The Case Study Handbook, Revised Edition: A Student's Guide

by William Ellet

Overview

The guide all MBAs and exec ed students need.

If you're enrolled in an MBA or executive education program, you've probably encountered a powerful learning tool: the business case. But if you're like many people, you may find interpreting and writing about cases mystifying and time-consuming. In The Case Study Handbook, Revised Edition, William Ellet presents a potent new approach for efficiently analyzing, discussing, and writing about cases. Early chapters show how to classify cases according to the analytical task they require (making a decision, performing an evaluation, or diagnosing a problem) and quickly establish a base of knowledge about a case. Strategies and templates, in addition to several sample Harvard Business School cases, help you apply the author's framework. Later in the book, Ellet shows how to write persuasive case-analytical essays based on the process laid out earlier. Examples of effective writing further reinforce the methods. The book also includes a chapter on how to talk about cases more effectively in class. Any current or prospective MBA or executive education student needs this guide.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781633696150
Publisher:	Harvard Business Review Press
Publication date:	09/18/2018
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

William Ellet has worked with Harvard MBA students on writing for over 23 years. He taught a second-year course on writing, the writing portion of the school's pre-MBA program, for 15 years and has given many presentations on reading and writing about cases in the MBA and Executive Education programs. He teaches a required Management Communication course at Brandeis University's International Business School, facilitates case teaching seminars for Harvard Business Publishing, and helps universities in Latin America introduce case teaching to their faculties. He is also a lecturer in the University of Miami Executive Education Athletes and Artists program, in which most of the students are National Football League players.

Author social media/website info: linkedin.com/in/billellet, brandeis.edu/facultyguide/person.html?emplid=5b54b9bb24c2a65d948871b168578349c0d6b7a8

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 What Is the Case Method? What's in It for You? 5

Part I Analyzing Cases

2 What Is a Case? 11

3 The Skills You Need to Read and Analyze a Case 17

4 How to Analyze Decision Scenario Cases 29

5 How to Analyze Evaluation Scenario Cases 47

6 How to Analyze Problem-Diagnosis Scenario Cases 67

Part II Discussing Cases

7 How to Prepare and Discuss Cases 95

Part III Writing about Cases

8 How to Write Case-Based Essays 113

9 How to Write Decision Scenario Essays 131

10 How to Write Evaluation Scenario Essays 145

11 Writing about Problem-Diagnosis Scenarios 159

Part IV Cases for Analysis and Writing

General Motors: Packard Electric Division 173

Malaysia in the 1990s (A) 193

Allentown Materials Corporation: The Electronic Products Division (Abridged) 213

Part V Study Guides for Case Analysis and Writing

Study Guide for Decision Scenario Cases 229

Study Guide for Evaluation Scenario Cases 235

Study Guide for Problem-Diagnosis Scenario Cases 241

Acknowledgments 247

Index 249

About the Author 255