Alevtyna Kudinova, CEO of the Academy of Marketing, London.
Real company, practical dilemma
or What is a case and how to solve it
An educational business case is a 10–20 page description of a specific situation or problem that a case's character must solve. Therefore the solution of the case is the solution of the business problem.
The business case like a method was created from an idea that effective decisions can be learned ,that it is a skill which can be trained. Business case is a modeling situation for making productive decisions.
Why is this method especially?
Firstly, the incompleteness of information. Any business is always uncertain. There is not and cannot be full information. The case method allows one to prepare for uncertainty and make decisions in limit information conditions (macroeconomic environment, competitors, consumer behavior, etc). In addition, a manager who needs to make an important decision always chooses between alternatives, which appears to be the case.
A solution assumes an analise facts and suggestions, a separation one from the other, an evaluation and ranking of different factors and their influence. Whatever, the case is an attempt to create conditions where a participant could experience the state of a manager who must make decisions while being “in the information nightfall.”
Secondly, the case method allows us to understand that a specific decision is good and correct only for a specific company and at a specific time, however the general management tasks remain unchanged.
Thirdly, a business case is an excellent simulator for developing the skill of strictly separating what is important and unimportant.
Insignificant facts, rumors, subjective judgments, etc. we often take into account, although they, in fact, do not in any way affect the future of the company.
Fourthly, a business case is an excellent opportunity to form own effective decision maker and learn a style of thinking and decision-making that our participants will be able to apply in their companies.
Fifthly, some people are worried about complication of cases. 'Will I be able to cope with this task?', 'What will I do if I face an absolutely new problem on a case-session?'. Among marketing cases, which we plan to solve in a few next sessions are, for example, inquiries about sales rising or a competitive strategy.
Why is this method so effective? I will give a few reasons.
A real business dilemma which participants need to solve. I would like to highlight importance of ideas and creativity of solutions (if you wish, you can find out what a real entrepreneur did in a particular case. But this is more of a case-study - a situation is proposed, analysed, possible solutions are suggested, and then the decision of the case's protagonist is analysed. In case-method, the focus is on the ideas of the person who solves the case.)
Strong effect of the theoretical+practical synthesis : it is necessary to apply theory in practice and derive theory from practice. Excellent immersion into the organizational, industry, social context and the need for quick decision making. High level of memorization of concepts and data. Critical analysis, judgment, decision making, action.
Tips for successfully case solutions:
The first reading: please, make notes on what you noticed and what, in your opinion, is important.
The second reading: read the case again more carefully. Make notes in the margins about your assumptions or what information you are missing. Perhaps it is “hardwired” indirectly, or, in fact, does not affect the decision, or suggests two alternative solutions-scenarios. Then in your answer you can write “what if...”
Then set priorities, identify key issues, focus on what is important and ignore the “noise”, make sure that you are free from bias and do not base your judgments on your personal, unsystematic experience.
Often, a case does not imply a clear solution to a problem (as in real business). The difficulty is to see different solutions and choose the one that has more wins and fewer losses.
The case method is a method mostly used by business schools. For example, Harvard Business School has been using it for over 100 years, which confirms its effectiveness. However, digitalization and online learning have made it possible to use it not only in business education, but also in professional and higher education.
And today this is particularly important. If a few years ago everyone was talking about the VUCA world (Volatility / Uncertainty / Complexity / Ambiguity), today they are talking about BANI (Brittle / Anxious / Nonlinear / Incomprehensible). Learning, first of all, professional learning, must keep up with the times.
For example, in the USA HRs measure even the aging of a specialist’s knowledge - the “half-life of an acquired skill,” i.e. reducing the quality of this skill by 50%. Recent studies show that the half-life of professional competence is about 5 years. It means, our5-years old knowledge is only 50% (they are forgotten, irrelevant, technology has changed, etc.). Therefore, the issue of continuous professional development is more relevant than ever, and the case method in this regard is one of the best study methods for adults.
Which skills are we developing and the role of networking in solving cases?
1
On the one hand, each case assumes the multilayered contexts that are displayed in the case and are often invisible (social, industry, organizational, political, technological, market, etc.), and a certain bias associated with previous experience.
On the other hand, our professional interests and personal experiences influence the key contexts we see first. This is a strong limiting factor that prevents us from going beyond cognitive marginals. Working in a group, brainstorming allows to see different sides of the same story, and, respectively, offer a better solution and a more accurate forecast.
2
Hearing, understanding, accepting (or criticizing) the point of view of other participants is a super skill of any leader. A team ceases to be effective, a leader ceases to be a leader, when he/she begins to believe that only they know better than others, that their team cannot offer a good solution. At Case-Study Club, the opportunity to speak and appropriate moderation will show how well each participant can work in a team as an equal among equals, or as a leader.
3
Before the session. The moderator asks someone (a random choice) to start a discussion about the case. “Learning to be prepared” is the first skill that is practiced at each session. Participants need to not just read the case in order to answer the moderator’s question: “Well, this is a case about MacDonald’s marketing strategy,” for example.
No, they need to immerse into it, prioritize, and identify key points. Put it all down in a few minutes and present your original point of view. Why is this necessary? To learn to gain the trust of your interlocutors through the confidence of a “knowledgeable, trained specialist.”
4
Reading a case as developing the skill of “separating the wheat from the chaff.” A case is a multi-page file (10-20 pages) with numbers, data, first and last names of employees, dialogues, some descriptions, etc. Not all data is needed to solve a case, not all necessary data is highlighted brightly, often there are significant gaps in the information - all this closely resembles the real conditions of decision-making. Therefore, when working with the data provided, it is very important not to dwell on the unimportant and ignore the noise, but to focus on the important and significant.
5
Making a specific decision when it is not obvious, and, moreover, there are several solutions to the same problem. There is rarely one correct answer in cases. The purpose of the case is to demonstrate how convincing arguments are and how supported a decision is by others. A real business situation and uncertainty will not be absolutely new, a skill of balancing conflicting interests and opinions, but also to express a point of view so that it is maximally supported by any team.
6
Confidence in decisions and strengthening soft skills. Each participant needs to imagine themselves in the character's shoes. To justify a point of view to other participants. To understand that it is possible to be persuasive in a group of competitive club members. The result is the ability to make professional business decisions, developed in a safe academic environment.
If you are a marketer and you are interested in the case-study method, we have good news!
Registration for the Case-Study session as part of the Case-Study Club by Diploma in Professional Marketing project has been announced.
Follow the link for details.