The Case Study Handbook: How to Read, Discuss, and Write Persuasively About Cases

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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 658 EAN: 9781422101582 ISBN: 1422101584 Label: Harvard Business School Press Manufacturer: Harvard Business School Press Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 273 Publication Date: 2007-04-23 Publisher: Harvard Business School Press Studio: Harvard Business School Press
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Comprehensive case study book Comment: Great book for first-timers when it comes to cases. Completely and succintly outlines how to analyze cases. Customer Rating: Summary: Good textbook... Comment: Great textbook offering a great variety of case studies. First time buying on Amazon, took longer than I expected to get to me. But got here in excellent condition. Will sell to anyone who's looking to get it cheap. Customer Rating: Summary: Not an easy book to work through... Comment: As I tend to spend a fair amount of time writing, I thought it might be worth reading The Case Study Handbook: How to Read, Discuss, and Write Persuasively About Cases by William Ellet. My rationale was that I might gain some insights for business-related writing. What I found was a book that was hard to follow, and could have used a better layout to prepare the reader for the material... Contents: Introduction; Persuasion, Argument, and the Case Method, What Is a Case? Part 1 - Analysis: How to Analyze a Case; Case Analysis Demonstration; Problems; Decisions; Evaluations Part 2 - Discussion: How to Discuss a Case Part 3 - Writing: How to Write a Case-Based Essay; Problem Essays; Decision Essays; Evaluation Essays Part 4 - Cases For Analysis and Writing: Allentown Materials Corporation - The Electronic Products Division; General Electric - Major Appliance Business Group; General Motors - Packard Electric Division; Malaysia in the 1990s; Whistler Corporation Acknowledgments; Index; About the Author I'll be the first to admit that many books have a specific target audience they're going after. Even so, it's usually possible for a newbie to follow along somewhat. This book had a very defined target... students who have to work within the case study model for their classes. If you've had no exposure to case study writing and style to start with, you're probably going to flounder quite a bit. The author dives into detail very quickly, with little in the way of examples to get you acclimated. As such, everything seemed to be more theoretical than practical. On the positive side, he does confine his discussion to a limited number of case studies that are included in the back of the book. Had the material spanned a wide number of studies with no inclusion in the book, things would have been even more difficult to track. If this is your first exposure to the case study process as a student, you'll probably need to go through this book a number of times. I suggest that you start by reading Part 4 first. It doesn't even matter if you don't understand styles or goals yet. At least you'll be in the right mindset to start thinking about case studies. The second recommendation I'll make is to not look for definitive answers. There's often not a single "right" answer in the study, and your conclusion will be based on your particular slant or angle. Given some previous experience in case study methods, this book might work well for you in terms of refining or enhancing your skills. If this is your first exposure to the process, be prepared for some hard work here. Customer Rating: Summary: Interesting thoughts but not a very comprehesive or research based method Comment: An interesting book, but the method is more an airchair model than a comprehensive research based model like e.g. Randrup's The Case Method. The most interesting element is the outline of the hypothesis based approach to problem/solution identification. Problems with the model is that it is a more tactical and subjective approach and not a strategic/objective approach where different alternatives are developed and compared before the choice of solution is developed. There also some good thoughts about argumentation in it and a number of cases. But as a road map for how to analyse a case, it does not seem very impressive. But much better than the earlier stuff which have come from Harvard. Customer Rating: Summary: worth having this book Comment: Good book though I will advise the author, for a future print, to start with a short, yet complete case, so the reader can easily establish parallels between theory and practice More Reviews
Editorial Reviews: If you're enrolled in an executive education or MBA program, you've probably encountered a powerful learning tool: the business case. But if you're like many people, you may find interpreting and writing about cases mystifying, challenging, or downright frustrating. In "The Case Study Handbook", William Ellet presents a potent new approach for analyzing, discussing, and writing about cases. Early chapters show how to classify cases according to the analytical task they require (solving a problem, making a decision, or forming an evaluation) and quickly establish a base of knowledge about a case. Strategies and templates, in addition to several sample Harvard Business School cases, help you apply the author's framework. Later in the book, Ellet shows how to write persuasive case-analytical essays based on the process laid out earlier. Extensive examples of effective and ineffective writing further reinforce your learning. The book also includes a chapter on how to talk about cases more effectively in class. Any current or prospective MBA or executive education student needs to read this book.