The Case Study Handbook How To Read Discuss And Write Persuasively Cases

ElletFM.qxp 1/22/07 3:37 PM Page i THE CASE STUDY HANDBOOK ElletFM.qxp 1/22/07 3:37 PM Page ii ElletFM.qxp 1/22/07 3:37 PM Page iii THE CASE STUDY HANDBOOK How to Read, Discuss, and Write Persuasively About Cases William Ellet Harvard Business School Press Boston, Massachusetts ElletFM.qxp 1/22/07 3:37 PM Page iv Copyright 2007 William Ellet All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 11 10 09 08 07 5 4 3 2 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the publisher. Requests for permission should be directed to [email protected], or mailed to Permissions, Harvard Business School Publishing, 60 Harvard Way, Boston, Massachusetts 02163. The copyright on each case in this book unless otherwise noted is held by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and they are published herein by express permission. Permission requests to use individual Harvard copyrighted cases should be directed to [email protected], or mailed to the Permissions Editor, Harvard Business School Publishing, 60 Harvard Way, Boston, MA 02163. Case material of the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration is made possible by the cooperation of business firms and other organizations which may wish to remain anonymous by having names, quantities, and other identifying details disguised while maintaining basic relationships. Cases are prepared as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ellet,William. The case study handbook: how to read, discuss, and write persuasively about cases / William Ellet. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-1-4221-0158-2 (hardcover: alk. paper) 1. Management—Case studies—Study and teaching. I.Title. HD30.4.E435 2007 658—dc22 2006034445 The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Publications and Documents in Libraries and Archives Z39.48-1992. ElletFM.qxp 1/22/07 3:37 PM Page v CON T E N T S Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 Persuasion,Argument, and the Case Method . . . . . . . 5 2 What Is a Case? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 PART I ANALYSIS 3 How to Analyze a Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 4 Case Analysis Demonstration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 case study: “Malaysia in the 1990s (A)” 5 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 case study: “Allentown Materials Corporation: The Electronic Products Division (Abridged)” 6 Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 case study: “General Motors: Packard Electric Division” 7 Evaluations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 case study: “Allentown Materials Corporation: The Electronic Products Division (Abridged)” PART II DISCUSSION 8 How to Discuss a Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 ElletFM.qxp vi 1/22/07 3:37 PM Page vi THE CASE STUDY HANDBOOK PART III WRITING 9