Case Study Method

Case Study is a form of qualitative research. It collects detailed information and summarizes them for drawing conclusion. It focuses on an individual or a small group. It does not lead to a discovery or a universal truth. Neither it establishes a cause & effect relationship. Rather, it just describes a situation and suggests a solution.

Well prepared case studies are very useful for managerial development as observed by Professor C. Roland Christensen when he said, “when successful, the case method of instruction produces a manager grounded in theory and abstract knowledge, and more important, able to apply those elements.”

In any case study, one has to state boundaries – what it contains and what it does not. Also, there is a limit on the number of persons the researcher intends to interview. If there are no boundaries, it would not qualify as a case study.

To be specific a case study is: (i) qualitative in nature (ii) intensive in coverage (iii) describing usually a single instance (iv) replicating real experience, (v) providing means of analyzing (vi) solving small problems and (vii) and asking: “What would you do in such a situation?”

It is descriptive in nature as it describes or illustrates a peculiar situation with influences of people and time over it. Also, there is a concentration on an individual or small group or event. It is, therefore, particularistic. Finally, it can be termed as heuristic or inquisitive or investigative as the case study deals with “what happened and why”?

There are number of ways to categorize the case study. Basically, there are three categories: (i) Directed, (ii) Analytical and (iii) Dilemma.

In Directed, the study leads to questions which can be answered using a simple “yes” or “no”. Such questions are termed as closed-ended. The cases are prepared after going through the course contents which differ from subject to subject. Obviously, a case on marketing would contain a situation where a consumer is confronted to choose one of the many types of products displayed on the shelves.

In Analytical, a study is developed giving background facts, happening of certain events and their repercussions. It shows a scenario and the users (the students) are asked to analyze the situation and come up with their answers which would differ from one student to another. Hence, the answers are termed as “Open-Ended”.

Finally, in Dilemma Case Study, a student would be asked to decide on an action with knowledge of the consequences and risk-return trade off. A manager discovers some irregularities in accounts. He soon finds out that there was no fraud as it was just smoothing out the peaks and valleys. In the meanwhile, he learns that external auditors would soon comb the accounts and if they discover these irregularities, they would raise hell. Both scenarios have their pros and cons. If you were the manager would you inform the boss and have some of your colleagues axed or keep quiet as the irregularities would automatically be resolved by the end of the year.

Basically, a case study is an in-depth study of a particular situation rather than a sweeping statistical survey. It is a method used to narrow down a very broad field of research into one easily researchable topic. Because of its applicability in real-life and contemporary situations, it is useful in many fields like research, management, law and business as explained below:

Use in education

In many business schools case-studies are extensively used as a teaching technique. Some prominent schools are Harvard Business School and Darden Graduate School of Business Administration in USA, INSEAD in France, the ICFAI Business School in India, Cranfield School of Management in UK , IESE Business School in Spain, IMD in Switzerland, Richard Ivey School of Business, in Canada.

The cases are interesting as they bring out real-life situations with problems. This stimulates students more than textbooks which usually contain only hypothetical problems. Class room teaching coupled with case-method is called Socratic Method. This affords the students to orally response to difficult question to gain an insight into the problem. Moreover, it forces students to read, analyze and interpret cases themselves. They learn to separate relevant from irrelevant.

Use in social sciences

It has a good amount of contribution in psychology, anthropology and ecology. It tries to test theoretical models by using them in real life situation.

Use in Research

It is not much used in research as researcher prefers to go for quantitative methods. But it is a useful tool as it is used to avoid repeating fatal mistakes in the past. It enable the researcher to (i) build upon theory, (ii) produce new theory (iii) to dispute or challenge theory (iv) to explain a situation (v) to provide a basis to apply solutions to situations, (vi) to explore, or to describe an object or phenomenon.

Use in Business

Case studies recount management or real life business. The cases confront the business executives with a dilemma or uncertain outcomes. These are used to evaluate business program to find out their prospects for success or failure. Many strategies are formulated after going through case studies pertaining to business intelligence. It enables the users to calculate many financial indicators like Return on Investment (ROI) on its plans like expansion or shrinkage.

Finally, the case studies can be used as decision support tools and offer operational experience.

Main advantage is that the case-study generates interest as it exposes the users to a real-life situation and affords them an opportunity to apply their knowledge and skill in resolving the problems. Under this method, unusual cases can shed light on problems or events that are impractical or unethical to study in other ways. Further, the case-study is a good source of idea about behavior, a good method to study rare phenomena, a good opportunity for innovation and a good way to challenge theoretical assumptions. By focusing on specific issues, it can test a theory with a typical case at hand.

As regards dis-advantages, the insufficient information can lead to inappropriate results. When a researcher observes closely the subjects or respondents, it can change their behavior. Moreover, it is hard to generalize from a single case.

Besides the foregoings, students of some disciplines particularly law, dislike case studies as it require long hours in reading. Also they need time to adjust themselves for case-study learning. Some professors argue that the students lose enthusiasm and interest after going through a few cases.

