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- Published: November 2006
Case Studies: why are they important?
- Julie Solomon 1
Nature Clinical Practice Cardiovascular Medicine volume 3 , page 579 ( 2006 ) Cite this article
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Nature Clinical Practice Cardiovascular Medicine is a journal designed to lighten the reading load for busy doctors; why, then, does it include Case Studies? Isn't the case study just a bit of light reading? It depends on what it is designed to do. So, what is the role of the Case Study?
Case Studies should act as instructive examples to people who might encounter similar problems. Ideally, in medicine, Case Studies should detail a particular medical case, describing the background of the patient and any clues the physician picked up (or should have, with hindsight). They should discuss investigations undertaken in order to determine a diagnosis or differentiate between possible diagnoses, and should indicate the course of treatment the patient underwent as a result. As a whole, then, Case Studies should be an informative and useful part of every physician's medical education, both during training and on a continuing basis.
It's debatable whether they always achieve this aim. Many journals publish what are often close to anecdotal reports (if they publish articles on individual cases at all), rather than detailed descriptions of a case; furthermore, the cases described are often esoteric or the conditions present on such an infrequent basis that a physician working outside a teaching-hospital environment would be hard-pressed to apply their new knowledge. It would be difficult, therefore, to say whether any conclusions could confidently be drawn by readers as a result of these reports. Most physicians would probably want to do some extra research—either in the literature or by canvassing opinions of colleagues.
By proposing, peer-reviewing and reading the Case Studies, you and your fellow physicians could gain a broader understanding of clinical diagnoses, treatments and outcomes.
In this light, then, Nature Clinical Practice Cardiovascular Medicine Case Studies have a specific aim: to help established physicians as well as trainees to improve patient care, without adding to their workload. Rather than being merely anecdotal, they include the etiology, diagnosis and management of a case. Importantly, they give an indication of the decision-making process, so that other physicians can apply lateral thinking to their own cases. Decisions on which of a range of treatment options to follow might involve input from the patient, or might be purely objective, but ideally a Case Study should outline why a particular course was followed. Readers should not have to resort to the Internet or to out-of-date textbooks to find basic background information explaining the reasons for approaching the case in that way; the reasons should be fully explained in the article itself.
Nature Clinical Practice Cardiovascular Medicine Case Studies represent an opportunity to spread the benefit of knowledge across the physical boundaries imposed by looking at one case, in one place, at one time. It's not so that fingers can be pointed at 'incorrect' treatment but instead so that geographical differences in practice can be highlighted, for example, or clearer descriptions be reached to explain a case more completely and accurately.
By proposing, peer-reviewing and reading the Case Studies, you and your fellow physicians could gain a broader understanding of clinical diagnoses, treatments and outcomes. So, we're inviting you to contribute to the further education of your colleagues. Will you meet the challenge?
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Solomon, J. Case Studies: why are they important?. Nat Rev Cardiol 3 , 579 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpcardio0704
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Issue Date : November 2006
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Why are case studies important?
Case studies can be an invaluable tool for businesses. Whether your company is B2B, B2C, D2C etc and in any sector, a good case study can demonstrate your expertise, how you work with clients and set you apart from your competitors.
- But what are case studies?
- What should they be about?
What form should they take?
- What do you do with them?
- How do you improve them?
What are case studies?
Case studies give a business social proof and help build a strong brand. There is no better way to tell a potential client what you do by showing them your success stories.
They should be evidenced-based, telling the story about how you have helped your customer solve a problem, what challenges you and they faced and the solutions you used to overcome them.
Case studies should be about real projects for real clients. They build your trust and credibility in your abilities as a company.
They will help you build a strong brand by showing that you are an expert in your field. How you stand apart from your competitors, and what do you that is different from others.
What should case studies be about?
The aim of a case study is to help your potential customer understand what you do. Showing how you helped a client via a story is the best way to connect with the reader. Giving examples and details about how you work with your clients will help to convert customers; it is giving them all the information they need to help make the buying decision easier.
Case studies work for all types of business but the form they take may vary, but they are equally important across all sectors.
The following is a basic structure for a case study:
- Client name
- Client sector
- What services did you provide?
- Background: – What was the challenge/s?
- The solution: – What did you solve?
- The result: – How did the client benefit from your service or product?
If possible, name the client in your case study to give it gravitas. When this isn’t possible due to NDAs etc. craft the content in a way that the client isn’t identifiable.
The format that your case study takes should be guided by your industry and your target market , who it is you are trying to reach.
- Presentation
However you format your case study it should lay out a clear journey from problem to solution.
What should you do with them?
They are a great marketing and sales tool and can be used in many ways:
- Website content, listed in a standalone section on your website or used to support content on your services and/or products throughout your site
- Downloadable pdf
- Social posts, sliced down into bite-size nuggets of information with links to read the full case study
- Mentioned in a blog
- Portfolio, either on a website or used in presentations at exhibitions etc
- Pitch meetings, looking to evidence your expertise and capabilities to a potential customer
- Direct mail, they can be great content for emailers to show off a recently completed project to demonstrate your expertise
- Press releases, the format would need to be slightly tweaked but if you have completed a project that is worth shouting about then use the case study as the basis to get some press coverage.
How do you improve case studies?
- Add a client testimonial, this will add gravitas to the case study and gives your customers a voice to show them as brand advocates.
- Think about who you are aiming the content at, who is your target market , this will also help define the format that the case study should take.
- Make them detailed but concise, less is more when it comes to word count or video length.
- Think about the language you are using, it should follow your brand voice but don’t use technical jargon, write in simple terms, spell out abbreviations and explain technical terms.
- Use of imagery, whether written or video, can you use imagery to show what you did, can you show a before and after? Or simply use relevant images to highlight important points.
- Think about the layout of a written document, give the words space and use titles, bullet points, graphics, and/or images to break up the information. It can be worth getting a layout designed that can be supplied as a template for you to use in-house, this will keep your case studies consistent.
- Using video for case studies is really engaging but make sure you have planned a storyboard with a beginning and end. Can you interview any personnel or the client? If so make sure they know what you are doing and what you want them to talk about and allow them to practice ahead of being filmed. If you have the budget then get these professionally filmed.
If you need help!
We work with our clients to write and design case studies to show off their expertise and make them leaders in their field.
The following are examples:
Alpheus written case study
Impression AV Bidwells case study video
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Why are case studies important and what makes them so powerful?
- Category: Industrial Marketing
Case studies have been a staple of marketing for industrial manufacturers, and other industries, for quite a long time. Instead of simply talking about your products or services, a case study clearly lays out how that product or service was successfully implemented by a customer.
Case studies come in a variety of forms. The most widely used is a written document that details the project and the results. They are more powerful when combined with visuals such as graphics, charts, infographics, or videos .
You have most likely read a case study or two yourself while looking for more information on how a product or service was used and the real-world results of that use. So, let’s dive into why case studies are truly worth your time and effort.
A good story is memorable
The first thing a case study does is tell a story about your product or service; and we all know that a good story is one of the best ways to engage with someone and have them remember what you said. Case studies clearly illustrate how your products and services can and are used in the real world with real customers. That is powerful marketing! You aren’t simply stating that you can do “XYZ” you are clearly demonstrating how “Customer A” used you/your products/your services to achieve real results. A case study really brings your products and services to life. They provide a clear illustration of what you do – not simply an explanation of it.
Case studies demonstrate success
Prospective customers do not want to simply hear you talk about what you can potentially do for them. They care more about seeing how your products or services have been implemented by others and what the result of that implementation was. Case studies clearly demonstrate that while boosting your company’s overall credibility. They help prove that your company accomplishes what you say it can based on real results and real stories.
Case studies are inexpensive marketing tools
Case studies quickly convey a lot of useful real-world information about your company and your offerings. When you compare the cost of creating the case study, as well as the return on that investment, with other marketing efforts odds are good you will see that the case study offers a lot of bang for your buck. They can also help you boost your lead generation techniques… but we will go into that in the next article where we dive into how to use case studies to generate more qualified leads.
Case studies turn the focus onto your customer
Typical, or should I say good, marketing efforts aren’t self-focused, they are focused on the solution the company provides for its customer. Outbound marketing efforts are typically more self-focused whereas inbound marketing, or attraction marketing, is all about providing value for the customer in an effort to attract them to your company.
Case studies give the company an opportunity to talk about real life solutions they came up with for their customer. In essence it is talking more about themselves and the problem they solved for a customer rather than just providing more educational content to position themselves as the experts in the field and attract customers.
You aren’t simply talking about yourself in the study; you are focused on how a customer used your company to achieve success for their own company. You describe the process and the results from the customer’s perspective. Potential customers reading the study respond positively to this because they see how they may be able to achieve the same results that the customer in the study achieved.
Case studies also help you leverage your customers’ brands
Potential customers value what other customers have to say over what your company has to say about itself; which is exactly what makes a client testimonial so powerful. If the company that you helped succeed with your services and/or your products is willing to tell your combined story, that clearly shows that they back you up and want others to know how you worked together towards their success. This gives you the power to leverage their brand to boost your own; both in the eyes of your own customers plus theirs and any potential customers for each of you.
You will learn a lot about your customers, yourself, and your offerings
Case studies are one part promotional marketing and two parts market research. When researching the information for your case study you tend to learn more about your own products as well as gain a better idea about how your actual customers utilize your products or services. This information is incredibly valuable to help you improve your other marketing efforts. You will be more in touch with what your customers need, what they find important, and how your company’s offerings are being used in the world.
As you can see case studies can be incredibly powerful marketing tools. Without a good case study or two, you will need to explain (over and over again) what you do and why it’s beneficial to customers… then hope that your message resonates with the potential customer. Taking the time to craft a quality case study or two would go a long way towards boosting your message to that potential customer.
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Why Are Case Studies Important? Top 4 Reasons
Updated February 2023: Has a boss or colleague ever asked you, “Why are case studies so important?” This is a question all SaaS marketers must be able to answer, especially when it comes time to create your marketing budget for the year.
SaaS case studies are the #1 marketing tactic to increase sales
The importance of a case study can’t be underestimated. For the second year in a row, SaaS marketers ranked case studies the #1 most effective marketing tactic to increase sales —ahead of general website content, SEO, blog posts, social media and other marketing tactics.
These metrics come from the 123 SaaS marketers we surveyed for our 2023 SaaS Case Studies Trends & Insights Report . (We’d encourage you to check out the report.)
Importance of a case study is undeniable
Why are case studies so important? What is the need and significance of a case study? Case studies are top-tier marketing tools for SaaS companies to showcase the value of their products to potential customers, helping to drive sales and revenue.
Customers are our best marketers. I love getting to know our customers through these stories, especially because documenting their successes helps advance their careers and gives more senior leaders the chance to celebrate their teams.
Why are case studies important in marketing?
Case studies are essentially a play-by-play of how your customer recognized that they had a challenge they needed to overcome, why they chose you, what products or services you provided, and how those products or services helped them solve their challenge.
And what makes case studies even more valuable? They’re a great investment because case studies can be repurposed so heavily —everything from PDFs and videos to infographics to social.
In this post, we’ll demonstrate the importance of a case study in business and discuss the top 4 advantages of using case studies in your marketing mix.
What are 4 advantages of case studies?
1. case studies demonstrate your expertise in your niche.
As a SaaS marketer, your job is to know how to produce a business case study in a way that makes your product or service stand out among your competitors.
Creating case studies is an effective way to capture the attention of buyers in your industry because the content—including the products, services and use cases covered in the piece—will be highly relevant to your target audience and will therefore have a strong chance of resonating with them.
If you’re still wondering, “Why are case studies important?”, then put yourself in your buyer’s shoes. Say you’re evaluating several different customer relationship management (CRM) platforms. All three vendors have an eye-catching website with informative and clever product copy, but only one has a repository of case studies that illustrate how its clients have landed 50% more sales since they’ve implemented this particular CRM. Sounds like a winner to us (and it demonstrates case study importance)!
Case studies are important because our prospects want to see that we’ve helped customers who are in the same industry and have similar pain points. Reference calls are helpful, but it’s important to have stories that sales folks can share easily.
2. Case studies provide social proof in an original way
What is the importance of a case study? Well, nearly 90% of consumers read product reviews before they make a purchase, which means gathering and publishing social proof is a crucial activity for your SaaS company.
Changing consumer behavior is another reason why case studies are important. Case studies give your readers what they’re looking for, which is confirmation from other B2B buyers just like them that your products and services are the real deal.
Another advantage of case studies is that by nature, they’re original stories about individuals with specific challenges and goals. Knowing how to write a business case study that goes beyond generic product reviews is critical.
When writing a case study, dig deep into everything from how your team helps customers implement your software to what your customer’s future use cases could include. This type of content gives your prospect thorough insight into what it’s like to use your products and work with your company.
Case studies offer social proof for how we provide value to our customers. Our sales team uses our case studies to build credibility and offer “proof points” for why (and how) Crossbeam can solve their problems.
3. Case studies help your SaaS company close sales
Let’s quickly recap the last 2 points:
1) Case studies capture your buyers’ attention with highly relevant content that positions your SaaS company as an expert in the products or services you deliver.
2) Case studies also build trust by sharing social proof in an interesting format that uses storytelling to weave a narrative. For those two reasons, case studies are fantastic content marketing tools to help you close sales.
In addition, especially if your offerings are complex, it’s essential to help potential customers understand how your software will meet their needs. Case studies give you an opportunity to explain— with real-world examples and visual aids —the more complicated aspects of your products and services.
Case studies are important because they provide real-life examples of positive customer outcomes and sentiment—a critical part of gaining buy-in from prospects during a sales cycle.
4. Strengthen customer relationships
If you’re hesitant to ask your customers to participate in case studies, you’re not alone. It’s normal to feel like you might be imposing on a customer by asking them to take time out of their busy schedule for an interview, but chances are they’d be happy to help you craft a case study to illustrate your mutual success working together.
When it comes to the question, “Why are case studies important?”, one of the best answers is that they can help you strengthen customer relationships by letting your customers know you believe they have a valuable story. This gesture of goodwill can increase customer retention, which can in turn grow your SaaS company’s revenue by as much as 95% .
