Case Study for Solving
A businessman, Mr. Wyser-Pratte, met with Mr. Lederer at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City. Mr. Lederer made a presentation about a German corporation, Babcock, and its plans to acquire 100 percent of HDW, another corporation. Wyser-Pratte invested $20 million, but shortly thereafter, Babcock sold its 50 percent stake in HDW rather than increasing it. Mr. Lederer left to run HDW and Babcock became insolvent. May Mr. Wyser-Pratte bring suit in New York? Discuss and bring 7 possible alternatives for Mr. Wyser-Pratte.
INSTRUCTIONS AND PAPER STRUCTURE
Step 1: Problem Definition
A case seldom involves one clear cut problem. Your task is to:
• Determine the symptoms which require immediate attention.
• Identify the fundamental issues and causal factors giving rise to these symptoms.
It is important to separate the immediate problems from their more basic sources. For example, immediate problems may be a high rate of absenteeism, while the more fundamental issue may be a poor motivational climate. How you define a problem determines how you go about solving it. A short term solution for absenteeism is likely to be different from solutions which attempt to deal with motivational climate.
Clearly define your problem in a short phrase. Put the short phrase in bold print.
Step 2: Justification for Problem Definition
In this step you need to review what information you have. You may need to make some inferences to fill in gaps. Clearly label what is inference and what is factual. Do not be afraid to assume, but clearly state the assumptions you are making. You should make assumptions on the basis of your knowledge of what typical managerial practices are like, and they should be consistent with the facts you have about the case. Managerial decisions are always based on limited information. In fact, practicing managers find that many of their decisions must be made quickly on the basis of limited information.
Explicitly address the following four information factors:
a) what information is known,
b) what information is unknown,
c) what assumptions will the student make because of the missing information, and
d) why those assumptions are reasonable at the time of writing the analysis.
Step 3: List Alternative Courses of Action ( come up with 7 possible)
Be creative. Jot down ideas as they come to you. List as many ideas as you can, without evaluating them or censoring anything. You can always cross them out later. The point is to let your imagination take over. Each alternative should be numbered and get its own separate paragraph.
The descriptive words or short phrase for each alternative should be in bold print in the text.
To get the most points, address at least 7 or more alternatives. Among these seven, include the alternative of "doing nothing".
Step 4: Evaluate Alternatives
Look critically at the alternatives you came up with in Step 3. Analyze the alternatives regarding their costs, potential benefits and risks. The more examples of costs, potential benefits and risks per each alternative, the higher your grade will be. The benefits must be described as "potential benefits". Address the quantity level (e.g., high, medium or low) of each cost, potential benefit and risk.
Step 5: Review
Reread your notes and think. This may be a good time to let the case sit for a while. Get back to it later when you have a chance to digest all the data.
Step 6: Draw Conclusions, Make Recommendations/Decisions
Select the alternative or alternatives you would recommend and fully explain/justify the logic behind your choice. Include specifics about the implementation of your recommendation: who should do what, when, and how.