Case Study Analysis

Would need the book “Performance Management” by Herman Aguinis, 3rd Edition

Complete Case Study 4-4: Deliberate Practice Makes Perfect

The written assignment must be 3-4 pages long and correspond to the “Case Analysis Guideline” as shown below

Case Analysis Guideline
Please use the guidelines below for analyzing cases within this course
 Read the case the first time to get a general idea of the company, people, and industry involved. Then reread it to start documenting the main concepts and the overall problem that is being presented.
 The questions at the end of the cases will give you a guideline for some of the issues that you will want to identify in your analysis. However, you need to go beyond the questions listed to give a more in depth analysis of the situation and a recommendation for what the organization should do.
 There may be no “correct” answer to the case so don’t get caught up in the idea that you must find the one right method or solution. Each student brings a different set of experiences and point of view to the case study. Therefore, each student may have a different approach to finding the solution.
 Each case is a unique situation, so don’t look for a single theory or model to universally apply. Try to put yourself into the case as much as possible, which may help you gain an appreciation for what the company and the people are going through as the case unfolds.
 You need to provide the evidence and logic for your proposed solutions. You need to provide a conclusion (What should the company do?), the reason for drawing this conclusion (Why should the company do this?), and the evidence to support your reasoning.
 The following framework is provided as a guidelines for each of your case analysis. Be sure to use the seven headings as shown below followed with your answer to each section. The case analysis is to be 3-4 pages long. For ease of reading, use 12-point font and double space the paper.
1. Situation Analysis – Helps you organize the information in the case. Keep in mind that some information may be irrelevant. The most used analysis technique is the SWOT analysis. This stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Strengths and weaknesses refer to internal processes and areas of the company. What is the company doing well that should help solve the problem? These things might include customer satisfaction, marketing, financial position, or production facilities. What company weaknesses are contributing to the problem? Opportunities and threats refer to the external environment. What is the competition doing or what are the political or economic conditions at the time of the case study? How do these external issues offer opportunities or pose threats to the situation or the possible solution?
2. Assumptions and missing information – A case will not contain all the information that you would like it to have to decide. You may need to document what information is not included in the case, why it is important, and how you will get it. If you cannot acquire the information through public documents, you may need to make some assumptions. Your assumptions should be realistic, logical, and clearly identified in your recommendation.

3. Statement of the problem – You need to include a clear statement of the problem(s) or issue(s) facing the organization. Obviously, part of your write- up is critical. You cannot properly solve the problem unless you have correctly identified and described the scope of it. The SWOT analysis can help you focus on the true issues of the case. Be sure that you have differentiated the symptoms from the problem – you want to get to the root causes. For example, a drop in customer satisfaction may be the result of poor after-market service, may be the result of a change in the production process, or may be the result of multiple causes.
4. Develop alternatives – Once we have determined the nature of the problem, we can start thinking about ways to solve it. This part involves “brainstorming” for solutions. You should not discard any potential solution at this point – no matter how outrageous. Don’t forget that the “do nothing” alternative is always a viable solution.
5. Evaluation of alternatives – You need to examine the set of solutions generated in step four to determine which one to recommend. The first thing you need to do is develop a set of criteria for evaluating the choices. You need to clearly document your method for rating each alternative in your write-up. Some typical criteria include cost, quality, and time. You should always try to estimate the total cost of any solution as well as how long it will take to implement. You may need to weight your criteria to find a total score. A solution that costs $50,000 and will take three months to implement may be better than one that will cost $75,000 but can be installed in a month. That depends on whether cost or time is more important. You may need to make some assumptions about future economic trends as part of the evaluation process. Again, just be sure to document any assumptions you make.
6. Implementation – You should consider what tasks must happen to make the recommended solution work. Think about the timing of each task to build an overall estimate of the total work involved. Also, be sure to consider who must perform each task as you build the implementation plan.
7. Evaluation and control – Who will monitor the implementation of the recommended solution and determine whether it is working? How long should you wait before you decide if the solution is doing what you want?