Case studies are important because they give you the opportunity to celebrate an existing customer, which in and of itself is of immense value. Secondarily, for both customers and prospects alike, they always prefer to “see someone like them” rather than just hear you spew what-ifs at them.
Need a hand with your case studies ?
Now that you understand why case studies are so important, it’s time to take action—and we can help.
At Uplift Content, we write case studies for high-growth B2B SaaS companies like ClickUp, WalkMe and Okta. Check out our case study writing service then get in touch.
As the founder of Uplift Content, Emily leads her team in creating done-for-you case studies, ebooks and blog posts for high-growth SaaS companies like ClickUp, Calendly and WalkMe. Connect with Emily on Linkedin
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Why Case Studies are Important
The value of case studies cannot be underestimated.
Case studies allow the student to learn the essential facts about a given topic – extracting the essential, clinical knowledge that adds relevance to their clinical career. When starting out, case studies are challenging. But they don’t need to be. With the right approach and enough practice, pharmacy case studies become insightful and quite enjoyable.
Over the past couple of years on social media , we’ve added thousands of facts. We’ve learned that students don’t want to get bogged down in unnecessary detail. Instead, they want the relevant facts– without the added depth of detail. Case studies bring you these facts in a different way, exploring the intricacies of how to approach clinical scenarios.
Case studies enhance your professional standing. You begin to think about cases from different angles and unique perspectives. You’re forced to think outside the box. Case studies bring together the body of knowledge you’ve been studying throughout your degree program – pharmaceutical chemistry to pharmacology to clinical medicine.
Case studies give you the opportunity to think like a professional. The more exposure you have to case studies, the better. By practicing pharmacy case studies , you begin to hone and refine your professional thinking. If you haven’t analysed a case study yet, we’ve added an introductory case study below – a cardiovascular-based study.
Study tips and tricks
When reviewing case studies, always bear the following factors in mind:
- The age of the patient
- Any pre-existing medical history
- What symptoms the patient experiences
- Medicines the patient is currently taking
- How the above factors are interrelated to one another
Instead of thinking about each factor separately, think about each factor as one part of a complex web system – interlinking components that impact upon each other. In other words, think of the case study from a holistic perspective. From there, you can think through, reflect upon and ultimately arrive at the correct conclusion.
Let’s take a few moments to review an introductory case study.
Introductory Case Study
A 70-year old man visits his local physician reporting chest pain. On subsequent review, his physician learns that his chest pain manifests when the patient applies effort – such as when he’s walking upstairs or when he’s lifting furniture.
What is the likely diagnosis for this patient?
With this diagnosis in mind, which of the following medicines is the most appropriate treatment option?
- Atorvastatin
- Sublingual nitroglycerin
Explanation :
The patient is experiencing stable angina.
Stable angina is also known as “effort angina”; a form of chest pain that arises on exertion. Examples of exertion include stress, cold weather and exercise. Pain usually subsides within a few minutes or after use of sublingual nitroglycerin.
From the treatment options available, metoprolol is the most appropriate choice.
Beta-blockers, of which metoprolol is a member, are first-line agents in the prevention of stable angina. Metoprolol has two functions – first, it reduces heart rate and myocardial contractility. In turn, this reduces the level of work the heart must perform and, consequently, reduces the amount of oxygen needed.
Sublingual nitroglycerin is used to relieve an acute attack of chest pain. It can also be used to reduce angina before exertion-based events, such as exercise. However, it is not as effective at preventing angina to the same extent as beta-blockers.
Some drugs in the list – such as enalapril, aspirin and atorvastatin – do not prevent angina. A statin may be prescribed to reduce risk of cardiac events. Patients with atherosclerotic disease may be prescribed an ACE inhibitor or aspirin to reduce the risk of recurrent cardiovascular events or death.
Other drug classes – such as calcium channel blockers (eg. nifedipine) and long-acting nitrates – may also be considered as alternatives to beta-blockers.
Correct answer – e) Metoprolol
Maximize Your Learning
The case study above requires you to understand:
- The difference between stable and unstable angina
- Symptoms and how best to diagnose those symptoms
- Analyse the suitability of medicines to meet this diagnosis
And that’s the fundamental essence of case studies.
Filtering your knowledge through the prism of case studies is what maximizes your professional learning.
PharmaFactz is a leading online resource that helps students get to grips with drugs and medicines; a passionate believer that, through applying yourself to case studies, you can come out the other end a more competent, knowledgeable healthcare professional.
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Why Case Studies Are Important Sales Development and Marketing Assets
With all the ads potential buyers have thrown at them these days, they’re becoming more skeptical of the companies they invest their time and money in. Whether you’re in the B2C or B2B world, walls of resistance are higher than they’ve ever been before.
You need something that allows you to cut through the noise and develop a bond of trust with your target market. Case studies can help you do just that.
A case study is a type of marketing collateral that showcases how a business used its products or services to help a customer. Case studies outline a problem, a solution, and the result of that solution
Case studies are important for sales and marketing efforts because:
They help tell your company’s story
They offer concrete proof, they leverage the power of your customer’s experience, they help your company stand apart from competitors, they position you as a leader, they can be used in various sales and marketing scenarios, they are underutilized in most industries.
Case studies help you frame your company’s own story around how you help other businesses. You can think of them as narratives that give valuable insights into your business and identity.
Businesses with stale marketing tactics often say no more than, “This is how our product or service works and can help you.” A case study puts this promise into action by demonstrating how you’ve been able to help similar businesses accomplish specific outcomes.
Credibility stems from evidence and reputation. When prospects are moving through the buying journey, they don’t want to be told hypotheticals about the potential of your product or service—they want facts. Case studies provide a credible and concise way to present those facts.
Case studies also combine factual and emotional appeal in a narrative that hooks your prospects, making them one of the most powerful forms of marketing collateral when converting prospects to buyers.
Finally, they demonstrate how your methods have worked in the past, therefore showing how they can do the same for new prospects.
If a prospect doesn’t think your product or solution is for them, good luck trying to get them to become a customer. You have to present them with the idea that your product is the perfect match. Until they see themselves using the product or service and getting the kind of results they want, they’ll never buy in.
One of the most effective ways to do this is by using case studies to help prospects and potential buyers envision themselves in the shoes of your current clients. This increases the likelihood that they take action and reduces the amount of time they spend in the sales cycle. (This frees up sales and marketing resources and also lowers the customer acquisition cost.)
Before the internet, the barriers to entry into most industries were quite high. You had to have some experience (or know someone who did). You had to have significant resources to invest in infrastructure. You had to go out there and make a name for your brand in the marketplace, a difficult task due to the limited exposure points most businesses had available to them.
In the digital age, all of these barriers were essentially eliminated. However, while the invention of the internet has largely been a net positive, it’s led to heavy saturation in most markets. This makes it very challenging to stand out from the competition.
Case studies are just one way you can set your business apart as unique when competing against dozens (or hundreds) of other businesses that sell very similar products and services. They create a narrative that can’t be replicated or recreated by other companies.
Creating case studies helps frame your brand as a leader in your industry. Your prospects will love seeing testimonials from current customers that show return on investment and tell a story they can invest in. Plus, the more case studies you have, the more experienced you look.
For example, if you operate an HVAC company and are trying to generate HVAC leads , create as many case studies as possible for the different types of businesses you’ve worked with. If one of your prospects is a school, and you’ve worked with another school in the past, it might be beneficial to create a case study. If you can show your prospects that you have experience working with companies similar to theirs, your sales credibility will go up big time.
Case studies are highly versatile. They can be used in numerous parts of the sales and marketing cycles. Here are some examples:
- Bottom-funnel : Finally, case studies are great resources at the bottom of the funnel when a prospect is on the verge of being a customer. They can provide that last ounce of proof needed to settle an uncertain mind and put them at ease.
Unlike other marketing collateral and sales assets, case studies are capable of being leveraged at every stage of the funnel. This makes them a worthwhile investment for businesses that want to see quick growth with a limited marketing budget.
The data-driven perspective often rules in business, but the psychological value of case studies shouldn’t be overlooked. In fact, even though 92% of consumers reported reading online reviews before making a purchase, only 13% of marketers name case studies as one of their primary mediums of marketing collateral. This is because they take a lot of effort to create, and they take more time to generate between the steps of research, analysis, and drafting.
That said, case studies can do something incredible that other marketing collateral can’t— they can emotionally resonate with an audience using a powerful, relevant narrative. After all, who doesn’t love a feel-good success story? And who wouldn’t want one of their own?
Case studies provide an opportunity for you to show off the context behind your data. They provide meaning for the quippy statistics you may find elsewhere and add to the credibility of not just your claims, but your company’s reputation as a whole.
Key Takeaways
As we’ve discussed, case studies aren’t necessarily as simple as they appear on the surface. When you dig beneath, you’ll find that case studies offer enormous value, complementing every aspect of your marketing and sales. Their benefits include telling your company’s story, offering concrete proof, leveraging the power of customer experience, differentiating your sales proposition from competitors, positioning you as a leader, giving you marketing collateral that can be used at every stage of the funnel, and giving you a competitive advantage.
Interested in learning more about how Abstrakt Marketing Group helps growing businesses like yours create case studies and implement them into their lead generation efforts? Contact us today to get started!
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The Importance of Case Studies
Case studies are, arguably, one of the most essential components of any marketing or communications strategy. They may take time and effort, but the payoffs are well worth their effort and have been seen time and again, from organizations both big and small.
As Business Analysts, we’re often involved in creating or contributing to case studies, so it is important we understand what they are, the purpose they serve, and the benefits that they can bring.
What Are Case Studies?
In essence, a case study is a report published by a company that highlights its approach to a challenge, the strategy used to solve the issue(s), and the effectiveness of the solution. It presents a holistic, in-depth review with valuable information about the costs involved, the expertise of the company employed, and the benefits achieved.
The Many Benefits of Case Studies
Case studies have a huge range of benefits, from insight to influence. They are used in nearly every industry, from finance to health care and they offer organizations the ability to convert observations into useable data.
For example, hospitals can use case studies to show how their services or new technologies help patients. Consulting firms can employ case studies to show the success their clients achieve after working with them. Engineering firms can use them to display how they increased productivity and improved profits for a customer.
But that barely scratches the surface of the many benefits of case studies. Let’s dig a little deeper and look at some of the long-lasting effects that case studies can have.
1. Boost Customer Confidence
Case studies are an excellent way to display your team’s skill and expertise in action. It’s one thing to propose a plan for improvement, or a solution to a challenge, but some customers may be skeptical of your team’s ability to follow through or produce the appealing results you’re promising.
Case studies are exactly the type of proof they need to help push them past skepticism and into belief, and possibly, across the finish line to approval of your partnership. If it’s an internal project, case studies could be enough to convince decision-makers to pursue your solution to a challenge.
2. Improve Brand Awareness and Reputation
The reality of the world today is that every company in every industry has competition. Consumers are also becoming smarter about marketing tactics and messaging, so providing proof and backing up claims is essential for presenting your company as genuine in its promises. That’s where case studies come in.
Case studies are social proof that the promises and claims that your company is making are true. They provide facts and statistics to show how your company improved productivity for your clients by ‘x’ amount, increased profits by ‘x’ amount, or implemented ‘x’ solution to combat a specific issue.
Providing such proof of expertise bolsters your reputation and can increase brand awareness. Case studies can be published and distributed to current customers to remind them of why they partnered with you initially, and can help increase your company’s reputation and brand image as new potential customers discover you.
3. Provide a Strategic Solution
No customer wants to partner with a company that acts erratically or thoughtlessly. Case studies provide insight into real challenges and an in-depth look at how your company goes about solving them. They give you a chance to display your strategic thinking and approach, your expertise and innovation, and your ability to follow through on your promised solution.
4. Assist with Furthering Research
A case study helps show how different aspects of your business work together. They highlight a problem and how the executed solution provided value. They can also play a role in broader research. As you explore and analyze new ideas, other theories and methods can surface. This additional information can help you refine your strategies and further grow the value you provide. Case studies make great reference points that can show, not only how innovative, productive, and proficient your company and teams have become, but how trends have unfolded within your customers and services.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, case studies play a crucial role in the communication of how your team and you, as a Business Analyst, face challenging situations head-on and provide strategic, value-driven solutions for your customers. Once you have a better understanding of case studies and the deep benefits they provide to you and your brand, it’s easy to justify the time and effort that goes into creating them. As you create your next case study, use it as a reminder to take pride in the hard work you’ve done and the results you’ve achieved.
- Written by Jeremy Aschenbrenner, The BA Guide
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Writing workshops, communication consulting and writing services
Why are case studies important?
Your clients are your best salespeople.
Enter the case study.
It’s the tool you can use to amplify the voices of your happy clients, transforming their success stories into the written equivalent of a product demo. When clients serve as brand ambassadors in case studies, they show instead of tell how your products and services work.
Why write case studies?
1. Case studies tap people power.
It’s the Writing Rule of One : It’s easier for readers to care about one person they know something about than to care about dozens — or even hundreds — of nameless, faceless souls.
Put a human face on your offerings by telling your clients’ success stories in their own words.
Show your readers how your products and services worked for one person. It’s the best way to bring your messages to life.
2. Case studies deliver social proof.
Call it social proof: We look to what others do to guide our behavior.
Social proof is one of 6 principles of persuasion outlined by Robert B. Cialdini — the emperor of influence — in his seminal book Influence.
It’s the human condition to want to do what others are doing.
“We view a behavior as more correct … to the degree that we see others performing it,” Cialdini writes. In other words, if our audience members believe that “everyone’s doing it,” they’re more likely to do it themselves.
Case studies showing how others have used your products and services may help prospects decide to jump on the bandwagon.
3. Case studies help people decide.
Case studies help readers understand what it would be like to go through the same experience. The result: more informed decisions (Slovice and Gregory, 2000).
These narratives work because they help people:
- Weigh factors in decision-making . In one study, participants who received information in narrative form understood the attributes of the situation better and were more likely to weigh them appropriately to make a good decision (Satterfield, Slovice and Gregory, 2000).
