The author of the case has to have a crystal-clear understanding of the significance of the research you desire to convey. Therefore, before starting to write the study itself, you should collect all of the facts that are related to the case, such as the history of the organization, the underlying issue or opportunity, and the major choices made by the primary protagonist that you desire to share with your audience. You could ask yourself, “What is intriguing about this case?” on the most fundamental level. Be sure to keep your response in mind while you write, since it is easy to become sidetracked by the act of writing itself and forget the point you were trying to make.
The following contents ideally should be part of your case study.
Title page: it should provide all relevant information on authors, affiliation, and copywriting content. It should follow the format of TJCS.
Story; the case study should be started with an attractive story representing the situation happening in the case.
Introduction: this part should articulate the information about the organization and the problem prevailing in the company or the opportunity that the company has pursued. You may discuss the success pillars and differentiation points that the company made. This part should not be lengthy and over-stuffed with data. Keep it simple.
Key top-level decisions; this part should explain about the decision that are made by the protagonist and those decisions have wider impact on organization or persons associated to this case.
operational discussion; this part of the case study should elaborate on the impact of the above decision on the operations of the organization
analytical; this is the technical part of the case study. I foresee this part as a numeric part in which you compare the outcomes of the decisions statistically. You may refer to the sales data, customers turnovers, employee turnover or any other impact that had on a company with facts and figures
Discussion: In this part of the report, we are going to try to identify any questions that the case presents. We are not obligated to provide a comprehensive physiological explanation for everything that we saw since this is not our responsibility. In most cases, this is not achievable. In conclusion, you should review the key takeaways from this investigation and put some questions to ask students to identify the paths for way out or for the way forward.
All discussions of the case should be in past tense and avoid possessive pronouns.
Preparing Teaching Notes, general guidelines
Speak to any group of business school instructors who teach extensively by the case method, and you will almost certainly encounter strongly-held opinions on the value and importance of teaching notes. This is clearly demonstrated by the extent to which cases are accompanied by good teaching notes. So, it is mandatory for cases to be accomplished by comprehensive teaching Notes.
It has always been a requirement that cases accepted for publication by The Journal of Case-studies (TJCS) have been tried and tested in a learning environment, and have been proven to be pedagogically effective.
What is a teaching note?
A teaching note, usually, but not necessarily, produced by the author of the case it accompanies, is a document designed to give other potential instructors valuable insights into the case and the learning which can be derived from it. It will also provide suggestions on how to maximize the learning potential of the case. Teaching notes may vary from detailed and discursive, to short and informal.
However, irrespective of length, there are certain elements that should not be ignored or overlooked when preparing a teaching note. These elements are listed below and, for a teaching note to be accepted for publication by (TJCS), it will be necessary for authors to ensure that all seven elements are adequately addressed.
Synopsis of case
Case objectives and target Audiences
Teaching approach and strategy
Analysis
Reading Material for more studies
Time frame
Resources required
1 Synopsis of the case
The teaching note should include a brief description of the case and its context.
2 Case objectives and target Audiences
It should describe, with examples, the key issues and intended learning objectives, indicating the target group or class level for which the case was written.
3 Teaching approach and strategy
It should suggest how the case may be used in class and ways in which the class may be conducted. It may offer ‘trigger’ questions for opening and advancing the case discussion, suggestions for group work or student assignments, how to consolidate the learning, etc. Useful additional information could include suggestions for a teaching plan. It should also give some indication of the case’s demands on course time-tabling.
4 Analysis
The analysis should offer comprehensive answers to the list of questions and should, at least, be as thorough as one would expect from the best student. If the case includes quantitative data, it might suggest ways of utilizing the data, and should ideally include the details of any spreadsheet analysis. At the very least it should indicate the techniques to be used for analyzing the data.
5 Reading Material for more studies
Suggested additional readings should be listed if it is necessary (or helpful) for students to read text or other material in conjunction with the case. Specific readings can be assigned from these lists.
6 Time Frame
It is to indicate how much time is required to teach that case study. There must be a clear time division in table form to know the time distribution. Normally, it is 90 minutes time division. E.g;
Sr# Activity Time
1 Ice-breaking 05 mint.
2 Introduction and Background discussion 10 mints
3
4
7 Resources Required
It indicates resources used to teach case studies in classrooms. (whiteboard, board markers, etc.)
References (e.g;)
Heath, J (2006), Teaching and Writing Case Studies: A Practical Guide (each) ISBN 978-0-9078-1503-7
Leenders, M R and Erskine, J A (1989), Case Research: The Case Writing Process (The University of Western Ontario) ISBN 0-7714-1045-X
Reynolds, J I, Case Method in Management Development (International Labour Office)