The only way of finding the

limits of the possible is by

going beyond them into the
impossible
Sir Arthur C. Clerk
 CASE STUDY
METHODOLOGY

Professional Qualification in
Human Resources Management (PQHRM)

Institute of Personnel Management, Sri Lanka

C H Liyanage,MBA(Aus),MIM(SL),AMIPM(SL)
NATURAL SCIENCE
A naturalistic approach to the study of the
universe
Astronomy
Biology
Chemistry
Earth Science
Physics
Cross disciplines
( geochemistry, astrochemistry , biochemistry)
SOCIAL SCIENCE
A field of studying human society/social groups
Geography
History
Communication
Psychology
Politics
International studies
Economics
CASE STUDY
Complex examples which give an insight into the
context of a problem as well as illustrating the
main point
Research methodology commonly used in social
science
In-depth study of an individual, group or event
Collect data, analyse information & report
results
CASE STUDY - GENERALIZATION
Generalization - If it is valid for this case, it is
valid for all ( or many) cases.
Falsification All swans are white

Rejection of law of gravity ( Aristotle) by Galileo

Galilee
HISTORY
Introduced by Frederic Le Play in 1829
Developed by sociologists Barney Glaser and
Anselm Strauss in 1967 ( Grounded theory)
Problem Based Learning (PBL) used as teaching

method/ Professional development ( Critical

Incidents)
Graduate program in business Harvard

Business School (HBS)

CASE STUDY - APPLICATION
Theory
Practice

Experience

Talent
TEACHING & LEARNING
Lecture-based activities to Student-centered activities
Develop skills & knowledge of students , presentation ,
group work
Small caselets ( paragraphs-1/2 pages) , Short cases

( 4-6 pages),case studies (longer version)

Peer or blended training in Finance , HR etc

Use of major analytical tools ( PESTEIL)

Application in real business situations

PROJECTBASED &
PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING
Project based Problem based
Activity by Resource Problem by staff but
Person what & how learn
Resource person defined by students
supervises Resource person
Students required to facilitate
produce solution Problem management
Supporting Lectures usually not
lectures/knowledge used & students
from previous lectures expected to define the
required knowledge
Talent wins games: But
teamwork & intelligence
wins championships
Michael Jordan
WHAT IS YOUR ROLE ???
A case is usually a "description of an actual
situation, commonly involving a decision, a
challenge, an opportunity, a problem or an issue
faced by a person or persons in an organization.
The Manager or Decision maker facing the
situation.
WHAT IS THE ANSWER ???
Case is not a problem; problem has a unique &
correct solution
Decision maker may choose several alternative
courses of action
Support alternatives plausibly by logical
argument
No unique, correct answer
WHAT ARE THE STAGES ???
individual preparation
small group discussion

large group or class discussion

Written analysis
HOW TO PREPARE FOR A CASE
STUDY?
Read..Read.Read
Lighter reading for broader idea

Focused reading to familiar with facts and issues( who,

what, when , why ,how etc)
Familiarity is not adequate;

Thorough understanding of case situation with case

analysis
Identify main roles ( organization, groups, individuals,
relationships)
WHAT ARE THE INFORMATION ???
Facts
Individual judgments in given situations

Speculation no method to verify

Assumptions No verification ; generate during

case analysis or discussion
Quality of your decision based on
WORKING IN A GROUP
Define & understand the objective & end-result
Select a leader

Select personnel for other roles

Divide task among team members

Discuss & concentrate on given task/s

Display unit & achieve the team objective

Review the progress

CASE DISCUSSION
Students positive & constructive interaction
Improvement of communication, analytical &
inter-personal skills
Discuss relevant points & refer notes

Ask questions

Summarize key learning points (takeaways)

Evaluation of student performance

MAKING A CASE PRESENTATION
Good preparation is the key to good presentation
Divide the content uniformly among presenters

Use visual aids

Be brief and adhere to time limits

PREPARING A CASE ANALYSIS
Free from factual, language & grammar errors
Neat & structured report

List down the case

Mention only the index number

Use tables, graphs, figures etc

Summarization & conclusion

Introduction, references, bibliography is optional

BENEFITS
Communication skills
Qualitative & quantitative analytical skills
( problem identification , data handling, critical
thinking)
Application skills using techniques, tools, theories

Time management skills

Inter-personal & social skills

Creative skills
 There are two ways to
live your life; One is as
though nothing is a
miracle , the other is as
if everything is.
Albert Einstein