good analysis without having read the
case at least 3 times prior to analyzing the data. This is because you are unfamiliar with the case and the situation it describes.
First, identify the key issues in the case. They are usually obvious; they are the decisions facing the main characters or
company described in the case. Your case analysis turns on these issues.
For each issue gather the evidence in the case that speaks to the issue.
The case provides data on the factors driving these issues. Some data refer to more than 1 issue. Make a list of these data
in two columns (pros and cons) then consider the weight of the evidence by balancing the risks and benefits they imply.
When making recommendations, understand that you are choosing between imperfect choices. Therefore, you must first decide
the criteria to measure each choice against the other. The criteria come from what the case says is important to the decision maker
(not your own opinion). What are the short and long-term objectives of the company? For early start ups, survival rather than making
profit, is usually (but not always) one selection criteria. Other criteria could be the risk/return tradeoffs the company is willing
or must bear. Again, you must go back to the case data to extract the criteria.
Note that every recommendation or decision comes with tradeoffs.
If you are concerned about length, you can appendicize your calculations and other analyses. You can (but don’t need to) use
bullet points and refer to the appendices supporting your bullet points. Use short sentences, rather than long winded descriptions.
If the long descriptions are necessary (they seldom are), you can appendicize them to your main answer but don’t copy and paste text
from the case or regurgitate narratives.
The case study questions are study guides to help you get quickly into the case data. Simply answering the questions,
without addressing the decision points in the case, is insufficient.
Common mistakes in your answers
1. Regurgitating or summarize the case, with no specific purpose other than to summarize the case. Assume that I read the case and
know its contents. Dive right into the problem statement and analyses.
2. Analysis requires citing specific data supporting the conclusions. It’s like making a legal argument. You must argue on the facts
and the logic, using the appropriate frameworks when possible. Don’t make general statements based on your own opinion.
3. Applying inappropriate frameworks (such as Porter’s 5-forces) simply to use the framework. A framework is a guide. Shoehorning
case data into a framework without an objective (a conclusion the framework is designed to produce) can mislead you.
4. Not using the appropriate frameworks and analytical tools. It’s easy to read a case like a story and use ‘common sense’ or worse
‘personal experience’ to offer an opinion. Case analysis is not punditry. Frameworks help you guide your thinking so that you can
arrive at logical conclusions based on the fact. They also help you dissect the data more deeply. For example, when confronted with
a cashflow statement, the first thing you can do is calculate a growth in cashflows number, which tells you whether the company has
the type of resources needed to pursue a course of action that might involve short term expenditures. Or you can calculate a firm’s
debt carrying capacity from its balance sheet and cash flow statement, to know if it can pursue an option that requires a long-term
investment in assets.
The most important thing is that the Problem Statement, Analysis, and Recommendation all have to CONNECT. Clearly state what the
problems are for the entrepreneurs, then elaborate on WHY they were problems and HOW they became problems based on the case study
information, and then provide RECOMMENDATIONS on how those problems can be addressed based on financial and FUTURE QUANTITATIVE
PROJECTIONS. Okay?
When you write your ANALYSIS, provide QUANTITATIVE EVIDENCE based on the financial and economic information in the EXHIBITS and
justify why you are writing your theories and claims in the ANALYSIS.
When you write your RECOMMENDATION, use those same quantitative information from the exhibits in the case study to justify the
financial and economic projections you are making and how you business recommendation is going to meet those projections.
I CANNOT EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH, USE THE QUANTITATIVE NUMBERS FROM THE CASE STUDY EXHIBITS TO JUSTIFY EVERYTHING YOU WRITE AND MOST
IMPORTANTLY, EXPLAIN YOUR REASONING!!!
To help you even more, I uploaded the grading rubric that the assignment is required to meet.
READ THE GRADING RUBRIC CAREFULLY!!!!
IF THE PAPER YOU WRITE DOES NOT MEET THE MAXIMUM SCORE GRADING REQUIREMENTS, I WILL MAKE YOU DO A REVISION!!!
Problem statement
Read the case and define the scope of the problem. Identify the different aspects of this problem. Include relevant information from
the case. Identify the key issues in the case. They are usually obvious; they are the decisions facing the main characters or
company described in the case. Your case analysis turns on these issues. WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT PROVIDE A SUMMARY OF THE CASE
STUDY. GO STRAIGHT INTO DEFINING THE PROBLEM SCOPE.
Analysis that incorporates following Zipcar Study Questions:
Focus your analysis on addressing the questions raised and the scope of the problem. Indicate key factors and mechanisms that are
important for answering your case questions. Discuss different perspectives and approaches to addressing the problem. Incorporate
the below
1. Imagine you are the VC for Zipcar. Assess the people, opportunity, context, and deal of the plan. Does it make sense? What
would you need to know to really understand the model?Explain WHY your assumptions make sense. Provide facts and examples from the
READING ITSELF.
2. Based on the plan, would you ask Zipcar for a meeting? Why? You need to provide facts from the case study reading. What will
be the RESULT from introducing differentiated products? Give me numbers and FACTS from the reading.
3. Compare the planned and actual business models. What changed? Why. Use facts from the reading to explain WHY it changed.
4. Using the data, calculate the margin per member per month by type of use. Would Zipcar make money?
Recommendations
Suggest recommendations that follow logically from your analysis, ANSWERS THE ISSUES YOU RAISE FROM THE PROBLEM STATEMENT, AND
ADDRESSES THE POINTS YOU MAKE FROM THE ANALYSIS SECTION. Discuss implementation issues.Elaborate on your suggestions, and give facts
and examples from the READING.
All the YELLOW highlighted titles are SECTIONS. DO NOT combine everything into an essay. Keep the sections separate and answer what
each section is asking for. For the Zipcar Study Questions:section, answer EVERY SINGLE QUESTION AS ITS OWN SUBSECTION.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I NEED YOU TO DO IS INCORPORATE THEFIVE-FORCES FRAMEWORK PDF FILETHROUGHOUT THE PAPER.
When you incorporate the ideas of Five Forces Analysis, make sure to follow the below guidelines. I have copied and pasted all the
MOST IMPORTANT texts from the FIVE-FORCES FRAMEWORK PDF FILE.
Make sure you systemically follow the Typical Steps In Industry Analysis EVERY SINGLE QUESTION.
Make sure you systemically follow the Industry Analysis In Practice in EVERY SINGLE QUESTION.