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Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Case-Based Teaching & Learning Initiative

Teaching cases & active learning resources for public health education, the case study handbook, revised edition: a student's guide.

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

By: William Ellet

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…

• Length: 272 page(s)
• Publication Date: Sep 18, 2018
• Discipline: Teaching & the Case Method
• Product #: 10208-PDF-ENG

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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.

Sep 18, 2018

Discipline:

Teaching & the Case Method

Industries:

Higher education, Professional training services

Harvard Business Press Books

10208-PDF-ENG

272 page(s)

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

About this ebook.

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.

Ratings and reviews

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

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Book description

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.

Table of contents

• Introduction
• 1. What Is the Case Method? What’s in It for You?
• 2. What Is a Case?
• 3. The Skills You Need to Read and Analyze a Case
• 4. How to Analyze Decision Scenario Cases
• 5. How to Analyze Evaluation Scenario Cases
• 6. How to Analyze Problem-Diagnosis Scenario Cases
• 7. How to Prepare and Discuss Cases
• 8. How to Write Case-Based Essays
• 9. How to Write Decision Scenario Essays
• 10. How to Write Evaluation Scenario Essays
• 11. Writing about Problem-Diagnosis Scenario Cases
• General Motors: Packard Electric Division
• Malaysia in the 1990s (A)
• Allentown Materials Corporation: The Electronic Products Division (Abridged)
• Study Guide for Decision Scenario Cases
• Study Guide for Evaluation Scenario Cases
• Study Guide for Problem-Diagnosis Scenario Cases
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author

Product information

• Title: The Case Study Handbook, Revised Edition
• Author(s): William Ellet
• Release date: August 2018
• Publisher(s): Harvard Business Review Press
• ISBN: 9781633696167

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The Case Study Handbook: A Student's Guide

William ellet.

376 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 28, 2018

About the author

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The Case Study Handbook: A Student's Guide

William ellet.

Revision includes study guides and new insight for students

The business case study is a powerful learning tool. This practical guide provides students with a potent approach to:

• Recognize case situations and apply appropriate tools to solve problems, make decisions, or develop evaluations
• Quickly establish a base of knowledge about a case
• Write persuasive case-based essays
• Talk about cases effectively in class

The Case Study Handbook comes with downloadable study guides for analyzing and writing about different types of cases, whether they require a decision, an evaluation, or problem diagnosis.

Individual chapters are available in PDF for purchase or to assign in a class.

Downloadable Study Guides

About the author.

William Ellet has worked with MBA students for over thirty years. He has taught at Harvard Business School, Brandeis University, George Washington University, and the University of Miami. He has facilitated case teaching seminars for Harvard Business Publishing and as a consultant in China, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Brazil. His publications include an online course (Management Communication), this book, cases, and a video, all published by Harvard Business School or Harvard Business Publishing.

With cases, you need to change how you read and, ultimately, how you think. Cases are a jigsaw puzzle with the pieces arranged in a confusing pattern. You need to take the pieces and fit them into a pattern that helps you understand the main issue and think about the optimal ways to address it. You need to be comfortable with less than perfect information and an irreducible level of uncertainty. You need to be able to filter the noise of irrelevant or relatively unimportant information. You need to focus on key tasks that allow you to put pieces together in a meaningful pattern, which in turn will give you a better understanding of the main issue and put you in a position to make impactful recommendations. The Case Reading Process Read the first and last sections of the case. What do they tell you about the core scenario of the case? These sections typically give you the clues needed to identify the core scenario. Take a quick look at the other sections and the exhibits to determine what information the case contains. The purpose is to learn what information is in the case and where. Avoid reading sections slowly and trying to memorize the content. Stop! Now is the time to think rather than read. What is the core scenario of the case? What does the main character have to do? What is the major uncertainty? Identify the core scenario by asking the 2 questions. Once you are reasonably certain of the core scenario—decision, evaluation, or problem diagnosis—you can use the relevant framework to ask the questions in the next step. Those questions will give you a specific agenda for productively exploring the case. What do you need to know to accomplish what the main character has to do or to resolve the major uncertainty? List the things you need to know about the situation. Don’t worry about being wrong. This is probably the most important step of the entire process. If you don’t know what you’re looking for in the case, you won’t find it. The right core scenario framework will prompt you to list things that you need to explore. For example, for a decision scenario case, you should think about the best criteria the main character can use to make the decision. To determine criteria, think about quantitative and qualitative tools you’ve learned that can help you. Go through the case, skim sections, and mark places or takes notes about where you find information that corresponds to the list of things you need to know. You’re ready for a deep dive into the case. Carefully read and analyze the information you’ve identified that is relevant to the things you need to know. As you proceed in your analysis, ask, How does what I’m learning help me understand the main issue? The most efficient and least confusing way to read and analyze is to peel the onion—to study one issue at a time. For instance, let’s say that a decision has financial and marketing criteria. Analyzing the financial issues separately from marketing is far less confusing than trying to switch back and forth. As your analysis moves from issue to issue, you may discover gaps in your knowledge and have to add items to your list of what you need to know. Your ultimate goal is to arrive at a position or conclusion about the case’s main issue, backed by evidence from the case. Remember, there are usually no objectively right answers to a case. The best answer is the one with the strongest evidence backing it. As you learn more, ask, How does what I know help me understand the main issue? When you are preparing a case for class discussion, consider alternative positions. Finally, take some time to think about actions that support your position. What actions does your position support or require? In the real world, analysis is often followed by action. A decision obviously has to be implemented. Usually the entire point of a problem diagnosis is to target action that will solve the problem. And even evaluation has an important action component: sustaining the strengths and shoring up the weaknesses that it has revealed.

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The case study handbook : a student's guide

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• What is the case method? What's in it for you?
• Part I. Analyzing cases. What is a case?
• The skills you need to read and analyze a case
• How to analyze decision scenario cases
• How to analyze evaluation scenario cases
• How to analyze problem-diagnosis scenario cases
• Part II. Discussing cases. How to prepare and discuss cases
• Part III. Writing about cases. How to write case-based essays
• How to write decision scenario essays
• How to write evaluation scenario essays
• Writing about problem-diagnosis scenarios
• Part IV. Cases for analysis and writing. General Motors : Packard Electric Division
• Malaysia in the 1990s (A)
• Allentown Materials Corporation : the Electronic Products Division (abridged)
• Part V. Study guides for case analysis and writing. Study guide for decision scenario cases
• Study guide for evaluation scenario cases
• Study guide for problem-diagnosis scenario cases.

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