- Make better choices . In another study, people who were given narrative information made more accurate judgments on a task than those who were given the same information in bar graphs or data tables (Sanfey and Hastie, 1998).
- Think logically and emotionally. Stories trigger both sides of the brain. Logic and emotion are both essential to good decision-making (Epstein, 1994).
- “Enter the story.” By seeing themselves in the narrative, people can make even unfamiliar situations easier to imagine and evaluate (Oatley, 1994).
- Remember longer . Storytelling improves retention (Price, 1996).
- Enjoy the information . Readers prefer learning the experiences of other health care plan members to just reviewing data. Readers also feel more confident evaluating stories than numerical ratings (Gibbs, Sangl and Burrus, 1996).
- Make better decisions, regardless of their age . Stories helped older consumers chose the right health care plan (Hibbard, 2002).
4. Case studies are the ultimate word-of-mouth referrals.
Word of mouth may be the best form of advertising:
- The elasticity of word-of-mouth referrals is 2.5 times higher than that for other types of marketing, according to a 2009 report by the American Management Association. ( Elasticity is marketing speak for how sensitive the demand for your products and services are to other variables, like price hikes and recessions. The more elastic, the more likely you are to be able to weather these ups and downs.)
- Word of mouth marketing lasts longer: for three weeks vs. three to seven days for traditional marketing efforts.
- That means word of mouth “may be among the most effective of marketing communication strategies,” write the report authors.
But prospects could be anywhere from 60 to 90 percent through the buyer’s journey before even contacting a sales person, according to research by Forrester . If you’re not offering case studies on your website, you may never get the opportunity to do so.
Bottom line, according to the Journal of Marketing : Word of mouth leads to more clients; more clients lead to more word of mouth.
5. Journalists love case studies.
More than half of business-to-business editors surveyed seek more feature releases, including case studies and how-to stories, according to a survey by Thomas Rankin Associates.
Make your next press release a case study, and watch pickups climb. ___
Maggie Georgieva, “ Use Case Studies to Increase Word-of-Mouth Marketing ,” HubSpot’s Inbound Internet Marketing Blog, March 2, 2010
Jami Oetting, “ The Guide to Creating Case Studies For Your Agency ,” HubSpot Partner Publication
Michael Trusov, Randolph E. Bucklin, & Koen Pauwels, “Effects of Word-of-Mouth Versus Traditional Marketing,” Journal of Marketing , September 2009
Lori Wizdo, “ Buyer Behavior Helps B2B Marketers Guide The Buyer’s Journey ,” Forrester, Oct. 4, 2012
Judith H. Hibbard and Ellen Peters, “ Supporting Informed Consumer Health Care Decisions: Data Presentation Approaches that Facilitate the Use of Information in Choice ,” Annual Review of Public Health , 2003, Vol. 24, pp. 413-33
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15 Famous Experiments and Case Studies in Psychology
Psychology has seen thousands upon thousands of research studies over the years. Most of these studies have helped shape our current understanding of human thoughts, behavior, and feelings.
The psychology case studies in this list are considered classic examples of psychological case studies and experiments, which are still being taught in introductory psychology courses up to this day.
Some studies, however, were downright shocking and controversial that you’d probably wonder why such studies were conducted back in the day. Imagine participating in an experiment for a small reward or extra class credit, only to be left scarred for life. These kinds of studies, however, paved the way for a more ethical approach to studying psychology.
Case Study vs. Experiment
Before we dive into the list of the most famous studies in psychology, let us first review the difference between case studies and experiments.
- It is an in-depth study and analysis of an individual, group, community, or phenomenon. The results of a case study cannot be applied to the whole population, but they can provide insights for further studies.
- It often uses qualitative research methods such as observations, surveys, and interviews.
- It is often conducted in real-life settings rather than in controlled environments.
- An experiment is a type of study done on a sample or group of random participants, the results of which can be generalized to the whole population.
- It often uses quantitative research methods that rely on numbers and statistics.
- It is conducted in controlled environments, wherein some things or situations are manipulated.
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Famous Experiments in Psychology
1. the marshmallow experiment.
Psychologist Walter Mischel conducted the marshmallow experiment at Stanford University in the 1960s to early 1970s. It was a simple test that aimed to define the connection between delayed gratification and success in life.
The instructions were fairly straightforward: children ages 4-6 were presented a piece of marshmallow on a table and they were told that they would receive a second piece if they could wait for 15 minutes without eating the first marshmallow.
About one-third of the 600 participants succeeded in delaying gratification to receive the second marshmallow. Mischel and his team followed up on these participants in the 1990s, learning that those who had the willpower to wait for a larger reward experienced more success in life in terms of SAT scores and other metrics.
This case study also supported self-control theory , a theory in criminology that holds that people with greater self-control are less likely to end up in trouble with the law!
The classic marshmallow experiment, however, was debunked in a 2018 replication study done by Tyler Watts and colleagues.
This more recent experiment had a larger group of participants (900) and a better representation of the general population when it comes to race and ethnicity. In this study, the researchers found out that the ability to wait for a second marshmallow does not depend on willpower alone but more so on the economic background and social status of the participants.
2. The Bystander Effect
In 1694, Kitty Genovese was murdered in the neighborhood of Kew Gardens, New York. It was told that there were up to 38 witnesses and onlookers in the vicinity of the crime scene, but nobody did anything to stop the murder or call for help.
Such tragedy was the catalyst that inspired social psychologists Bibb Latane and John Darley to formulate the phenomenon called bystander effect or bystander apathy .
Subsequent investigations showed that this story was exaggerated and inaccurate, as there were actually only about a dozen witnesses, at least two of whom called the police. But the case of Kitty Genovese led to various studies that aim to shed light on the bystander phenomenon.
Latane and Darley tested bystander intervention in an experimental study . Participants were asked to answer a questionnaire inside a room, and they would either be alone or with two other participants (who were actually actors or confederates in the study). Smoke would then come out from under the door. The reaction time of participants was tested — how long would it take them to report the smoke to the authorities or the experimenters?
The results showed that participants who were alone in the room reported the smoke faster than participants who were with two passive others. The study suggests that the more onlookers are present in an emergency situation, the less likely someone would step up to help, a social phenomenon now popularly called the bystander effect.
3. Asch Conformity Study
Have you ever made a decision against your better judgment just to fit in with your friends or family? The Asch Conformity Studies will help you understand this kind of situation better.
In this experiment, a group of participants were shown three numbered lines of different lengths and asked to identify the longest of them all. However, only one true participant was present in every group and the rest were actors, most of whom told the wrong answer.
Results showed that the participants went for the wrong answer, even though they knew which line was the longest one in the first place. When the participants were asked why they identified the wrong one, they said that they didn’t want to be branded as strange or peculiar.
This study goes to show that there are situations in life when people prefer fitting in than being right. It also tells that there is power in numbers — a group’s decision can overwhelm a person and make them doubt their judgment.
4. The Bobo Doll Experiment
The Bobo Doll Experiment was conducted by Dr. Albert Bandura, the proponent of social learning theory .
Back in the 1960s, the Nature vs. Nurture debate was a popular topic among psychologists. Bandura contributed to this discussion by proposing that human behavior is mostly influenced by environmental rather than genetic factors.
In the Bobo Doll Experiment, children were divided into three groups: one group was shown a video in which an adult acted aggressively toward the Bobo Doll, the second group was shown a video in which an adult play with the Bobo Doll, and the third group served as the control group where no video was shown.
The children were then led to a room with different kinds of toys, including the Bobo Doll they’ve seen in the video. Results showed that children tend to imitate the adults in the video. Those who were presented the aggressive model acted aggressively toward the Bobo Doll while those who were presented the passive model showed less aggression.
While the Bobo Doll Experiment can no longer be replicated because of ethical concerns, it has laid out the foundations of social learning theory and helped us understand the degree of influence adult behavior has on children.
5. Blue Eye / Brown Eye Experiment
Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, third-grade teacher Jane Elliott conducted an experiment in her class. Although not a formal experiment in controlled settings, A Class Divided is a good example of a social experiment to help children understand the concept of racism and discrimination.
The class was divided into two groups: blue-eyed children and brown-eyed children. For one day, Elliott gave preferential treatment to her blue-eyed students, giving them more attention and pampering them with rewards. The next day, it was the brown-eyed students’ turn to receive extra favors and privileges.
As a result, whichever group of students was given preferential treatment performed exceptionally well in class, had higher quiz scores, and recited more frequently; students who were discriminated against felt humiliated, answered poorly in tests, and became uncertain with their answers in class.
6. Stanford Prison Experiment
One of the most controversial and widely-cited studies in psychology is the Stanford Prison Experiment , conducted by Philip Zimbardo at the basement of the Stanford psychology building in 1971. The hypothesis was that abusive behavior in prisons is influenced by the personality traits of the prisoners and prison guards.
The participants in the experiment were college students who were randomly assigned as either a prisoner or a prison guard. The prison guards were then told to run the simulated prison for two weeks. However, the experiment had to be stopped in just 6 days.
The prison guards abused their authority and harassed the prisoners through verbal and physical means. The prisoners, on the other hand, showed submissive behavior. Zimbardo decided to stop the experiment because the prisoners were showing signs of emotional and physical breakdown.
Although the experiment wasn’t completed, the results strongly showed that people can easily get into a social role when others expect them to, especially when it’s highly stereotyped .
7. The Halo Effect
Have you ever wondered why toothpastes and other dental products are endorsed in advertisements by celebrities more often than dentists? The Halo Effect is one of the reasons!
The Halo Effect shows how one favorable attribute of a person can gain them positive perceptions in other attributes. In the case of product advertisements, attractive celebrities are also perceived as intelligent and knowledgeable of a certain subject matter even though they’re not technically experts.
The Halo Effect originated in a classic study done by Edward Thorndike in the early 1900s. He asked military commanding officers to rate their subordinates based on different qualities, such as physical appearance, leadership, dependability, and intelligence.
The results showed that high ratings of a particular quality influences the ratings of other qualities, producing a halo effect of overall high ratings. The opposite also applied, which means that a negative rating in one quality also correlated to negative ratings in other qualities.
Experiments on the Halo Effect came in various formats as well, supporting Thorndike’s original theory. This phenomenon suggests that our perception of other people’s overall personality is hugely influenced by a quality that we focus on.
8. Cognitive Dissonance
There are experiences in our lives when our beliefs and behaviors do not align with each other and we try to justify them in our minds. This is cognitive dissonance , which was studied in an experiment by Leon Festinger and James Carlsmith back in 1959.
In this experiment, participants had to go through a series of boring and repetitive tasks, such as spending an hour turning pegs in a wooden knob. After completing the tasks, they were then paid either $1 or $20 to tell the next participants that the tasks were extremely fun and enjoyable. Afterwards, participants were asked to rate the experiment. Those who were given $1 rated the experiment as more interesting and fun than those who received $20.
The results showed that those who received a smaller incentive to lie experienced cognitive dissonance — $1 wasn’t enough incentive for that one hour of painstakingly boring activity, so the participants had to justify that they had fun anyway.
Famous Case Studies in Psychology
9. little albert.
In 1920, behaviourist theorists John Watson and Rosalie Rayner experimented on a 9-month-old baby to test the effects of classical conditioning in instilling fear in humans.
This was such a controversial study that it gained popularity in psychology textbooks and syllabi because it is a classic example of unethical research studies done in the name of science.
In one of the experiments, Little Albert was presented with a harmless stimulus or object, a white rat, which he wasn’t scared of at first. But every time Little Albert would see the white rat, the researchers would play a scary sound of hammer and steel. After about 6 pairings, Little Albert learned to fear the rat even without the scary sound.
Little Albert developed signs of fear to different objects presented to him through classical conditioning . He even generalized his fear to other stimuli not present in the course of the experiment.
10. Phineas Gage
Phineas Gage is such a celebrity in Psych 101 classes, even though the way he rose to popularity began with a tragic accident. He was a resident of Central Vermont and worked in the construction of a new railway line in the mid-1800s. One day, an explosive went off prematurely, sending a tamping iron straight into his face and through his brain.
Gage survived the accident, fortunately, something that is considered a feat even up to this day. He managed to find a job as a stagecoach after the accident. However, his family and friends reported that his personality changed so much that “he was no longer Gage” (Harlow, 1868).
New evidence on the case of Phineas Gage has since come to light, thanks to modern scientific studies and medical tests. However, there are still plenty of mysteries revolving around his brain damage and subsequent recovery.
11. Anna O.
Anna O., a social worker and feminist of German Jewish descent, was one of the first patients to receive psychoanalytic treatment.
Her real name was Bertha Pappenheim and she inspired much of Sigmund Freud’s works and books on psychoanalytic theory, although they hadn’t met in person. Their connection was through Joseph Breuer, Freud’s mentor when he was still starting his clinical practice.
Anna O. suffered from paralysis, personality changes, hallucinations, and rambling speech, but her doctors could not find the cause. Joseph Breuer was then called to her house for intervention and he performed psychoanalysis, also called the “talking cure”, on her.
Breuer would tell Anna O. to say anything that came to her mind, such as her thoughts, feelings, and childhood experiences. It was noted that her symptoms subsided by talking things out.
However, Breuer later referred Anna O. to the Bellevue Sanatorium, where she recovered and set out to be a renowned writer and advocate of women and children.
12. Patient HM
H.M., or Henry Gustav Molaison, was a severe amnesiac who had been the subject of countless psychological and neurological studies.
Henry was 27 when he underwent brain surgery to cure the epilepsy that he had been experiencing since childhood. In an unfortunate turn of events, he lost his memory because of the surgery and his brain also became unable to store long-term memories.
He was then regarded as someone living solely in the present, forgetting an experience as soon as it happened and only remembering bits and pieces of his past. Over the years, his amnesia and the structure of his brain had helped neuropsychologists learn more about cognitive functions.
Suzanne Corkin, a researcher, writer, and good friend of H.M., recently published a book about his life. Entitled Permanent Present Tense , this book is both a memoir and a case study following the struggles and joys of Henry Gustav Molaison.
13. Chris Sizemore
Chris Sizemore gained celebrity status in the psychology community when she was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder, now known as dissociative identity disorder.
