School of Management and Technology
Fanshawe College 17/01/2023
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Case, Assignment and Project Reports
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Guidelines for Improving Performance in Case Analysis Report Writing
1.0 Overview
This course experience involves the extensive use of case, assignment and/or project reports to
help students apply concepts and demonstrate mastery of the key knowledge elements. Prior to
this course, few students have significant experience analyzing and preparing these reports,
which can make the process difficult and/or frustrating. As a result, these guidelines have been
written to help ensure that the process is both rewarding and a source of learning.
If the guidelines and suggestions set forth in this note are followed, then the probability of
success should be greatly enhanced.
2.0 Purpose
The course experience consists of two major learning components. The first component involves
communication and understanding of knowledge, tools and techniques. The textbook readings,
guest lecturers on best practices and/or collaborative group reflections around business literature
can add to learning such skills.
The second involves application of knowledge, tools and techniques. Written cases, assignments
and/or group projects can assist in developing this skill.
In each of these instances, you will be called upon to address a problem existing in the case
company. You will be asked to take an ill-structured problem or situation and convert it into a
well-structured problem that you then proceed to resolve through your analysis, alternatives and
recommendation. You will be asked to act not as a student in this course, but rather as an
effective problem solver and as a manager.
3.0 Your Role
The first key to effective report writing is to identify your role. In most cases, students assume
that they are to resolve problems identified by the decision-makers in a case/assignment. This is
often a wrong assumption. Remember – – you play a very important role in a case/assignment.
You provide the consultant or outside perspective. Often, decision-makers who find themselves
closest to the facts and to the problem find that they are unable to act effectively. They find that
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Source: MASCO Leadership Program In Operations Management, Executive Development Program
The Eli Broad Graduate School of Management, Michigan State University
School of Management and Technology
Fanshawe College 17/01/2023
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they are unable to differentiate between symptoms and problems. As a result, they often ask
professionals from outside the firm to come in and to provide a different point of view. Often,
these ‘outsiders’ are very effective in this role because they are not contaminated by the
environment in which the decision makers find themselves.
As an outsider, you must examine the various issues. You must determine what the problem is
from your perspective. Remember that to assess a problem, you must understand that you are
focusing on gaps. These gaps often pertain to differences between current levels of performance
and expected levels of performance. These gaps may be current or they may refer to the future.
The gaps may be real or they may be perceived. Problems are different from symptoms.
Once you have uncovered the problem, you must then provide management with a strong and
compelling reason to act. Remember, that not all problems require immediate action; some are
best ignored as you focus on the most critical root cause of the symptoms you are observing.
Another role that you provide is to explain to management how they got into the situation in
which they currently find themselves. You act as a type of detective in which you identify and
collect evidence and, using this evidence, you reconstruct the scene of the “crime’ and the events
leading up to the problem. If done well, this provides management with the important
opportunity to effectively learn from the past.
In addition, you help the decision-makers by identifying and exploring alternatives. This is
another important role that many students tend to overlook. Often, these students are so focused
on getting the one “right” answer that they ignore the potential that management may disagree
with this answer. Often, managers find the identification and detailed discussion of various
alternatives extremely beneficial. These alternatives describe the range of options available to
management; they also identify what can be done to address specific areas of concern. Finally,
the discussion of the alternatives acquaints managers with the benefits and costs associated with
each alternative.
Finally, you provide management with a plan of action aimed at resolving the identified
problems. To be effective, this plan of action must cover both long term and short term issues; it
must also be tactical and strategic. The plan of action must be shown to be driven by a set of
criteria (which explains to management why the specific option or options were selected.) The
plan must be presented in sufficient detail to allow implementation. It must also be prioritized
where you identify for management the first things that they should do. The plan must be
presented in sufficient detail to allow someone other than you to take over responsibility for
implementation.
Before leaving this discussion of your role, there is one point that you should remember. While
you must develop and maintain a strategic perspective, it is important to remember that these
perspectives must be used to develop implementation plans. You must think in terms of a doer.
You will not have sufficient detail to be successful if you limit yourself solely to a long term
strategic perspective.
School of Management and Technology
Fanshawe College 17/01/2023
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4.0 Comments of Cases, Assignments and/or Projects
It is always important to remember that the reports that you write are not Reader’s Digest
versions of the facts. Rather, they are action oriented management documents. They are
designed to identify, explain and help managers find resolution. Furthermore, the reports are not
editorials or statements of opinion. As a result, avoid phrases such as “In my opinion,” or “It is
my opinion”. Write in 3rd person and stick to the facts. The decision-maker does not want your
opinion. They want a sense of what to do and why. As a result, it is critical that you remember
that the reports are objective in nature, goal driven and action based.
4.1 The Consultative Framework
The Consultative Framework is a framework that considers four major groups (in addition to
you):
1. Customers (Internal and External)
2. Suppliers (Internal and External)
3. Superiors
4. Subordinates.
The intent in introducing this framework is to make you consider each group and identify what it
is you need each group to do in support of the problem resolution. Also, you will need to
determine how each group affects you and the problem/issue that you are examining and how the
problem/issue impacts these groups. This is an important framework because it recognized
explicitly the key interdependencies. You do not work in a vacuum. What you do is influenced
by the actions of others. You depend on others (such as your subordinates or those who work
under you and your superiors, who provide you with access to time, resource and support) for
your success. You work and achieve objectives within the structure of teams. Consequently,
you must recognize and deal with these interdependencies. That is the role of the Consultative
Framework.
As you approach each case, assignment or project, you should ask yourself the following
questions:
➢ Who are the major players, as identified by the Consultative Framework?
➢ How does each of these groups affect the problem or issues under consideration?
➢ What do I want from each group in order to succeed?
➢ How do I convince each group to participate (remember to apply the WIIFM principle:
What’s In It For Me)?
➢ What metrics are important to each group and how can I demonstrate to each group,
using these same metrics, that working with me or cooperating will positively affect
these metrics.
➢ Which are the critical groups (those groups whose participation I need for success) and
how do I intend to “enrol” them in the project?
As you proceed through the cases, assignments and/or projects, consider these issues. Make
them part of your problem-solving process. Address these issues as part of the process of
preparing your written report.
5.0 Structure
When carrying out analysis and writing up the resulting report, it is important that you remember
to pay attention to the following areas (and their associated concerns).
5.1 Situation Analysis/Size-Up
The first activity that you should carry out is to read the material, identify and collect any
necessary data/information and to provide structure to the resulting data. This activity takes
place before you deal with the issue of the problem statement. In the size-up, you try to identify
critical issues and to draw both logical and critical inferences from the resulting data. Most
students tend to do a good job on collecting and summarizing the data. Where they do poorly is
in the drawing of critical inferences, (What does such data imply? What does it mean? What
can happen as a result?). Summarizing data is useful but remember that your reader (the
