Case Studies

3.1.2.1The Short Cycle Process

• Quickly read the case. If it is a long case, at this stage you may want to read only the first few and last paragraphs. You should then be able to:
• Answer the following questions:What is the urgency to the situation?
  • Who is the decision maker in this case, and what is their position and responsibilities?
  • What appears to be the issue (of concern, problem, challenge, or opportunity) and its significance for the organisation?
  • Why has the issue arisen and why is the decision maker involved now?
    • When does the decision maker have to decide, resolve, act or dispose of the issue?
• Take a look at the exhibits to see what numbers have been provided.
• Review the case subtitles to see what areas are covered in more depth.
  • Review the case questions if they have been provided. This may give you some clues as to what the main issues to be resolved are.

You should now be familiar with what the case study is about, and are ready to begin the process of analysing it. You are not done yet! Many students mistakenly believe that this is all the preparation needed for a class discussion of a case study. If this were the extent of your preparation, your ability to contribute to the discussion would likely be limited to the first one quarter of the class time allotted. You need to go further to prepare the case, using the next step. One of the primary reasons for doing the short cycle process is to give you an indication of how much work will need to be done to prepare the case study properly.