Sizemore has several alter egos, which included Eve Black, Eve White, and Jane. Various papers about her stated that these alter egos were formed as a coping mechanism against the traumatic experiences she underwent in her childhood.
Sizemore said that although she has succeeded in unifying her alter egos into one dominant personality, there were periods in the past experienced by only one of her alter egos. For example, her husband married her Eve White alter ego and not her.
Her story inspired her psychiatrists to write a book about her, entitled The Three Faces of Eve , which was then turned into a 1957 movie of the same title.
14. David Reimer
When David was just 8 months old, he lost his penis because of a botched circumcision operation.
Psychologist John Money then advised Reimer’s parents to raise him as a girl instead, naming him Brenda. His gender reassignment was supported by subsequent surgery and hormonal therapy.
Money described Reimer’s gender reassignment as a success, but problems started to arise as Reimer was growing up. His boyishness was not completely subdued by the hormonal therapy. When he was 14 years old, he learned about the secrets of his past and he underwent gender reassignment to become male again.
Reimer became an advocate for children undergoing the same difficult situation he had been. His life story ended when he was 38 as he took his own life.
15. Kim Peek
Kim Peek was the inspiration behind Rain Man , an Oscar-winning movie about an autistic savant character played by Dustin Hoffman.
The movie was released in 1988, a time when autism wasn’t widely known and acknowledged yet. So it was an eye-opener for many people who watched the film.
In reality, Kim Peek was a non-autistic savant. He was exceptionally intelligent despite the brain abnormalities he was born with. He was like a walking encyclopedia, knowledgeable about travel routes, US zip codes, historical facts, and classical music. He also read and memorized approximately 12,000 books in his lifetime.
This list of experiments and case studies in psychology is just the tip of the iceberg! There are still countless interesting psychology studies that you can explore if you want to learn more about human behavior and dynamics.
You can also conduct your own mini-experiment or participate in a study conducted in your school or neighborhood. Just remember that there are ethical standards to follow so as not to repeat the lasting physical and emotional harm done to Little Albert or the Stanford Prison Experiment participants.
Asch, S. E. (1956). Studies of independence and conformity: I. A minority of one against a unanimous majority. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 70 (9), 1–70. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0093718
Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1961). Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63 (3), 575–582. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0045925
Elliott, J., Yale University., WGBH (Television station : Boston, Mass.), & PBS DVD (Firm). (2003). A class divided. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Films.
Festinger, L., & Carlsmith, J. M. (1959). Cognitive consequences of forced compliance. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 58 (2), 203–210. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0041593
Haney, C., Banks, W. C., & Zimbardo, P. G. (1973). A study of prisoners and guards in a simulated prison. Naval Research Review , 30 , 4-17.
Latane, B., & Darley, J. M. (1968). Group inhibition of bystander intervention in emergencies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 10 (3), 215–221. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0026570
Mischel, W. (2014). The Marshmallow Test: Mastering self-control. Little, Brown and Co.
Thorndike, E. (1920) A Constant Error in Psychological Ratings. Journal of Applied Psychology , 4 , 25-29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0071663
Watson, J. B., & Rayner, R. (1920). Conditioned emotional reactions. Journal of experimental psychology , 3 (1), 1.
Chris Drew (PhD)
Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education.
- Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/admin/ 60 Inspirational Role Model Examples
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- Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/admin/ What do Portuguese People Look Like? (10 Features & Stereotypes)
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Are case studies important? Rediscover the value of this under rated marketing resource
Attending a recent industry conference had me wondering, “Are case studies important?”.
It’s been a long time since I’ve attended an event like this and it seemed to me things have really changed. As industries and businesses are influenced and pressured to follow a certain way of doing things, the pressure to communicate following written and unwritten rules is changing too.
After listening to presentations from ‘the experts’, you too may have been led to doubt the merits of what I consider a highly useful marketing tool: the traditional case study.
In the context of growing demands from all quarters of society, these industry experts diminished the value of case studies, eschewing them in favour of data in all its forms.
The jury was well and truly out.
Data good. Case studies? Well, not so much.
The judgement was clear: A case study was lightweight marketing gloss of little or no value.
Now before you decide to jump on the bandwagon too, let’s look at case studies in more detail.
>>> Also helpful: Creating content: Craft meaningful messages for business content
>>> Download your case study planning template
What is a case study?
In very simple terms, a case study is a story. And the purpose of stories is connection.
Ideally, your case study is a story that highlights the success your business has achieved for a customer or client.
At the same time, it should also showcase your business’ knowledge, skills, experience, and expertise. A case study is a way of sharing what you do without making a sales pitch. It’s a way of saying, “Here’s something I prepared earlier.” It’s selling without the hard sell.
Back in my engineering consulting days, I was tasked with writing profiles for the projects the company worked on.
When I approached the project manager for input, they’d almost invariably produce a list of equipment used on the project. They didn’t quite get that to produce a quality project profile, we needed to get under the hood of the job and tease out what really happened.
Interesting stuff like what didn’t go to plan.
How the team overcame challenges.
Where did we innovate?
What goals did we kick? Did we come in under budget, beat the schedule, or solve a big problem?
I found there was always more to the job than a list of equipment, just as there is more to project success and business performance than data.
The use of one to tell a story should not preclude the use of the other.
Why have case studies in your marketing arsenal?
In my book 7 Day Book Blueprint , I discuss the value of stories in business marketing.
Because I’m a raving fan and believe in the value of stories for business so much I expand on the ideas in the Business Content + Communication Guide.
If we work from the premise that the purpose of stories is to connect with your audience, then why wouldn’t you have a whole swag of them ready to share with potential customers.
Whether you’re dealing with hard-nosed engineering types who’ve built tall buildings, or fancy professional services types who grace inner city boardrooms, a well-written, thoughtfully constructed case study goes a very long way.
But more than this, stories, regardless of how they’re shared, are the way that humans connect with each other. This is true even in business.
Stories help convey what your business stands for in ways that dry facts and figures can’t, which is why it’s important to have crafted a handful or two of compelling stories that define your business brand.
Apart from providing a point of connection with your audience, stories give depth and relevance to what can be otherwise staid and one dimensional communication.
And if you’re operating a business in a sector that’s under intense scrutiny – and let’s face it – that’s just about every business today – then your motivation for producing some quality content in the way of case studies, project profiles, or client/customer success should be right up there with oxygen.
>>> Also helpful: Telling stories in business: How to mine and evolve your content gold
Okay, so I get that case studies are important. Where do I start?
At this point you might be convinced the return on investment in case studies is warranted but feeling concerned that perhaps they require a level of creativity you simply don’t have.
Fortunately, for every problem there’s a solution.
A question I ask many clients is, “Where do you sit on the content creation spectrum?”
They often respond with a question, “Well, Macushla, what is the content creation spectrum?”
It’s a thing I made up to explain the degrees of willingness and skill that any business owner has to plan, organise, and create their own content. The spectrum spans from avoidance to ‘I’ve got this’ and the outputs (or lack of) at each level are commensurate with the enthusiasm and skill of that level.
>>> Also helpful: How to simplify the process for creating content: The essential guide for business owners with no content plan
The reality is many business owners are not the right people to be producing the content, and thus the case studies and marketing stories, for their business. Often they dive too far into the technical detail, making the case study unrelatable for the audience. And this is why an honest answer to the question, “Who should really be writing our case studies?” is a good place to start.
Once you have the answer to that question, you can:
- Identify your top five successes and share these . I work with one business that captures not only the data for each project (such as volume and percentage of materials recycled), but also captures the challenges and innovations that made the project a success.
- Map your customer journey and document stories at each stage to help other customer understand what happens when. If your business has clear entry points and ongoing touchpoints, stories can help nurture customers along the way.
- Identify internal stories that profile your team and business values . Because people like doing business with people they like and relate to, sharing the face of your business (that would be your team) is just one way to communicate your business values.
You may be thinking, that all sounds great, even easy, but I’ve honestly answered the question about where I sit on the content creation spectrum and I’m never going to write a case study.
Fine. You need to find and work with someone who can write them for you.
Thankfully, there’s a whole world of freelance digital content creators and marketing agencies (and everything in between) just waiting for you to reach out. The trick is finding the right person/people to work with; someone who’ll take the time to understand your business and help share your stories in ways that make sense to your audience while maintaining the technical integrity of your message and business.
Now I’m an advocate of the written-content-comes-first approach, but that doesn’t always have to be the case. Instead you may choose to work with a videographer and create visual case studies, or a photographic library, however in my experience, these elements work together, along with some excellent graphic design.
>>> Also helpful: Working with freelancers: Useful stuff business owners + technical people should know
9 surprising reasons case studies are still important for business marketing
Industry experts may tell you that case studies and stories are marketing dinosaurs but I disagree. Here are nine reasons case studies remain valid and important marketing tools for businesses that want to connect with their customers and clients.
- They build confidence and pride in your team when they reflect back on previous successes.
- Preparing the case studies is a wonderful opportunity to build connection across your business as different departments work together to tell and share important stories.
- Case studies demonstrate depth of capability in your business and team’s skills and experience.
- As an essential resource in your content library, case studies can be repurposed multiple ways (in video, photos, standalone profiles, social media posts, and wall art). In many ways, they’re a content marketing gift that keeps on giving.
- Case studies raise brand awareness.
- Looking for inexpensive ways to educate your audience about ways their challenges can be overcome? A case study can do that for you.
- Case studies document your business’ track record. In the busy-ness of the day-to-day, how quickly we forget our success because we’ve already moved onto the next big thing. Your case studies capture the good news along the way.
- Your case studies allow your business to forge connection with your ideal audience, as it ‘speaks’ for you without you needing to be present.
- A thoughtfully written case study is a sales tool without the hard sell.
So, there you go. The take-away for you is this: Creating content marketing assets like case studies requires an investment, just like any other asset for business, so if mastering the ‘whole content thing’ is important to you, it would be wise to start creating useful tools like case studies that do the talking for you.
>>> Also helpful: How to find the right words [and write for business] <<<
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Important Reasons to be Using Case Studies in Marketing
If you need a video for your business, would you hire a company that simply states they produce high-quality ROI-generating content? Wouldn't you rather see the quality of their work first and read the recommendation of someone who has worked with them personally through case studies?
Reading and watching reviews is part of most consumer’s buying journey. In fact, a whopping 81% of people conduct online research before purchasing something. B2B sales are no different, prospects are doing their own research on a product or service before purchasing. You can learn a lot about a company's reputation by reading reviews from past customers.
Case studies can be extremely effective as motivators and objection removers. Using case studies in your marketing will help your customers not only see things logically but also see what a happy customer looks like.
What are case studies and how do they help you?
Case studies analyze specific instances –– or cases if you will –– that show how your product or service has been effective in the past.
By using case studies, your prospective clients can get to know your customers on a deeper, more personal level. And when you showcase how you helped past customers, you help potential customers make informed purchasing decisions.
When writing your case studies, be sure to keep the following in mind:
- Who was the customer?
- What was their need and what goal did they have?
- Are they a typical customer?
- What did you do to meet their need and help them achieve their goal?
PRO TIP: Case studies were ranked “very important by” 52% of B2B buyers while evaluating vendors.
With 88% of consumers trusting online ratings and reviews, case studies prove to be a reliable way to establish social proof – ranking up there with blogs, ebooks, and video.
And from a marketing standpoint, using case studies is so impactful because those who read about success in their own industry will assume the same approach will work for them.
By using case studies in your marketing, you’re demonstrating that you are:
- Comfortable in a specific field
- Familiar with industry-specific needs
- Have the expertise to provide targeted results to that industry
How and where to use case studies in marketing
Using case studies in blogs
It's more likely that your audience will see your case study if you follow up with a blog post and promote it on social media. Consider highlighting an obstacle, challenge, or issue your company or customer overcame. Show the steps taken to address those issues in your blog post.
For example, if we had a case study detailing how a customer built trust in their company using video, we might create a blog post called “Client Case Study: Using Video Marketing To Build Trust In Your Company”.
Remember, a blog post about a customer success story is about showcasing how your customers have overcome challenges rather than promoting your brand, product, or service.
Using video case studies
When buying a product, most consumers don't want to spend too much time reading, right? As we've mentioned before, 96% of users watch a video that explains more about a product or service to learn more about it . It's much more convenient for them to watch a video that explains everything they need quickly and clearly.
Just like written case studies, video case studies should include data and statistics. Then at the end of the video, include a call to action of what happens next. If you can demonstrate how your business is solving client problems while emphasizing the benefits over features, you'll be golden.
Through video, individuals can connect emotionally with brands, products, and people. Having your customers explain why your product or service works will help you establish a stronger connection with future prospects. In turn, this leads to more sales and loyal customers.
Using case studies on your website
You can use a sales page to display your case studies or feature them directly on your homepage (this way your web viewers will see clear proof of satisfied customers right away!).
Here are a few ideas for presenting your case studies:
- Feature quotes specifically from your case study on your home page
- Create a landing page and include testimonials and/or video case studies
- Have a separate section specifically for case studies or an image displaying a case study
Case studies using nurture emails
Case studies are an excellent resource for email marketing. To help reconnect those leads that have gone cold, send out a nurture sequence and include your case study. Our favorite method? Using "product-specific" segments.
Do you have a case study about a specific product or service? Look at your analytics and see who was once interested in that product or service. Then send a targeted email to this list of subscribers with your case study attached.
Case studies on Social Media
Using case studies on social media is actually pretty easy. The best approach? Share your case study link and tag your customer.
And if you want to get the right people clicking through your case studies (of course you do, that’s the whole point, right?) you should post them in a way that inspires them to take action, rather than posting “New case study, here’s the link.” Craft your post in such a way that you keep the focus on the benefits, be clear over clever, and direct them to the link.
How else can you use case studies in your social media?
- Make your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn covers stand out! Show a happy, smiling customer with a quote
- You can add your case study to your LinkedIn publications or pin it to your profile
- Join relevant groups and share your case studies
Using case study quotes
According to Accenture , 41% of consumers switched businesses over a lack of personalization . And as we mentioned earlier, case studies give readers a chance to learn more about past customers on a very personal level.
