IBM (in 2010) and the Emerging Cloud-Computing Industry
Guidelines for Doing Case Analyses
1. Problem Statement
- Clear, concise statement of the focal problem. One or two sentences at most.
- Do not put causes in the Problem Statement.
2. Problem Analysis
- In this section, you should include a thorough theory-based analysis of the focal problem(s). I.e. this requires you to use theory discussed in class. (Note: Students are always tempted to just list the issues the organization is experiencing without viewing them within a theoretical framework. This is to be avoided at all costs.)
- Avoid just providing a "laundry list" of what caused the problem. For example, a bullet-point list like below with no theoretical discussion is NOT suggested:
- Highly bureaucratic
- Inability to forecast accurately
- Poor understanding of business environment
- Not innovating quickly enough
- Include the root causes that surfaced in the thorough, theory-based problem analysis you performed in part 2 above. For example, one of the root causes might be "poor horizontal coordination between mfg, marketing, and R&D".
- Note that there usually are a fairly small number of root causes (1-3), and that it is critical that the root causes listed in this section are those that were identified in your problem analysis. In other words, new issues should not surface in this section!
- A bullet-point list is adequate here. These root causes are what you will solve for when generating your alternative solutions.
4. Generation and Evaluation of Alternatives for Solving Root Causes
- Formulate 2 or more alternatives that would provide a complete solution to the identified root causes.
- Alternatives should be specific, e.g. "improve coordination between mfg, marketing, and R&D" is not specific. What exactly would you do to improve coordination between mfg, marketing, and R&D?
- Evaluate each alternative, e.g., how effective is it in solving each root cause, and in turn, the focal problem?
5. Recommendations
- Select the alternative that, in your opinion, provides the best solution to the root causes and the focal problem. Give your rationale for your selection. Pay attention to how the alternatives relate to each other, and together, solve the focal problem. (Note that sometimes the best alternative for solving one root cause might conflict with the best alternative for solving another root cause)