Before writing a case study, the writer should be prepared for an arduous task. Prerequisites are passion, problem solving skills, creativity, eye for detail, nose for writing and capability to think out of the box.

Define the research question

The study typically starts with 4 Ws of the problem, what, where, when and why. The research object can be a person, a group of people, a program or an entity. It may have linkage to social, historical, political or personal issues. All these factors coupled with identification of audience would guide how to design and conduct the study.

Select the cases and determine data gathering and analysis techniques

After finding out that a case study method is suitable for the research question, the writer may proceed further and select ways and means to collect the data.

Prepare to collect the data

Before going full blast, a pilot-test may be conducted using data collected through all affordable manners on small a scale. This is to assess possibility of problems in data collections. Once satisfied with the methods, further program may be chalked out such as (i) people or organizations to be contacted, (ii) letters introducing the data collecting staff or volunteers to those organizations, and (iii) plan for eventual codification and summarization of the data collected.

Collect data in the field

The researcher must collect data from various sources keeping in view object of the study. Data could be collected through literature review, observations, surveys, interviews and experiments. It must be ensured that data collected is linked with the research question.

Evaluate and analyze the data

In case study, the sample size is rather small but data sets are typically large, complicated and messy. Since most of the data collected is qualitative in nature, there are few rules and standard procedures. A widely practiced technique is Content Analysis whereby available information is broken into meaningful pieces for better understanding. In case study, the results are opinion based rather than outcome of statistical methods.

First, this calls for data reduction i.e. selecting, focusing and condensing. Second, data is displayed through diagrams, charts and tables. This is to facilitate identification of themes, patterns and connections that help solve the problem. Finally, it is revisited again and again to ensure that the data has links with the research question.

The following points are suggested for preparation of a case-study: (i) Executive summary, (ii) Problem statement, (iii) Alternatives, (iv) Conclusion and (v) Implementation.

However, a lot many case studies are informal in nature and may take the shape of a story, discussion, debate or role play. It may have one-page or many, be based on a single observation or more. This has been demonstrated in a one-page case study at the end of this article, the "Dreaded Graveyard/"

Further, it is assumed that the user may not have adequate knowledge of the subject and so the things are kept simple and non-technical.

Case studies are like a summary of real-life events based on actual data and research. The writer isolates the event and concentrates on its key issues, weighs pros and cons of various options and gives sufficient material to reach a solution.

In management literature, case studies have a prominent position. It is an interesting way of accomplishing some objectives like training of personnel or students. The case studies are appropriate when the researcher wants to answer a description question.

“60 injured, 15 in critical condition” was a headline in the Daily Life of 15^th September, 2010. I grabbed the paper and came to know that the news pertained to KTM Ltd of Multan which was a client of my bank. I made up my mind to go there to have first hand information. To be frank, I loved to go to Multan anytime. Strolling in city was like a dip in the spiritual world. Great Sufis and Saints had lived there.

I was received at the airport by a representative of the company. He briefed me on way to the mills as “Workers of new unit forcibly entered in the old unit over bonus issue. They tried to damage the machinery and security guards were called in. You know this happens each & every year. Despite constant losses, they ask for bonus from earnings of the old unit. How can they? How come the two units are pole-apart in their workings?”

I was well-aware of the background of KTM. It was going well until 2004 churning out huge profits. Naturally, the management decided to go for expansion. My bank found their plan feasible and provided them loans for import of machinery. But when the machinery landed at Karachi Port, a young director, Muneer Sheikh, proposed to install it at a newly developed industrial estate about 2.5 km away. “Approach to our present mills is chocked with massive make-shift shops, workstations and slums,” he argued. This was considered as a valid reason and the change was approved.

The new unit was successfully commissioned in early 2007. It was expected that it would at least double the earnings of the company. However, it faced problems in attracting workers as they preferred to remain in the old mills. Because of shortage of skilled workers in the industry, fresh recruitments were out of question. Consequently, the operations of the new unit suffered and a bleak situation prevailed. As a last resort, the management picked up the required number of workers from the old setup and asked them to go there or leave the company. With lot of bickering or appeals, the workers moved to the new unit but problems continued. There being no metalled road, the workers had to go walking or cycling. They had to pass by an old graveyard which was reportedly very scary at night. Many became frightened and avoided the night shift by hook or crook. Lack of motivation, rampant absenteeism had its mark on performance and the unit went deeper into the red. To discipline the workers, the management excluded them from annual bonus. Naturally, the altercation started culminating in bloody clashes.

I myself walked from old to new unit at night and did not feel anything unusual. There was a high boundary wall around the graveyard and unless someone pointed it out, one would not have known about its existence. Also, I had informal visits to canteen, roadside tea-shops and residences of some known staff members. It transpired that almost all workers were doing second job or running small businesses with the help of their family members. If they were posted in the new unit, they were cut off for pretty 10 hours from the mainstream. Hence they wished that the unit be closed down forever.

I am in a fix. I see no future. What do I report? My bank has a large stake in the project. I feel going down with it. Can you suggest a way out?