When adding quotes from your case study to your website or social media profile, you might want to choose ones that are specific, outcome-oriented, or metric-based.
For example, "XYZ increased our email subscribers by 80% in less than a year!" versus "XYZ is great, we loved working with them!"
Bonus tip: Aside from adding these quotes to your social media profiles and on your website, you can use them in client presentations, product pages, and email signatures.
Case studies in newsletters
In addition to nurture sequences, case studies can also be included in newsletters. You can use this to both gain new clients and establish better relationships with the ones you already have.
After all, we all crave a sense of belonging – it's in our nature. So when a company treats its customers like friends, they're not only more likely to attract new prospects, but existing customers are usually proud to show their support.
Case studies for sales teams
Did you know 70% of buyers fully define their own needs even before speaking with a salesperson? And 44% look for specific solutions before contacting a seller.
Because consumers are becoming more informed than ever, this is making sales more complex. Therefore, sales representatives need to have content on hand that addresses every stage of the buyer's process. That's where the use of case studies comes in handy.
You've probably heard the saying, “the right place at the right time” . Well, when you use case studies during the right moments of the buyer's journey (such as when they are actively comparing solutions and providers) you can eliminate objections by demonstrating how effective your product or service has been in the past.
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What Is a Case Study?
An in-depth study of one person, group, or event
Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author and educational consultant focused on helping students learn about psychology.
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Cara Lustik is a fact-checker and copywriter.
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Verywell / Colleen Tighe
Benefits and Limitations
Types of case studies, how to write a case study.
A case study is an in-depth study of one person, group, or event. In a case study, nearly every aspect of the subject's life and history is analyzed to seek patterns and causes of behavior. Case studies can be used in various fields, including psychology, medicine, education, anthropology, political science, and social work.
The purpose of a case study is to learn as much as possible about an individual or group so that the information can be generalized to many others. Unfortunately, case studies tend to be highly subjective, and it is sometimes difficult to generalize results to a larger population.
While case studies focus on a single individual or group, they follow a format similar to other types of psychology writing. If you are writing a case study, it is important to follow the rules of APA format .
A case study can have both strengths and weaknesses. Researchers must consider these pros and cons before deciding if this type of study is appropriate for their needs.
One of the greatest advantages of a case study is that it allows researchers to investigate things that are often difficult to impossible to replicate in a lab. Some other benefits of a case study:
- Allows researchers to collect a great deal of information
- Give researchers the chance to collect information on rare or unusual cases
- Permits researchers to develop hypotheses that can be explored in experimental research
On the negative side, a case study:
- Cannot necessarily be generalized to the larger population
- Cannot demonstrate cause and effect
- May not be scientifically rigorous
- Can lead to bias
Researchers may choose to perform a case study if they are interested in exploring a unique or recently discovered phenomenon. The insights gained from such research can help the researchers develop additional ideas and study questions that might be explored in future studies.
However, it is important to remember that the insights gained from case studies cannot be used to determine cause and effect relationships between variables. However, case studies may be used to develop hypotheses that can then be addressed in experimental research.
Case Study Examples
There have been a number of notable case studies in the history of psychology. Much of Freud's work and theories were developed through the use of individual case studies. Some great examples of case studies in psychology include:
- Anna O : Anna O. was a pseudonym of a woman named Bertha Pappenheim, a patient of a physician named Josef Breuer. While she was never a patient of Freud's, Freud and Breuer discussed her case extensively. The woman was experiencing symptoms of a condition that was then known as hysteria and found that talking about her problems helped relieve her symptoms. Her case played an important part in the development of talk therapy as an approach to mental health treatment.
- Phineas Gage : Phineas Gage was a railroad employee who experienced a terrible accident in which an explosion sent a metal rod through his skull, damaging important portions of his brain. Gage recovered from his accident but was left with serious changes in both personality and behavior.
- Genie : Genie was a young girl subjected to horrific abuse and isolation. The case study of Genie allowed researchers to study whether language could be taught even after critical periods for language development had been missed. Her case also served as an example of how scientific research may interfere with treatment and lead to further abuse of vulnerable individuals.
Such cases demonstrate how case research can be used to study things that researchers could not replicate in experimental settings. In Genie's case, her horrific abuse had denied her the opportunity to learn language at critical points in her development.
This is clearly not something that researchers could ethically replicate, but conducting a case study on Genie allowed researchers the chance to study phenomena that are otherwise impossible to reproduce.
There are a few different types of case studies that psychologists and other researchers might utilize:
- Collective case studies : These involve studying a group of individuals. Researchers might study a group of people in a certain setting or look at an entire community. For example, psychologists might explore how access to resources in a community has affected the collective mental well-being of those living there.
- Descriptive case studies : These involve starting with a descriptive theory. The subjects are then observed, and the information gathered is compared to the pre-existing theory.
- Explanatory case studies : These are often used to do causal investigations. In other words, researchers are interested in looking at factors that may have caused certain things to occur.
- Exploratory case studies : These are sometimes used as a prelude to further, more in-depth research. This allows researchers to gather more information before developing their research questions and hypotheses .
- Instrumental case studies : These occur when the individual or group allows researchers to understand more than what is initially obvious to observers.
- Intrinsic case studies : This type of case study is when the researcher has a personal interest in the case. Jean Piaget's observations of his own children are good examples of how an intrinsic cast study can contribute to the development of a psychological theory.
The three main case study types often used are intrinsic, instrumental, and collective. Intrinsic case studies are useful for learning about unique cases. Instrumental case studies help look at an individual to learn more about a broader issue. A collective case study can be useful for looking at several cases simultaneously.
The type of case study that psychology researchers utilize depends on the unique characteristics of the situation as well as the case itself.
There are also different methods that can be used to conduct a case study, including prospective and retrospective case study methods.
Prospective case study methods are those in which an individual or group of people is observed in order to determine outcomes. For example, a group of individuals might be watched over an extended period of time to observe the progression of a particular disease.
Retrospective case study methods involve looking at historical information. For example, researchers might start with an outcome, such as a disease, and then work their way backward to look at information about the individual's life to determine risk factors that may have contributed to the onset of the illness.
Where to Find Data
There are a number of different sources and methods that researchers can use to gather information about an individual or group. Six major sources that have been identified by researchers are:
- Archival records : Census records, survey records, and name lists are examples of archival records.
- Direct observation : This strategy involves observing the subject, often in a natural setting . While an individual observer is sometimes used, it is more common to utilize a group of observers.
- Documents : Letters, newspaper articles, administrative records, etc., are the types of documents often used as sources.
- Interviews : Interviews are one of the most important methods for gathering information in case studies. An interview can involve structured survey questions or more open-ended questions.
- Participant observation : When the researcher serves as a participant in events and observes the actions and outcomes, it is called participant observation.
- Physical artifacts : Tools, objects, instruments, and other artifacts are often observed during a direct observation of the subject.
Section 1: A Case History
This section will have the following structure and content:
Background information : The first section of your paper will present your client's background. Include factors such as age, gender, work, health status, family mental health history, family and social relationships, drug and alcohol history, life difficulties, goals, and coping skills and weaknesses.
Description of the presenting problem : In the next section of your case study, you will describe the problem or symptoms that the client presented with.
Describe any physical, emotional, or sensory symptoms reported by the client. Thoughts, feelings, and perceptions related to the symptoms should also be noted. Any screening or diagnostic assessments that are used should also be described in detail and all scores reported.
Your diagnosis : Provide your diagnosis and give the appropriate Diagnostic and Statistical Manual code. Explain how you reached your diagnosis, how the client's symptoms fit the diagnostic criteria for the disorder(s), or any possible difficulties in reaching a diagnosis.
Section 2: Treatment Plan
This portion of the paper will address the chosen treatment for the condition. This might also include the theoretical basis for the chosen treatment or any other evidence that might exist to support why this approach was chosen.
- Cognitive behavioral approach : Explain how a cognitive behavioral therapist would approach treatment. Offer background information on cognitive behavioral therapy and describe the treatment sessions, client response, and outcome of this type of treatment. Make note of any difficulties or successes encountered by your client during treatment.
- Humanistic approach : Describe a humanistic approach that could be used to treat your client, such as client-centered therapy . Provide information on the type of treatment you chose, the client's reaction to the treatment, and the end result of this approach. Explain why the treatment was successful or unsuccessful.
- Psychoanalytic approach : Describe how a psychoanalytic therapist would view the client's problem. Provide some background on the psychoanalytic approach and cite relevant references. Explain how psychoanalytic therapy would be used to treat the client, how the client would respond to therapy, and the effectiveness of this treatment approach.
- Pharmacological approach : If treatment primarily involves the use of medications, explain which medications were used and why. Provide background on the effectiveness of these medications and how monotherapy may compare with an approach that combines medications with therapy or other treatments.
This section of a case study should also include information about the treatment goals, process, and outcomes.
When you are writing a case study, you should also include a section where you discuss the case study itself, including the strengths and limitiations of the study. You should note how the findings of your case study might support previous research.
In your discussion section, you should also describe some of the implications of your case study. What ideas or findings might require further exploration? How might researchers go about exploring some of these questions in additional studies?
Here are a few additional pointers to keep in mind when formatting your case study:
- Never refer to the subject of your case study as "the client." Instead, their name or a pseudonym.
- Read examples of case studies to gain an idea about the style and format.
- Remember to use APA format when citing references .
A Word From Verywell
Case studies can be a useful research tool, but they need to be used wisely. In many cases, they are best utilized in situations where conducting an experiment would be difficult or impossible. They are helpful for looking at unique situations and allow researchers to gather a great deal of information about a specific individual or group of people.
If you have been directed to write a case study for a psychology course, be sure to check with your instructor for any specific guidelines that you are required to follow. If you are writing your case study for professional publication, be sure to check with the publisher for their specific guidelines for submitting a case study.
Simply Psychology. Case Study Method .
Crowe S, Cresswell K, Robertson A, Huby G, Avery A, Sheikh A. The case study approach . BMC Med Res Methodol . 2011 Jun 27;11:100. doi:10.1186/1471-2288-11-100
Gagnon, Yves-Chantal. The Case Study as Research Method: A Practical Handbook . Canada, Chicago Review Press Incorporated DBA Independent Pub Group, 2010.
Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods . United States, SAGE Publications, 2017.
By Kendra Cherry Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author and educational consultant focused on helping students learn about psychology.
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Importance of a Case Study
Aug 1, 2018 | coursework writing , case study , research paper , Writing
A case study is research method that involves an up-close, in-depth and detailed investigation of a subject of study and its related contextual position. They can be produced following a form of research. A case study helps in bringing the understanding of a complex issue or object. It can extend experience or add strength to the existing knowledge through previous research. Their contextual analysis revolves around a limited number of events or conditions and how they relate. The case study has been used by researchers for a long time and has been applied in different disciplines. It has been widely used in social sciences as a qualitative research method to investigate contemporary real-life situations and has provided a foundation of application of ideas and extension of methods.
It has been defined as an empirical inquiry that examines a contemporary phenomenon within the context of its real life. However, some people have disagreed with this research method arguing that the study of a small number of cases does not offer enough ground to establish reliability or generality of findings. Others have argued that a case study is only used when applied as an exploratory tool, yet most researchers continue using it successfully in carefully planned studies that concern real-life situations, problems, and issues.
Case studies will more often than not appear in journals or professional conferences instead of popular works. A case study may be an individual, organization, action, event existing in a given time and place. For instance, there are case studies of individuals and clinical practices. When the term “case” is used in a claim, an argument, or a proposition; it can be the subject of a litany of research methods. A case study will involve quantitative and qualitative methods of research.
Researchers, on the other hand, are always spoilt for choice when they are determining the tools to use in dealing with their research question. This is because there is an array of both qualitative and quantitative research tools. They can be based on in-depth case studies or desk-based literature reviews. When using case study, the researcher will get an in-depth investigation of a phenomenon, individual, or an event. They help in investigating and understanding the underlying principles in an occurrence within a real-life context.
- They are comprehensive Case studies enable a holistic review. A researcher can use a range of tools which he would otherwise not apply when using other stand-alone research techniques. This gives his time to develop an in-depth understanding of the topic and establish a credible platform to investigate the factors that affect a case study in extensive detail.
- Case studies reduce bias They give room to the diversity of perspectives as opposed to when one is using a single view of a person you get with a survey response or an interview. It eliminates chances of potential bias by giving an opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the subject under investigation. Lack of bias dilutes the agenda of a given individual.
- Broad relevance One of the criticisms that case study method gets is that the findings cannot be generalized. However, when a case study is part of broader research can explore common problems in detail.
- Permissions The identity of the research participants is crucial in painting a real picture of whatever that is taking place. Many researchers have found out that participants are more comfortable in situation s where they are sure that the identity will remain anonymous. However, this presents a challenge given the comprehensive nature of the study. In-depth case studies will require one to seek confirmation that the leading research participant agrees that the material is accurate and anonymous. This enables the confidence on the part of the researcher as well as the participant. Gaining permission can take quite some time and could culminate to additional restatements of the published research.
- Time Case studies consume time. You have to plan for multiple interviews, waiting for the data to come in; coordinating focus groups can take quite a substantial, amount of time. For instance, if you are depending on a voluntary case study participant who is going on with his daily business, that might present a challenge. You can overcome these issues by offering incentives to your participants and then outline what you expect from each of them from the onset and sending deadline notifications in advance. This helps in receiving the data early enough.
- Decide and define the research questions
- Select your case studies and determine the techniques for data collection and analysis
- Prepare to engage in data collection
- Collect data in the field
- Cary out data evaluation and analysis
- Write your report
You have to decide on the questions you want to use in your research . They are a referral for the researcher as he seeks to provide answers to them. The researcher has to establish the focus of the student by coming up with questions that concern the problem or the situation being studied and to determine the purpose of the study. The case study here might involve a program, an entity, a person, or a group of people. Each object has a relationship that is connected to social, political, historical, and personal issues. This provides wide-ranging possibilities for questions and adds complexities to the case study.
