How to Properly Read and Analyze Harvard Business Review Cases

The Case Study Method initially popularized by Harvard Business School is now a dominant feature in the curriculum of all business schools, worldwide. And the fact is they are all over your curriculum too. Probably that's why you want to know how to read MBA case studies apace.

If you are looking to become into a management course or are currently in a management program, my communication to yous is - fall in love with Case Studies already!

They are going to exist effectually you day and night. And the best way to fall in honey or to brand that love last is to offset befriend information technology.

In this give-and-take, I will reveal important aspects of case studies and how to read MBA instance studies rapidly and efficiently. Permit's brainstorm.

What is a Case Written report?

Before answering how to read MBA instance studies we need to outset understand what is a case study.

A Case Report is a certificate of real-life business organisation scenario or an imagined business scenario. The case written report volition present to y'all a problem, issue, conflict, study or impending decision-making that needs to be addressed, solved or analyzed for a business organisation.

Every bit you would know, the Harvard Case Study method is the nearly widely accepted didactics for MBA education and training. In fact, a good number of cases in your B-schoolhouse would be Harvard published cases.

Won't you exist interested to acquire kickoff-hand from the Harvard Business School most what their example written report method is? During my MBA, I was lucky enough to come beyond this video which shares an insight on what this pedagogy entails for the students.

I urge you lot to go through this video. This isn't just a clarification of what the instance report method is, only more importantly this is a sneak peak into what is the classroom experience for an MBA student. There would definitely exist massive takeaways.

MBA Example Studies - Not Completely Unknown

While it might look to be a big bargain, but most of you who have croaky a competitive examination like the Cat, GMAT, XAT or the others of the like have already dealt with a case study like creature before.

An MBA case study may also exist looked at as an amalgamation of Reading Comprehension (RC) and Information Estimation (DI) type of questions.

Yes, the RC and DI sections that yous practiced for Cat. A example report may at times resemble an RC set lone and at time may seem similar a cross-over between RC and DI set when charts and graphs are given.

I approximate now you know why you lot are tested on Reading Comprehension and Information Estimation in Cat? These sections check your reading skills, power to interpret information given to yous, evaluate alternatives and make a right decision; which, are all important and required in your management studies and your management career.

Case Analysis Pattern Course

Learn how to analyze MBA business organisation case studies comprehensively in just v steps

Get to know how to analyze a marketing case written report comprehensively in only 5 slides. Which means that the adjacent time yous need to analyze a case or participate in a example contest, you would know exactly how to ace the case

Why are MBA Example Studies Important?

A case study is designed to make y'all footstep into a manager'due south shoes and think like ane. What if you lot are the managing director, how would you solve this problem.

Solving a case study would brand you explore your analytical, reasoning, leadership and controlling skills and about importantly make yous trust your educated instincts.

Case study method helps you to go a long way in applying your theoretical cognition and its applied application in a very dynamic and a VUCA world. VUCA, as yous may know, is an acronym based on leadership theories that stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.

As a Manager (or a management educatee) you should be able to provide realistic solutions to the problems presented in a case study. You should be able to explain and justify your decision.

Application of such critical faculties while solving a example report makes it an important feature in the curriculum of an aspiring managing director. With each case, you need to alter how read and perceive the information and, ultimately, how you recollect

With the importance of case studies explained, side by side, is a very of import question - How do you solve a case study?

How to Solve MBA Case Studies?

There is no one way to solve a case study. Once you start solving an MBA case study you will have your own take on it. Nevertheless, listed below are full general guidelines that, more or less, remain the same and are effective in solving an MBA case study:

• Identify yourself in the part of a leader/manager or equally the Harvard Business School likes to call information technology – Protagonist
• Identify the problem that you face up as a protagonist
• Examine the causes for the bug and the issues that are there. Don't worry, you lot might find conclusive evidences for them. But just class your hypothesis.
• Create alternatives or possible courses of deportment that are within the purview of the arrangement'south goals and objectives
• Go back to your hypothesis and assumptions and choose a course of action that is the most favorable. Y'all most likely will need data from the exhibits to decide on ane strategy.
• Put it to vote. Discuss. Brainstorm. Identify possible trade-offs for each alternative
• Advise a final alternative and justify information technology
• Discuss the case study with fellow students, professors, colleagues, and note all interesting/new/innovative solutions that others take to offer
• Enjoy the learning and process

Desire a stride-past-step framework to analyse Marketing Case Studies?

This guide on How to Analyse Marketing Case Studies tells yous the methods to tackle a example. What I suggest in the book is an elaborate explanation of how y'all can present your case study analysis almost effectively, in just 5 slides.

But, How to Read MBA Instance Studies Quickly?

To the to a higher place question I would likewise like to add together "and efficiently". How to read MBA case studies quickly and efficiently?

I would suggest ii ways reading MBA case studies rapidly:

1. Reading the case report thoroughly when you lot need to really understand and present it
2. Reading the case study super-apace when you are super-pressed for time
   

Hither'due south a piddling pollex rule that yous should follow while picking the right method to read your case study.

Just to not spoil you with a slightly lesser honest way of reading cases, I would first be talking almost what the right approach of reading an MBA case study should exist.

