The Kalinga Way of Solving Case Studies
The most effective way for learning to take place is to actually be in real situations, make decisions, deal with the consequences of those decisions, and learn from our real mistakes. Nothing will ever replace learning from experience. Cases (which involve real situations although names may be changed) allow us to "simulate" real life situations when we don’t have the luxury of having years of experience. Cases allow us (to some degree) to live with real situations, make decisions, and feel the consequences. Like scientists in a laboratory, students of best engineering colleges and best management colleges use case problems and experiential exercises as "laboratory" opportunities to experiment with real organizations in the classroom setting.
Cases attempt to reflect the various pressures and considerations corporate employees confront in everyday organizational life. By using complex real world problems as a focus, cases are designed to challenge you to develop and practice skills that will be appropriate to the practical problems you will face in your career.
At Kalinga University, the best university of Raipur with the best engineering and management programs we will be simplifying the way you should approach a case study.
Next time when you encounter a case study, don’t worry, the best university has your back. Just refer to these 5 steps of case solving for an on point analysis of any case.
Step 1: Comprehend the Case Situation
Most cases require at least two readings, sometimes more; the first time through should involve familiarizing yourself with the basic situation; you may be given some guide questions to help you and you also might think about why the case was assigned now. Always remember to write down data points, facts, information and assumptions as you encounter them while reading the case.
Step 2: Defining the Problem
What is the critical issue or problems to be solved? This is probably the most crucial part of the analysis and sometimes the hardest thing to do in the whole analysis. Perhaps the most common problem in case analysis (and in real life management) is that we fail to identify the real problem and hence solve the wrong problem. What we at first think is the real problem often isn’t the real problem. So, think twice, may be thrice before finalising the problem you will work on.
Step 3: Causes Identification
Once you have identified the key problem(s), try to find the causes here. Most critical here is avoiding solutions, and avoiding blaming or judging people. While identifying possible causes of your problem, keep the following points in mind.
● don’t quit at the most obvious answer-try playing devil’s advocate; put yourself in the other person’s shoes
● accept the multiple causality of events
● there may be a number of viable ways to fit the data together; explore as many as you can; go past the obvious
● there is a great tendency to evaluate behavior as good or bad; I care about why it occurred; judgments leads to a poor analysis focusing on justification for the evaluation
Step 4: Generating Alternative Solutions
In thinking about a context for generating alternatives, think about:
● What are the decision-maker’s sources of power in the situation? (legitimate, reward, punishment, expert, referent)
● What are possible leverage points (changing technology such as machines, processes, product designs, changing organizational structure, changing reward systems, job descriptions education, changing personnel, changing culture)
● Can individual behavior be changed (education, training, reward systems, job description, etc.)
● What are the constraints on the solution? (time, money, organizational traditions, prior commitments, external realities, legal etc)
● What are the available resources (time, money, people, existing relationships, power)
In considering the alternatives generated above you need to be clear on the criteria you will use to evaluate them. Some possible criteria include:
● Does the alternative address the critical aspect of the problem? What are your objectives? Be specific.
● What are the intended consequences; what are some unintended possible consequences; how will your decision improve the situation
● What is the probability of success; what are the risks; what happens if the plan fails
● What does the plan depend on? What are the costs? What power and control is needed?
For any further career guidance, reach out to the professionals at Kalinga University, but until then, keep growing and keep exploring !!!
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