The case study must answer questions that begin with “why” or “how.” These questions are directed to a limited number of events or conditions and their inter-relationships. One way that enables researchers to formulate these questions is by conducting a literature review. This allows them to establish what previous researchers found out, and they enable in formulating insightful questions necessary for the examination of the problem. Well defined questions from the onset direct one on where to get more evidence and also helps in determining analysis method for the study, The definition of case study purpose, the literature review and the early decision on the potential audience for the final report will help in providing guidance on how the study will be conducted and published.
The design phase of the case study research gives the researcher an opportunity to decide what the approach will be when it comes to selecting the single or multiple real-life cases for examination. It will also help in deciding the data gathering approaches and the instruments used. When working with multiple cases, each case is treated individually. The conclusion of the individual case can be used as information that contributes to the whole study.
Excellent case studies often select and carefully examine the existing choices in the research tools at disposal with the objective of raising the study validity. You can create boundaries when you do careful discrimination when you are carrying out the selection. One of the strengths of case study method is by the use of multiple techniques and sources in the process of gathering data. The researcher makes an early determination of the evidence he has to gather and the analysis method he will apply for him to answer the research questions. The data gathered may be largely qualitative but can also be quantitative. One can use surveys, interviews, observation, documentation review, or the collection of physical artifacts as tools of data collection. The researcher ought to distribute the data gathering tools systematically when collecting the evidence. The researcher must ensure that the research is constructed to achieve, internal validity, external validity, construct validity and reliability. This should be achieved during the design phase.
Case study often generates big amounts of data from multiple sources. As such, it is important to organize your data systematically to prevent cases of confusion or getting overwhelmed by the incoming data. This helps the researcher to maintain sight of the original research purpose and questions.
One can prepare databases to help in sorting, categorizing, storing, and retrieving data for analysis. Some of the best case studies carries out training for the researchers to establish clear protocols and procedures early enough before the fieldwork kicks off. They also conduct a pilot study well in advance to remove barriers and problems in the field. Once the training is done, the last step is to select a pilot site where each data gathering method is put to the test to uncover problem areas and correct them early.
The researcher must ensure that the evidence and the issue under investigation are have maintained their relationship. It is possible for the researcher to enter data into a database and physically store it. However, he has to document, classify, and cross-reference all evidence for it to be efficiently recalled for examination and sorting as the study continues.
The researcher must collect and store data comprehensively and systematically. This should be done in formats that are easy to reference and sort to enable him in identifying possible lines of inquiry. Successful case studies utilize field notes and databases in categorizing and referencing data, so that is it readily available for interpretation. Field notes take records of feelings, intuitive hunches; pose questions, document work in progress. Stories, testimonies, and illustrations are useful in later reports. Some techniques require the researcher to place information into arrays, matrices of categories, flow charts or other displays as well as tabulations of event frequency. If there is conflicting evidence, the researcher must probe the differences deeper and identify the source of conflict. The researcher must provide answers to the “how” and “why” research questions.
The researcher has to examine raw data using different interpretations. This enables him to draw linkages between the outcomes and the research object bearing in mind the research questions. The researcher must have an open mind during the data evaluation and analysis process. The researcher can strengthen the research findings and conclusion thanks to the multiple data collection methods and analysis techniques he had applied.
The kind of tactics used by the researcher during the analysis compels him to go beyond the initial impressions to improve chances of reliable and accurate findings.
- Preparing the report
Excellent case studies interpret data in ways that they make it easy to understand a problem hitherto complex. It allows the reader to question and examine the study and arrive at an understanding that the researcher was independence. The written report aims to convey to the reader a simplified experience of the issue that was once complex. With case studies, the reader can access the information publicly in ways that may lead him to utilize the experience in his real-life situation.
The report can be written in a manner that handles each case on its separate chapter or giving it a chronological recounting. The researchers at times use the report writing process to do a critical examination of the document to identify ways through which the report might be incomplete. The researcher can use the representative audience to carry out a review and present comments on the same. The comments are the premise upon which the revisions of the documents are made. Sometimes it is recommended to have a journalist in the review audience whereas others argue that the participants should review the document. Those are the steps used in a case study research.
With case studies, the researcher will get a more concrete and unbiased understanding of a given complex situation. This is achieved using a range of search tools. With a real-life view, the research can give leeway for the recommendation of practical solutions to challenges. Case studies are important, and the challenges involved can be surmounted planning, background research and an informed selection of all the participants. If the case study approach works for you, utilize it.
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Importance of case studies
- Nov 15 2017, 17:34 ist
- updated: Nov 15 2017, 20:05 ist
Using a case from the present industrial scenario would be of immense relevance and importance in the context of functioning as a standpoint for envisaging different situations and learning by practicing. While the recommended course material assist the student in gaining more knowledge, case studies facilitate in developing business wit and wisdom. Cases provide an ample of scope for application of information. Business cases direct the minds of the students in a particular situation and enable them to nurture the art of making astute decisions.
Learning from real-life scenarios
Case studies present realistic, complex, and contextually rich situations and often involve a dilemma, conflict, or problem that one or more of the characters in the case must negotiate. Discussing cases in classrooms facilitate exchange of views among students and relate theory to practice. Case discussions facilitate a vehicle for reconsidering the lessons learnt, sharing them with others and gaining valuable knowledge by doing so.
How can you learn from a case study? Here are a few ways that can help:
*As you read the case study, ask yourself, 'What is the case study about? What do I need to analyse?'
*Go through the case very carefully and highlight the case's crucial facts as you read.
*Empathise with the manager who is being discussed in the case and to develop a sense of involvement in his or her problem.
*Identify the relevant areas for analysing, noting each one on a separate sheet of paper.
*Focus on the case's facts you have highlighted and go over the qualitative and quantitative evidence carefully. Note down your conclusions.
*Review your conclusions, and then verbalise a set of recommendations directed at the issues you have identified.
During this process, the role of the instructor is valuable. In class, an instructor usually allows students to take the case where they wish. He or she then stimulates the students to make their own observations based on the ideas they have developed and leads the students to consider areas they may have missed. Once a case has been studied thoroughly, it is the instructor's accountability to encapsulate the discussion and draw out the useful learning and observations that have been drawn out.
The actual use of a case as a means of learning depends deeply on class participation. Through exchange and constructive discussion, students will be able to build analytical skills and gain conceptual understanding. It also encourages rigorous thinking and helps students improve their communication skills. Contributing one's own views - expressing and defending - becomes one of the best learning outcomes.
The downsides
The case study method demands thoughtful participation both from the instructor as well as students. Unless this is taken intently, the purpose of a case study will never be served and instead, be counter-productive. While case studies can help students arrive at solutions, here are some things that need to be remembered while discussing them:
*While every case is unique, the solutions for it are even more so. Hence, it is impossible to generalise the outcomes and apply them universally.
*Solutions are always contingent on resources available at that point of time. Decisions may need to be altered at a future date because there might be some change that occurs in the availability of resources.
It is a known fact that it is always easier said than done. It is very easy to recommend on actions which do not disturb us directly. But is considerably difficult to conclude on even simple issues when we are jittery. Having more pressure on our mind may not work at times of actual crises.
So, it is of no wonder that case studies are often used in classrooms to show how employees work together to arrive at solution. However, it is important to use it effectively and help students make the best use of it.
(The authors are with Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumakuru)
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Importance OF A Case Study
Before we start the discussion, some important questions should be answered first. The crucial part is to let our students explain the importance of the case study. The foremost thing we will do is to elaborate on what is exactly a case study? A case study primarily deals with the up-close and deep analysis after a lot of research about a company, person, group of people, community, etc. Time and again, we have witnessed plenty of students who inquire about the importance of case study. For students, writing a case study is not an easy task to accomplish. Students are asked by their tutors to create a case study that is free from any poor content or confusing statistics. It has to be on point, yet impressive. Every student tries to find the answer to this question.
Students spent days and nights writing their case studies to get good grades. The one question that keeps bothering them remains, What is the importance of case study? Case studies do let you have a good understanding of your case. Students don’t need to worry about this as we have formulated a set of popular questions related to case study writing that satisfies them once and for all.
What’s The Impact OF Case Study On The Educational System
A case study is also considered an integral aspect of the educational settings and communities. A well-researched case study holds a lot of data. Moreover, case studies are solely responsible for molding the hard-learned and researched theories into regular practices. Students will have to carry out best case study writing practices, which primarily include the focus and nature of the case study. If not done accurately, chances are too high that students can submit low-quality case studies to their tutors. This type of mistake can lead them to have bad grades.
Now we will discuss the importance of case study in education:
- As stated earlier, a case study revolves around the research conducted on a fictional or an existing entity. However, considering the distance education systems, this technique can widely increase the rate of success.
- If a case study carries various objectives, chances are, it can serve as a great motivational element. Because it highly includes a believable situation, which later interprets the analytical thinking and teamwork. Moreover, it can also let you have a better decision-making habit together with a powerful scientific spirit.
- In the education systems, a case study can be presented in a lot more ways like it can show up as dialogue, narration, description, movies or articles, etc. After all, it all depends on the nature of the cases, for example, the popular types are case-analysis or case problems.
Related: How To Hire A Case Study Writer
The Possible Advantages OF Writing A Case Study
Case studies are assigned to the students to know how much they have understood their case. It helps them analyze the situation or an individual in the best possible ways. The in-depth analysis when blended with thorough research, makes an ideal case study paper. Not only this, a good case study can lead you to a better understanding of our surroundings.
Students will be more than satisfied to engage themselves in discovering the common as well as the complex principles and the conceptualizations. Furthermore, multiple skills can produce with the help of good case study writing, like:
- the ability to solve problems
- Dealing with those problems
- quantitative, analytics tools as per the case
- Finally, the capability of making decisions in complex situations.
Students can make the most of these skills. These skills can develop remarkable research ability in the students.
So, the next time when you are stuck with the question, who will write a case study for me? You can always run to us for your case study problems. We offer some legit beneficial values to our students.
There are no two ways that a good case study can help you in your academic career. Be it the field of education, business, management, or any other aspect, a case study can compel you to have more detailed information about your case. Being one of the best academic practices worldwide, our company provides authentic case study writing assistance to the students.
Why Are Cases Important?
Cases are important because they let you have clear investigations regarding the subjects, community, individuals, companies, etc. They are crucial to have a better understanding of the complexity of the objects and issues. It also leads you to increase your experience. Moreover, writing case studies can add an ample amount of strength to your existing knowledge.
What Is The Importance OF The Case Study To The Company As A Whole?
Case studies are important for the companies as well as it lets you summaries the real-life happenings, business, or the fictitious accounts of the company. Case studies on companies can also help you illustrate the ongoing scenarios of it. However, conducting on the company as a whole can show various ways of application to the existing theories.
What Is The Role OF A Case Study?
The general role of a case study is to illustrate an ideal individual situation, e.g. business, organization, people, institution, etc. All of these categories are researched in detail to grasp the useful results. The main role of a case study remains its powerful ways of simplifying the difficult teachings and knowledge into easier ways.
Why Are Case Studies Important In Education?
In the field of education, case studies can widely help in understanding and solving complex questions. The importance of case study for students in the education field can also simplify the complexities of the educational systems. Furthermore, it can provide immense information related to educational settings.
Why Are Case Studies Important In Business?
A well-written case study in the field of business can lead people tempted to know more about you. It can directly serve as a promoting or a marketing staple for your business practices. You can let the people know more about your business and ask for more information. Also, you can get them close to you so they can ultimately buy from you.
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Case Study Research Method in Psychology
Saul Mcleod, PhD
Educator, Researcher
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester
Saul Mcleod, Ph.D., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years experience of working in further and higher education.
Learn about our Editorial Process
Olivia Guy-Evans
Associate Editor for Simply Psychology
BSc (Hons), Psychology, MSc, Psychology of Education
Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.
Case studies are in-depth investigations of a single person, group, event, or community. Typically, data is gathered from various sources and by using several different methods (e.g., observations & interviews ).
What are Case Studies?
The case study research method originated in clinical medicine (the case history, i.e., the patient’s personal history). In psychology, case studies are often confined to the study of a particular individual.
The information is mainly biographical and relates to events in the individual’s past (i.e., retrospective), as well as to significant events which are currently occurring in his or her everyday life.
The case study is not itself a research method, but researchers select methods of data collection and analysis that will generate material suitable for case studies.
Case studies are widely used in psychology, and amongst the best known were the ones carried out by Sigmund Freud, including Anna O and Little Hans .
Freud (1909a, 1909b) conducted very detailed investigations into the private lives of his patients in an attempt to both understand and help them overcome their illnesses. Even today, case histories are one of the main methods of investigation in abnormal psychology and psychiatry.
This makes it clear that the case study is a method that should only be used by a psychologist, therapist, or psychiatrist, i.e., someone with a professional qualification.
There is an ethical issue of competence. Only someone qualified to diagnose and treat a person can conduct a formal case study relating to atypical (i.e., abnormal) behavior or atypical development.
The procedure used in a case study means that the researcher provides a description of the behavior. This comes from interviews and other sources, such as observation.
The client also reports detail of events from his or her point of view. The researcher then writes up the information from both sources above as the case study and interprets the information.
The research may also continue for an extended period of time, so processes and developments can be studied as they happen.
Amongst the sources of data the psychologist is likely to turn to when carrying out a case study are observations of a person’s daily routine, unstructured interviews with the participant herself (and with people who know her), diaries, personal notes (e.g., letters, photographs, notes) or official document (e.g., case notes, clinical notes, appraisal reports).
The case study method often involves simply observing what happens to or reconstructing ‘the case history’ of a single participant or group of individuals (such as a school class or a specific social group), i.e., the idiographic approach .
The interview is also an extremely effective procedure for obtaining information about an individual, and it may be used to collect comments from the person’s friends, parents, employer, workmates, and others who have a good knowledge of the person, as well as to obtain facts from the person him or herself.
Most of this information is likely to be qualitative (i.e., verbal description rather than measurement), but the psychologist might collect numerical data as well.
The data collected can be analyzed using different theories (e.g., grounded theory, interpretative phenomenological analysis, text interpretation, e.g., thematic coding).