Reading an MBA Case Study Thoroughly [Honest Method]

     Here is my standard method of reading MBA case studies efficiently and quickly:

• Before the example is given to y'all, you would know where information technology fits into the curriculum. Marketing, Finance, Operations etc.
• You would also know the topics that you take covered or are nearly to start in the next discussion. This will definitely requite you an idea of what you lot need to do.
• For me, reading a case written report for is a two-3 round affair. And that what makes it quicker, because you are not committed to reading it with full attention in one shot. That's merely too much pressure.
• In the first read, which should be a super-speed circular, read the sub-headings, read each and every line but extremely brazenly – in speed. No regressing at all. Place the core scenario of the case and what information technology is that you lot are required to do.
• You will experience that there are mostly two kinds of case studies that you volition meet:

1. Where you accept to take decision as a protagonist or a team leader
2. Where no decision making is required, you lot have to but discuss and analyse the case at hand

• Identify the primal players or stakeholders and identify fundamental issues/problems
• Keep your pencil or pen handy. You will be taking notes while solving a case study. Underlining, highlighting would help to reduce the fourth dimension spent in writing.
• Boring down on statements which take some 'quotes' from whatsoever of the characters or a line which has numbers. These are things to exist read properly and even noted downward if required.
• Skim through the discussion questions. Write relevant pointers for each question that you would take picked up from the case's preliminary reading. Run the scenario in your brain and raise questions as to what happened and why information technology happened and most chiefly what needs to exist done.
• Class two or three hypotheses based on your reading. Create a situation assay, what-ifs, and effort to fit the data and the facts in each of them. This could require the two^nd and iii^rd rounds of reading to choose-out that data
• Get back to the case - this could exist your two^nd read and look for any data that yous may take missed. Fill the gaps in your hypothesis. This is where you lot need to find data from the exhibits.
• Go for a 3^rd read if some data is nonetheless missing or if you accept realized that your initial hypotheses aren't shaping upwardly well an you need to form new ones. Some would prefer to do the ii^nd or 3^rd read question-wise while others may adopt analyzing the example every bit a whole
• Now kickoff working on the solving these problems with the data nerveless

Other manner to solve a instance is to beginning read the discussion questions advisedly. So, read the case keeping the questions in heed as a guide to what's of import in the example and what can be ignored.

Now that you know how to read an MBA case study in the well-nigh proper manner, I am sharing with you a way to read MBA case studies quickly when you are super-pressed for time.

Allow me tell you that, this strategy may give you a wide understanding of the case study to practise some sort of class participation. Merely it will non give y'all enough knowledge which allows you lot to nowadays the case with its total details.

Reading an MBA Case Study Quickly [Partially Honest Method]

I would non be calling a dishonest method. Instead, I am calling it the 'partially honest method' for the reason that I am giving you a benefit of dubiety - that while you truly wanted to analyse it and do a meaningful class participation, you happen to exist pressed for time.

• The get-go step would be to quickly flip the pages and get a experience of the case. The headings, sub-headings and words which are in bold will exist of help.
• Become to the last page and read the last paragraph. This  could be titled as 'Conclusion' in the case written report. It could also exist titled something else every bit per the context of the case or their just may be no heading on this last paragraph.
• Go back to the outset page and completely read the introduction paragraph. This would assistance y'all understand who is the 'protagonist' of the case.
• From the next heading onward, commencement reading the first two sentences and the terminal ii sentences of each sub-section/sub-heading.
• By now, you would know three things nigh the case; the protagonist, the context and what needs to be done past you on behalf of the protagonist
• The next step is where the dishonesty comes in. This is where we go and look for a instance summary over the net.
• Most of the cases that you volition encounter volition be Harvard Business organization Schoolhouse (HBS) Cases. The copies of cases handout to y'all are also available on the HBS website for sale, along with their synopsis.
• Read up the summary and quickly fill upwards the gaps that you may have in your agreement. In quite a few cases, you may find the summary on other websites.

A big DON'T in any case is this - most of the cases are already solved by students of other B-schools and their presentations are already bachelor on Slideshare or other places.

Do not read these. These would get ahead and 'analyse' the example for y'all. This would end up making y'all rigid in your idea process and the class discussion will also non be as fruitful.

Some Examples of MBA Example Studies

MBA case study could be on number of topics.

• A Marketing case report example could be about competitive strategy, pricing, entering a new marketplace, advertizing campaign, target audience, positioning, etc.
• A Finance case study could be near adopting new accounting policies, evaluating cash flows, debt equity mix residuum of the visitor, etc.
• A Man Resource Management case study could focus on adopting new appraisement format, conflict betwixt employees and direction, spousal relationship conflict, employee benefits etc.
• An Operations case report may include warehousing problems, effective inventory management, improving supply concatenation management, evaluating raw fabric suppliers etc.
• A Strategic example report is where you would exist presented with problems/problems spanning more than 1 topic or domain.

Is the solution always going to be foolproof?

No, retrieve it is a VUCA world. Today's approach may be cause doom tomorrow. You need to be in tandem with the market place trends and requite your pinch of innovative thinking.

Will at that place always be a solution and a conclusion?

No. Simply like this commodity, most of the case studies volition not accept a conclusion or a unmarried solution. Such cases are more about understanding what happened and why information technology happened.

Author of this post

Amandeep is devout student and learner of Marketing Trends and Business organisation Strategies. Aman is an MBA in Marketing from the 2015-17 batch. She has spent the better part of her education and subsequent work experience, in gauging, learning and honing the skills that are important for the businesses to remain relevant among competition. To that end, this blog encapsulates the all-time business and marketing practices for professionals.

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