INTRODUCTION:
“A case study can be described as the study of an object, person or situation in its natural habitat in an uncontrolled and observational manner”.
When any management graduate undertakes his course; he will frequently come across with various case studies during his academic curriculum. There is no management course without referring to case studies. Research reveals that students may work with as many as 800 case studies during a two year MBA program. It indicates the importance and significance attached to case studies. Apart from Management, the medicine and other courses also club case studies as the part of the academic curriculum. In this context, it is essential to explain the meaning and definition of a case study.
WHAT IS CASE STUDY?
Case study is the study of a particular situation or case or a problem in a given scenario thoroughly after weighing the pros and cons, taking a practically feasible decision in the best interests for effective implementation. Case studies are essential for MBA so that the students can step into the shoes of the given case study, understand the implications and the complications involved and can have the feeling that of a trouble shooter. To put in a nut shell, case study is a simulation of a management situation that helps the management graduates to react in a real situation and helps them by providing right direction towards right decision making and problem solving.The technical students like engineering graduates have both theory and laboratory activities. The faculty teaches the theory in the class room and then takes them to laboratory to try and test what was taught in the class. The students will be in a position to correlate the theoretical concepts and aspects with that of the practical experiments in the laboratory. As a result, the gap between learning and doing is minimized and also students can grasp, understand and memorize quickly. And while doing practical experiments in the laboratory they may have a few doubts and the same can be clarified, verified and authenticated. The case studies are also just like laboratory activities. Since for management education the students can not be taken to industry for each and every theoretical concept the case studies will prove handy for them. When the management concepts are explained then the case studies of the companies are explained so that students in the class room can feel like in a simulated situation and they will be able to understand the concepts effectively and efficiently.
HOW TO PREPARE A CASE STUDY?
“Case study is a description of an actual administrative solution involving a decision to be made or a problem to be solved. It can be a real situation that actually happened just as described, or portions have been disguised for reasons of privacy”.
Usually the case study can be brief or extensive running from 2 to 30 pages. As such there is no specific rule that the content should be limited or extended up to certain levels. Read the entire text thoroughly once and jot down the key points and concepts and also the important issues involved in it in a separate sheet. Look for 4 W’s in the case such as what is the problem? where is the problem? when the problem started? And why the problem occurred? Relate and correlate all the factors and forces together to have better quick grasp about the case. Also read between the lines keenly. Apply your common sense and make comparative study of the situation. Observe closely if any statistical data is given. Look at the cause and effect relation with in the case study. At times the causes are hidden and it requires extraordinary ability to unearth the hidden causes. It needs probing temperament and 
correlate the same with the effects. This will help to get at the root of the problem for generating bags of solutions. During this process, the visualization technique is highly useful in order to correlate various things mentally. If time permits read and reread the text more times for getting at the crux of the case. Repeat the process till you get perfection.Create number of multiple solutions to a given problem. Choose the best that suits the present position and adopt. It requires intuition and gut feeling to shortlist the best logical, analytical and appropriate decision. Don’t repeat what is already stated in the case.During the case study analysis and preparation the academician with industrial exposure can deliver better results than mere academician without any industrial experience. The academicians always look at the case purely from their vast theoretical perspective as they are not exposed to industry. Of course, they honed their skills based on reading plenty of case studies. But that will not be sufficient to create effective case studies. On the other hand, the academician who hailed from industrial or from corporate background look at the case from multiple perspectives. They might have faced the same scenario as stated in the case study in their practical life. Therefore, they have ready made and tailor made answers and more solutions to each problem. Case study analysis requires critical and creative thinking. It also requires empathy i.e. stepping into the shoes of a situation and generating multiple solutions.
correlate the same with the effects. This will help to get at the root of the problem for generating bags of solutions. During this process, the visualization technique is highly useful in order to correlate various things mentally. If time permits read and reread the text more times for getting at the crux of the case. Repeat the process till you get perfection.Create number of multiple solutions to a given problem. Choose the best that suits the present position and adopt. It requires intuition and gut feeling to shortlist the best logical, analytical and appropriate decision. Don’t repeat what is already stated in the case.During the case study analysis and preparation the academician with industrial exposure can deliver better results than mere academician without any industrial experience. The academicians always look at the case purely from their vast theoretical perspective as they are not exposed to industry. Of course, they honed their skills based on reading plenty of case studies. But that will not be sufficient to create effective case studies. On the other hand, the academician who hailed from industrial or from corporate background look at the case from multiple perspectives. They might have faced the same scenario as stated in the case study in their practical life. Therefore, they have ready made and tailor made answers and more solutions to each problem. Case study analysis requires critical and creative thinking. It also requires empathy i.e. stepping into the shoes of a situation and generating multiple solutions.
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