All the approaches mentioned here use preconceived categories in the analysis, and they are ideographic in their approach, i.e., they focus on the individual case without reference to a comparison group.
Interpreting the information means the researcher decides what to include or leave out. A good case study should always clarify which information is the factual description and which is an inference or the researcher’s opinion.
- Provides detailed (rich qualitative) information.
- Provides insight for further research.
- Permitting investigation of otherwise impractical (or unethical) situations.
Case studies allow a researcher to investigate a topic in far more detail than might be possible if they were trying to deal with a large number of research participants (nomothetic approach) with the aim of ‘averaging’.
Because of their in-depth, multi-sided approach, case studies often shed light on aspects of human thinking and behavior that would be unethical or impractical to study in other ways.
Research that only looks into the measurable aspects of human behavior is not likely to give us insights into the subjective dimension of experience, which is important to psychoanalytic and humanistic psychologists.
Case studies are often used in exploratory research. They can help us generate new ideas (that might be tested by other methods). They are an important way of illustrating theories and can help show how different aspects of a person’s life are related to each other.
The method is, therefore, important for psychologists who adopt a holistic point of view (i.e., humanistic psychologists ).
Limitations
- Lacking scientific rigor and providing little basis for generalization of results to the wider population.
- Researchers’ own subjective feelings may influence the case study (researcher bias).
- Difficult to replicate.
- Time-consuming and expensive.
- The volume of data, together with the time restrictions in place, impacted the depth of analysis that was possible within the available resources.
Because a case study deals with only one person/event/group, we can never be sure if the case study investigated is representative of the wider body of “similar” instances. This means the conclusions drawn from a particular case may not be transferable to other settings.
Because case studies are based on the analysis of qualitative (i.e., descriptive) data, a lot depends on the psychologist’s interpretation of the information she has acquired.
This means that there is a lot of scope for observer bias , and it could be that the subjective opinions of the psychologist intrude in the assessment of what the data means.
For example, Freud has been criticized for producing case studies in which the information was sometimes distorted to fit particular behavioral theories (e.g., Little Hans ).
This is also true of Money’s interpretation of the Bruce/Brenda case study (Diamond, 1997) when he ignored evidence that went against his theory.
How to reference this article:
McLeod, S. A. (2019, August 03). Case study method . Simply Psychology. simplypsychology.org/case-study.html
Diamond, M., & Sigmundson, K. (1997). Sex Reassignment at Birth: Long-term Review and Clinical Implications. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine , 151(3), 298-304
Freud, S. (1909a). Analysis of a phobia of a five year old boy. In The Pelican Freud Library (1977), Vol 8, Case Histories 1, pages 169-306
Freud, S. (1909b). Bemerkungen über einen Fall von Zwangsneurose (Der “Rattenmann”). Jb. psychoanal. psychopathol. Forsch ., I, p. 357-421; GW, VII, p. 379-463; Notes upon a case of obsessional neurosis, SE , 10: 151-318.
Further Information
Case Study Approach Case Study Method
Enhancing the Quality of Case Studies in Health Services Research
“We do things together” A case study of “couplehood” in dementia
Using mixed methods for evaluating an integrative approach to cancer care: a case study
Freud’s Case Studies
Little Hans – Freudian Case Study
H.M. Case Study
Anna O – Freudian Case Study
Genie Case Study – Curtiss (1977)
UX case study playbook
A case study is an important tool for designers to showcase their skills and approach in a story format, to recruiters, hiring-mangers, colleagues, or fellow designers. Approach it with the same lens and rigor as you would for your client or company project. Write a brief, outline key stages of the journey, collect artifacts, research, sketch, define a system, design, get feedback, iterate and constantly look for opportunities to raise the bar.
Sharing a playbook that can help get you started, or evaluate an existing one. This is not a template, it’s not meant to be a one-size-fit-all, treat these as broad strokes to help ensure you are hitting the key points. Your case study, project, approach, and journey will be unique and should represent true honest yourself.
1. Give an Overview.
Provide an introduction to the project, design brief, goals, and challenges, set the context that will help the reader empathize with your journey.
2. Define your and your team’s role
It’s always important to acknowledge the team’s work and your specific role within it. This helps build trust with your reader and most importantly lets the recruiter know about your skills and knowledge.
3. Define the Customer and their Pain Point
There is a reason we are called User Experience Designers, customer/user has to be, should have been at the epicenter of all your conversations. Define the User, their tasks/jobs they would like to get done using the solution, and challenges/pain-point they face in completing these tasks.
4. Present your Findings
Walk through your approach in what helped you in defining your customer, how you arrived at it, how did you gather the details, the pain-points. Share representative artifacts (not all) to help establish your work. Always good to show some in-action visuals.
5. Share your Analysis
It’s important for readers to know your inputs, before you walk them through the solution. Share steps/activities you or your team conducted to analyze the data, how you synthesized, prioritized, phased-it. Show the output that you shared with your partners/stakeholders to drive alignment. Empathy mapping, noun-action analysis, persona, design briefs, journeys, etc.
6. Present Solution
Now I get it, showing pretty visuals, high-fidelity designs are catchy and makes your case study look good. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, for UX designers it’s important to show the foundational work, what led to that design. User journeys, task flows, Information Architecture, wireframes and its iterations, design explorations, low-mid fidelity mock-ups, there is a lot that goes in before a final design is delivered. It’s important for your reader to know what led to the final design. And more importantly you need to tie these back to the user and your findings, connect the dots.
7. Share outcome
These gets tricky, especially if your project has not yet released, it’s still in development, or in a beta state with few disclosed users. And even for projects that are out, you might not be at the liberty to share specific outcomes. First up front, you need to make sure you have the permissions to share the project details, vet it through your client, team, leadership to ensure you are not sharing any confidential data, that you are not supposed to. For projects that are still in progress, if you have done any summative studies to evaluate your solution, you could share that or anecdotal feedback you might have got from users, stakeholders. For released projects, you could share % impact, or anecdotal data, or trends, needless to say, with right approvals from your stakeholders.
8. Acknowledge learning
No project goes as expected, there are always misses, improvisations, trade-offs, follow-ons that you would have agreed along the journey to deliver the project. Ideally, acknowledge these specifics during each phase of the journey, helps build trust with your reader and allows them to empathize. But this is where you can be vocally self-critical and acknowledge what you could have done differently and what you’re learning were that you will apply in your next project.
Some tips and tricks
- Right in active tone,
- Keep it short and sweet,
- Lead with the headline; make it easy to read
- Balance between visuals and text,
- Captivate readers; take them along on your journey,
- Connect the dots, as you progress through your story,
- Showcase design wisely; screens/design where you have solved an interesting challenge or have come-up with a unique solution.
- Design process, it’s a known knowledge :). Skip it!
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Design Lead at Amazon. vjuneja.com
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CBSE Class 12 Physics Important Case Study Based Questions 2023
Important Case Study Questions for Class 12 Physics: Check here the important case study based questions of Section E in the CBSE Class 12 Physics exam 2023 for last minute preparation.
CBSE Class 12 Physics Exam 2023 Important Questions: The Central Board of Secondary Education is the largest and one of the most prestigious school boards in India, and millions of students are currently enrolled in it. The annual CBSE Exams are of utmost importance for the students, and the next paper will be of Physics on 6 March. Physics is a compulsory subject in CBSE Class 12 science stream and is essential for both medical and non-medical science stream students. The subject also demands immense practice, especially the important topics for class 12 Physics, like optics and electromagnetics. There will be five sections in the 2023 CBSE Class 12 Physics exam, and the last section E will comprise two case study-based questions of 5 marks. These questions are very important from the exam point of view, and you can read the solved versions here.
Must Read: CBSE Physics Class 12 Syllabus 202 3
Must Read: CBSE Topper Answer Sheet Class 12 Physics
CBSE Class 12 Physics Unit Wise Marks Distribution 2023
Why for case study questions are beneficial for class 12 physics .
Physics is no walk in the park. It is a mind-boggling subject that’s on par with mathematics for non-medical stream students. However, physics is challenging for all students due to its conceptual and numerical-based nature. Physics requires a clear understanding of the fundamentals, memorisation of several formulas, derivations and expert calculation skills plus the ability to apply them to tricky questions. All this requires practice but not blind practice. You must know which topics are important and which chapters are frequently asked in the exam.
Related: CBSE Physics Previous Year Question Paper Class 12
Related: CBSE Class 12 Physics Sample Paper 202 3
Important Questions For Class 12 Physics CBSE Board
Ques. 1 An ammeter and a voltmeter are connected in series to a battery with an emf of 10V. When a certain resistance is connected in parallel with the voltmeter, the reading of the voltmeter decreases three times, whereas the reading of the ammeter increases two times.
A: Find the voltmeter reading after the connection of the resistance.
Answer: (2) 2V
B: If the resistance of the ammeter is 2 ohm, then the resistance of the voltmeter is:-
Answer: (3) 3 ohm
C: If the resistance of ammeter is 2 ohm ,then resistance of the resistor which is added in parallel to the voltmeter is
- None of the above
Answer: (1) 3/5 ohm
Ques. 2 Given figure shows a metal rod PQ resting on the smooth rails AB and positioned between the poles of a permanent magnet. The rails, the rod, and the magnetic field are in three mutual perpendicular directions. A galvanometer G connects the rails through a switch K. Length of the rod = 15 cm, B = 0.50 T, resistance of the closed loop containing the rod = 9.0 mΩ. Assume the field to be uniform.
(a) Suppose K is open and the rod is moved with a speed of 12 cm s-1 in the direction shown. Give the polarity and magnitude of the induced emf. Physics / XII (2020-21)
(b) Is there an excess charge built up at the ends of the rods when K is open? What if K is closed?
(c) With K open and the rod moving uniformly, there is no net force on the electrons in the rod PQ even though they do experience magnetic force due to the motion of the rod. Explain.
(d) What is the retarding force on the rod when K is closed?
(e) How much power is required (by an external agent) to keep the rod moving at the same speed (=12 cm/ sec) when K is closed? How much power is required when K is open?
(f) How much power is dissipated as heat in the closed circuit? What is the source of this power?
(g) What is the induced emf in the moving rod if the magnetic field is parallel to the rails instead of being perpendicular?
(a) EMF = vBL = 0.12 0.50 x 0.15 = 9.0 mV; P positive end and Q negative end.
(b) Yes. When K is closed, the excess charge is maintained by the continuous flow of current.
(c) Magnetic force is cancelled by the electric force set-up due to the excess charge of opposite signs at the ends of the rod.
(d) Retarding force = IBL
9 mV / 9 mΩ x 0.5 T x 0.15 m = 75 x 10 -3 N
- e) Power expended by an external agent against the above retarding force to keep the rod moving uniformly at 12 cm s' = 75 x 10 -3 x 12 x 10 -2 = 9.0 x 10 -3 W
When K is open, no power is expended.
(f) I 2 R = 1x1x 9 x 10 -3 = 9.0 x 10 -3 W
The source of this power is the power provided by the external agent as calculated above.
g) Zero: motion of the rod does not cut across the field lines. [Note: length of Pg has been considered above to be equal to the spacing between the rails.]
Ques. 3 According to Ohm's law, the current flowing through a conductor is directly proportional to the potential difference across the ends of the conductor i.e I ∝ V ⇒ V/ I = R, where R is resistance of the conductor Electrical resistance of a conductor is the obstruction posed by the conductor to the flow of electric current through it. It depends upon length, area of cross-section, nature of material and temperature of the conductor.
We can write R∝l/A or R=ρl/A
Where ρ is electrical resistivity of the material of the conductor.
(i) Dimensions of electric resistance is
(a) [ML2 T−2 A−2]
(b) [ML2T−3A−2]
(c) [M−1 L−2 T−1 A]
(d) [M−1L2T2A−1]
(ii) If 1μA current flows through a conductor when potential difference of 2 volt is applied
across its ends, then the resistance of the conductor is
(c) 1.5×105Ω
(iii) Specific resistance of a wire depends upon
(b) cross-sectional area
(d) none of these
(iv) The slope of the graph between potential difference and current through a conductor is
(a) a straight line
(c) first curve then straight line
(d) first straight line then curve
(v) The resistivity of the material of a wire 1.0 m long, 0.4 mm in diameter and having a
resistance of 2.0 ohm is
(a) 57×10−6Ωm
(b) 5.25×10−7Ωm
(c) 7.12×10−5Ωm
(d) 2.55×10−7Ωm
Now, ρ = RA/ l = 2×4π×10−8/ 1 = 2.55×10−7Ωm
(ii) (b) As I = ε/ (R+r)
In first case, I = 0.5 A; R = 12 Ω
0.5 = ε/ (12+r) ⇒ ε = 6.0 + 0.5 r ....(i)
In second case I = 0.25 A; R=25 Ω
ε = 6.25 + 0.25 r ...(ii)
From equation (i) and (ii), r = 1 Ω
(iv) (a) Current in the circuit I= ε/ (R+r)
Power delivered to the resistance R is P = I2R = E2R/ (R+r)2
It is maximum when dP/ dR = 0
dP/ dR = E2[(r+R)2−R(r+R)]/ (r+R)4 = 0
or (r+R)2 = 2R(r+R) or R = r
(v) (b) For first case, ε/ (R+r) = 10/ R ...(i)
For second case, ε/ (5R+r) = 30/ 5R
Dividing (i) by (ii), we get r = 5R
From (i), ε/ (R+5R) = 10/ R ,ε = 60 V
Also Read:
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- Volume 21, Issue 1
- What is a case study?
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- Roberta Heale 1 ,
- Alison Twycross 2
- 1 School of Nursing , Laurentian University , Sudbury , Ontario , Canada
- 2 School of Health and Social Care , London South Bank University , London , UK
- Correspondence to Dr Roberta Heale, School of Nursing, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON P3E2C6, Canada; rheale{at}laurentian.ca
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/eb-2017-102845
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What is it?
