Case Analysis (made simple)

The moment you wake up, you are already analyzing a case. The
explanation will happen at the bottom of this article (suspense
sound).

In analyzing a case, you need to familiarize yourself with the parts of

a case. At first, looking at them might be overwhelm you. When you
analyze a case the first time, it’s very difficult. Analyze a second time.
Hard. Analyze a third, fourth, fifth time. That’s not so hard anymore,
right. By the tenth time, case analysis might just be an enjoyable
routine.

What makes this exciting is that each new case has its own
uniqueness, challenges, protagonists and contravidas. So the
process (parts of the case) is repetitive, but the case analysis
experience never gets dull.

Bonus: The more you do this, the more you develop your critical
thinking.

So let’s now begin the ride!

Parts of a Case Analysis

Point of View

This is the “lens” that you are using to analyze a case. For example,
if the problem is about an employee who is always absent, I think it
is best if you use the immediate supervisor’s point of view. Another
option might be that of the human resource officer’s.

Use the eyes of the eagle, and skyscrapers would just look like ants.
Try wearing the lens of the ant, and a single skyscraper might look
like the entire world.
Objective

An objective is something that you want to achieve at a specified time

period. To be more specific, it has to be SMART.

1. Specific - Earning a lot is not an objective, it’s vague. At what

point will you say that you have earned a lot already.
2. Measurable - Earning Php 100,000 is something that be
measured. Growing your height by one foot is measurable.
3. Attainable - Growing your height by one foot might be attainable
if you are a five year old, but not when you are fifty. Did you
notice that I just connected point of view with objective?
4. Realistic - You are a five year old. You want to grow your height
by one foot. It is attainable. But growing your height by one foot
after only a month might not be a very realistic assumption.
Right? Right.
5. Time Bound - There has to be a deadline. Earning Php 100,000
after 100 years is not an objective for me. I think all of you will
have earned Php 100,000 at some point in the future. There is
no challenge. Earning that amount after 3 months... now we got
ourselves a good challenge.

Problem

Ask a random person “what’s your problem?”, and there’s a 50/50

chance that the answer is money. While there is a lot of truth in this
answer, the problem is that it doesn’t guide us properly to the
recommendation.

A better way of attacking this is:

1. Where you are - current situation

2. Where you want to go - objective
3. The gap between the current situation and the objective -
problem

So, let’s convert our problems into something more caseworthy.

Instead of saying money, say how to earn Php 100,000 in three
months.
Instead of saying “my problem is my height”, say how to grow by one
foot in one year.
Instead of calling garbage as your problem, say how to reduce
garbage production of each person from 1 kilo per day to half a kilo
per day in seven days.

Areas of Consideration

They are “areas” that you need to “consider”. See the definition is just
staring at you! Put it differently, they are your rubrics, your criteria for
judging.

If you want to grow by one foot, what needs to be looked at? For one,
you need to look at the level of safety. A pill might help, but are there
side effects. Another thing to consider is the cost. The same pill might
help, but is it cheap? Or does it cost an arm and a leg?

Throughout the case analysis, make sure that you back here from
time to time. A lot of case analysts, miss this very important area.

Note: It is noteworthy to tell you that as you change your areas of

consideration, your recommendation might change. For example, in
a Miss Universe competition, if the only criterion for judging is
audience impact, then beauty doesn’t guarantee a top 10 slot. You
just need to bring 10 buses of cheerleaders, and might be the next
winner.

Alternatives and Analysis

These are your options. Sometimes in contests, you send a

contestant and together with him is an alternate. That is also the
general concept of alternatives. If you want to grow taller, you can
take a pill, use ropes to tie your hands and feet then stretch your body
(ouch), drink lots of milk, sleep 12 hours a day.
What’s important here is you mention the advantages and
disadvantages of each alternative. For example, if you take a pill:

1. Advantage - it is a safe and “effortless” action

2. Disadvantage - it is expensive

Did you notice something? I used the areas of consideration in

discussing the advantage and disadvantage.

Recommendation

Here, you choose the option that you feel is the best, using your
areas of consideration. You might want to explain also why this gets
your nod.

In addition, remember that this option has a disadvantage? So,

please mention what concrete steps you will make to minimize or
eliminate the impact of the disadvantage. Example, if your
recommendation was taking a pill, the disadvantage is the price. So
what can you do about it? Search online for a source that sells by
box? That way, per tablet price might go down significantly.

Contingency Plan

Not all recommendations work. If it doesn’t, then you go to Plan B.

Note: Usually, Plan B’s can be found in the alternatives. Sometimes,

it’s not.

There you have it, the parts of a case analysis in a nutshell. Again,
what’s more important is the process. Do it again and again and
again until it becomes second nature. Each day, you face a case.
Mastering case analysis will also help you in conquering the daily
cases that you encounter, both personal and professional.