FORMAT IN

SOLVING BUSINESS
CASES
 I. TIME CONTEXT

This identifies the time when the problem of

the company needs to be solved.

- Date is stated in the case

- No Date but ideas/clues are present
- No date/ No Clue

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 II. VIEW POINT

This section identifies whose point of view the

group is taking when solving the case.

- MANAGER
- Case study is a responsibility of people in
management
-somebody who can see the forest not only
the tree

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 III. STATEMENT of THE PROBLEM

This section identifies the basic root problem of the

case.
Concentrate on the higher-thinking questions.
There must be one and only one basic root problem.

- identification of the correct problem considered it

half-solved
- SYMPTOM is different from a problem
- Declarative/Interogative

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 IV. STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES

This answers the question: What do you want the

company to accomplish upon solving the case?

LRO - beyond a year

SRO - within a year

Use SMART Objectives- specific, measurable,

attainable, realistic and time-bound.

- restates the question in the statement of the

problem into objective format.

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 V. SWOT ANALYSIS
This section analyzes the Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats of the business based on
case facts.

Strength- it is something that a company is good at

doing. A quality that produces a competitive
advantage for the company.(controllable, positive, IE)

Examples: high technical expertise, good

management-labor relations, outstanding leadership,
clean corporate image

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 Weakness- it is something that a firm lacks. It
is a quality that puts the company at a
disadvantage. ( negative, controllable, IE)

Examples: uncooperative workers,

inconsistent policies, poor planning, low
employee morale, poor product quality

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 Opportunity- it is a factor in the external
environment that is expected to work
favorably towards company's operations.
(positive, uncontrollable, EE)

Examples: stable political leadership, strong

confidence of investors, increase in
purchasing power

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 Threat- it is a factor in the external
environment that is expected to have a
negative effect on company's operations.
(negative, uncontrollable, EE)

Examples: political unrest, piracy, substitute

products, oil price hike

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 VI. ALTERNATIVE COURSES OF ACTION

This enumerates the possible solutions to the

problem.

Alternatives must solve the problem.

There must be at least 3 alternatives.

They must be equally desirable.

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 VII. ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES

- the advantages and disadvantages of each

alternative are enumerated.
-this section must be fully exhaustive.

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 VIII. RECOMMENDATION

-Choose only one best alternative

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 IX. IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAM

-This section discusses the plans of the group

on how to put the decision into action.
-They must start with verbs or action words.

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 X. OTHER PROBLEMS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

-This contains other problems of the company

that need to be solved as well as the proposed
solutions to each and every problem.

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 XI. MANAGEMENT LESSONS LEARNED FROM
THE CASE

-This section synthesizes the case by

enumerating at least 3 Management lessons
learned from the case.

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