Case study is a research methodology, typically seen in social and life sciences. There is no one definition of case study research. 1 However, very simply… ‘a case study can be defined as an intensive study about a person, a group of people or a unit, which is aimed to generalize over several units’. 1 A case study has also been described as an intensive, systematic investigation of a single individual, group, community or some other unit in which the researcher examines in-depth data relating to several variables. 2
Often there are several similar cases to consider such as educational or social service programmes that are delivered from a number of locations. Although similar, they are complex and have unique features. In these circumstances, the evaluation of several, similar cases will provide a better answer to a research question than if only one case is examined, hence the multiple-case study. Stake asserts that the cases are grouped and viewed as one entity, called the quintain . 6 ‘We study what is similar and different about the cases to understand the quintain better’. 6
The steps when using case study methodology are the same as for other types of research. 6 The first step is defining the single case or identifying a group of similar cases that can then be incorporated into a multiple-case study. A search to determine what is known about the case(s) is typically conducted. This may include a review of the literature, grey literature, media, reports and more, which serves to establish a basic understanding of the cases and informs the development of research questions. Data in case studies are often, but not exclusively, qualitative in nature. In multiple-case studies, analysis within cases and across cases is conducted. Themes arise from the analyses and assertions about the cases as a whole, or the quintain, emerge. 6
Benefits and limitations of case studies
If a researcher wants to study a specific phenomenon arising from a particular entity, then a single-case study is warranted and will allow for a in-depth understanding of the single phenomenon and, as discussed above, would involve collecting several different types of data. This is illustrated in example 1 below.
Using a multiple-case research study allows for a more in-depth understanding of the cases as a unit, through comparison of similarities and differences of the individual cases embedded within the quintain. Evidence arising from multiple-case studies is often stronger and more reliable than from single-case research. Multiple-case studies allow for more comprehensive exploration of research questions and theory development. 6
Despite the advantages of case studies, there are limitations. The sheer volume of data is difficult to organise and data analysis and integration strategies need to be carefully thought through. There is also sometimes a temptation to veer away from the research focus. 2 Reporting of findings from multiple-case research studies is also challenging at times, 1 particularly in relation to the word limits for some journal papers.
Examples of case studies
Example 1: nurses’ paediatric pain management practices.
One of the authors of this paper (AT) has used a case study approach to explore nurses’ paediatric pain management practices. This involved collecting several datasets:
Observational data to gain a picture about actual pain management practices.
Questionnaire data about nurses’ knowledge about paediatric pain management practices and how well they felt they managed pain in children.
Questionnaire data about how critical nurses perceived pain management tasks to be.
These datasets were analysed separately and then compared 7–9 and demonstrated that nurses’ level of theoretical did not impact on the quality of their pain management practices. 7 Nor did individual nurse’s perceptions of how critical a task was effect the likelihood of them carrying out this task in practice. 8 There was also a difference in self-reported and observed practices 9 ; actual (observed) practices did not confirm to best practice guidelines, whereas self-reported practices tended to.
Example 2: quality of care for complex patients at Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics (NPLCs)
The other author of this paper (RH) has conducted a multiple-case study to determine the quality of care for patients with complex clinical presentations in NPLCs in Ontario, Canada. 10 Five NPLCs served as individual cases that, together, represented the quatrain. Three types of data were collected including:
Review of documentation related to the NPLC model (media, annual reports, research articles, grey literature and regulatory legislation).
Interviews with nurse practitioners (NPs) practising at the five NPLCs to determine their perceptions of the impact of the NPLC model on the quality of care provided to patients with multimorbidity.
Chart audits conducted at the five NPLCs to determine the extent to which evidence-based guidelines were followed for patients with diabetes and at least one other chronic condition.
The three sources of data collected from the five NPLCs were analysed and themes arose related to the quality of care for complex patients at NPLCs. The multiple-case study confirmed that nurse practitioners are the primary care providers at the NPLCs, and this positively impacts the quality of care for patients with multimorbidity. Healthcare policy, such as lack of an increase in salary for NPs for 10 years, has resulted in issues in recruitment and retention of NPs at NPLCs. This, along with insufficient resources in the communities where NPLCs are located and high patient vulnerability at NPLCs, have a negative impact on the quality of care. 10
These examples illustrate how collecting data about a single case or multiple cases helps us to better understand the phenomenon in question. Case study methodology serves to provide a framework for evaluation and analysis of complex issues. It shines a light on the holistic nature of nursing practice and offers a perspective that informs improved patient care.
- Gustafsson J
- Calanzaro M
- Sandelowski M
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.
Read the full text or download the PDF:
CBSE Class 12 Physics 2023 : Important Case Study Based Questions with Solution
The annual CBSE exam is extremely important for the students, and the next paper will be Physics on 6th March . The subject also demands immense practice , there will be five sections in the Physics exam, and the last section E will have two case study-based questions of 5 marks each . These questions are very important from the exam point of view, and you can read the solved versions here .
Why are Case Study Questions Beneficial for Class 12 Physics?
It is a mind-boggling subject which is at par with Mathematics for non-medical stream students. However, Physics is challenging for all students because of its conceptual and numerical-based nature .
Physics requires a clear understanding of fundamentals, memorization of many formulas, derivation and expert calculation skills as well as the ability to apply them to complex problems. All this requires practice, you can read here Case Study Questions for Class 12 Physics in solved version.
CBSE Class 12 Physics – Important Questions Case Study
Ques. 1 An ammeter and a voltmeter are connected in series to a battery with an emf of 10V. When a certain resistance is connected in parallel with the voltmeter, the reading of the voltmeter decreases three times, whereas the reading of the ammeter increases two times.
A: Find the voltmeter reading after the connection of the resistance.
Answer: (2) 2V
B: If the resistance of the ammeter is 2 ohm, then the resistance of the voltmeter is:-
Answer: (3) 3 ohm
C: If the resistance of ammeter is 2 ohm ,then resistance of the resistor which is added in parallel to the voltmeter is
- None of the above
Answer: (1) 3/5 ohm
Ques. 2 Given figure shows a metal rod PQ resting on the smooth rails AB and positioned between the poles of a permanent magnet. The rails, the rod, and the magnetic field are in three mutual perpendicular directions. A galvanometer G connects the rails through a switch K. Length of the rod = 15 cm, B = 0.50 T, resistance of the closed loop containing the rod = 9.0 mΩ. Assume the field to be uniform.
(a) Suppose K is open and the rod is moved with a speed of 12 cm s-1 in the direction shown. Give the polarity and magnitude of the induced emf. Physics / XII (2020-21)
(b) Is there an excess charge built up at the ends of the rods when K is open? What if K is closed?
(c) With K open and the rod moving uniformly, there is no net force on the electrons in the rod PQ even though they do experience magnetic force due to the motion of the rod. Explain.
(d) What is the retarding force on the rod when K is closed?
(e) How much power is required (by an external agent) to keep the rod moving at the same speed (=12 cm/ sec) when K is closed? How much power is required when K is open?
(f) How much power is dissipated as heat in the closed circuit? What is the source of this power?
(g) What is the induced emf in the moving rod if the magnetic field is parallel to the rails instead of being perpendicular?
(a) EMF = vBL = 0.12 0.50 x 0.15 = 9.0 mV; P positive end and Q negative end.
(b) Yes. When K is closed, the excess charge is maintained by the continuous flow of current.
(c) Magnetic force is cancelled by the electric force set-up due to the excess charge of opposite signs at the ends of the rod.
(d) Retarding force = IBL
9 mV / 9 mΩ x 0.5 T x 0.15 m = 75 x 10 -3 N
e) Power expended by an external agent against the above retarding force to keep the rod moving uniformly at 12 cm s’ = 75 x 10 -3 x 12 x 10 -2 = 9.0 x 10 -3 W
When K is open, no power is expended.
(f) I 2 R = 1x1x 9 x 10 -3 = 9.0 x 10 -3 W
The source of this power is the power provided by the external agent as calculated above.
g) Zero: motion of the rod does not cut across the field lines. [Note: length of Pg has been considered above to be equal to the spacing between the rails.]
Ques. 3 According to Ohm’s law, the current flowing through a conductor is directly proportional to the potential difference across the ends of the conductor i.e I ∝ V ⇒ V/ I = R, where R is resistance of the conductor Electrical resistance of a conductor is the obstruction posed by the conductor to the flow of electric current through it. It depends upon length, area of cross-section, nature of material and temperature of the conductor.
We can write R∝l/A or R=ρl/A
Where ρ is electrical resistivity of the material of the conductor.
(i) Dimensions of electric resistance is
(a) [ML2 T−2 A−2]
(b) [ML2T−3A−2]
(c) [M−1 L−2 T−1 A]
(d) [M−1L2T2A−1]
(ii) If 1μA current flows through a conductor when potential difference of 2 volt is applied
across its ends, then the resistance of the conductor is
(c) 1.5×105Ω
(iii) Specific resistance of a wire depends upon
(b) cross-sectional area
(d) none of these
(iv) The slope of the graph between potential difference and current through a conductor is
(a) a straight line
(c) first curve then straight line
(d) first straight line then curve
(v) The resistivity of the material of a wire 1.0 m long, 0.4 mm in diameter and having a
resistance of 2.0 ohm is
(a) 57×10−6Ωm
(b) 5.25×10−7Ωm
(c) 7.12×10−5Ωm
(d) 2.55×10−7Ωm
Now, ρ = RA/ l = 2×4π×10−8/ 1 = 2.55×10−7Ωm
(ii) (b) As I = ε/ (R+r)
In first case, I = 0.5 A; R = 12 Ω
0.5 = ε/ (12+r) ⇒ ε = 6.0 + 0.5 r ….(i)
In second case I = 0.25 A; R=25 Ω
ε = 6.25 + 0.25 r …(ii)
From equation (i) and (ii), r = 1 Ω
(iv) (a) Current in the circuit I= ε/ (R+r)
Power delivered to the resistance R is P = I2R = E2R/ (R+r)2
It is maximum when dP/ dR = 0
dP/ dR = E2[(r+R)2−R(r+R)]/ (r+R)4 = 0
or (r+R)2 = 2R(r+R) or R = r
(v) (b) For first case, ε/ (R+r) = 10/ R …(i)
For second case, ε/ (5R+r) = 30/ 5R
Dividing (i) by (ii), we get r = 5R
From (i), ε/ (R+5R) = 10/ R ,ε = 60 V
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Interesting MBA case studies you should know
Case studies are an integral part of business school education. Real-world experience is used to develop a study method that helps students understand business scenarios. Harvard Business School was the pioneer in using the case study method, and it is now a common feature in all business schools around the world. You could use hundreds of case studies to learn how managers tackle different situations, from mergers and acquisitions to the launch and success of a new product line to branding strategy.
This article will cover some of the most important aspects of MBA business case studies, such as why they’re important and some case study examples.
What is an MBA case study?
Case studies are real-life business situations or hypothetical business scenarios used in MBA course to facilitate some elements of experiential learning. A business case study will present you with a business issue, a conflict to be resolved, or an impending decision that needs to be made. In most cases, a case study focuses on a specific company and a seemingly difficult management issue. In many cases, this is a problem that the company’s upper management (CEO, CFO) is dealing with.
Following that, a slew of objective and subjective facts are presented. There may be information about the company’s history and financial data relevant to the case study example (balance sheet, profit, and loss account). Additionally, there could be information demonstrating the company’s size (for example, the number of employees, locations, and products).
Also read: MBA Course Details
As a management student, you are expected to read the case, analyse the issues presented, evaluate the underlying issues, and present solutions to the case’s problem. When writing an analysis, you should provide a realistic solution and explain why this solution will help your organisation achieve its objectives. Finally, your analysis should include detailed plans for implementing your proposed solution.
Why are MBA case studies important?
When combined with in-class discussions, case studies help students develop their critical thinking and problem solving skills, which aid in formulating better approaches to problems. From eliciting student-led debates to deciphering complex business concepts, cases are powerful pedagogical vehicles for fostering students’ confidence, problem-solving, and reasoning abilities.
A case study is an important part of an aspiring manager’s curriculum because it requires the use of critical thinking while solving a problem. Each situation requires a different approach to reading and interpreting information and, ultimately, a different way of thinking.
When you tackle a case study, it will test your analytical, reasoning, leadership, and decision-making abilities. The case study method helps you apply your theoretical knowledge and practical application in a dynamic and VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity ) world.
Read top management-related blogs of 2022 .
List of Top 25 MBA case studies everyone should know
Followings are some of the interesting case studies for MBA students:
- The Mumbai dabbawala story
Many business schools in India and abroad, including Harvard, use this well-known case study in operations and supply chain management. Dabbawala model was applauded by the likes of Prince Charles and Richard Branson because of its Six Sigma level of accuracy. What makes this case so special and appealing? Let’s take a look at this:
They collect hot meals from customers’ homes across the city and deliver them to schools and workplaces throughout the day. Known for its smooth, dependable, and long-lasting delivery system, they have a long track record of success.
Their operation is intertwined with the rail network in Mumbai, which sets the pace and helps with the delivery schedule. The dabbawalas use a simple coding system that is easy and convenient for everyone. In addition to having a specific code for the neighbourhood where the Dabba will be delivered, they also have characters indicating the delivery address and who will be making the delivery.
They work in self-organised teams of 25 people each. While delivering their dabbas, the most experienced ones serve as supervisors. Every dabbawala negotiates with his customers on an individual basis.
It may seem surprising, but one of the reasons for their success is their reliance on human capital rather than technology. They are highly motivated because they understand how important their work is. If they don’t deliver, someone somewhere will miss his lunch. For them, delivering food is akin to serving God!
In a first, Flipkart has teamed up with the Mumbai Dabbawalas to deliver goods to customers in the city.
- Shopify support for building online stores
From sole proprietors to multinational conglomerates, businesses of all sizes have used Canada-based Shopify’s SaaS (Software as a Service) e-commerce platform to launch online shops. Web builders, safe payment methods, templates, search engine optimization (SEO), analytics, and a slew of other tools were all available through the company. Shopify’s web builder was easy to use, even for people with no coding or e-commerce experience.
Despite offering a feature-rich solution, Shopify has received criticism for the high costs that merchants must bear to set up a website of their choosing. However, Shopify by 2020 was hosting close to 377,000 online stores and boasted customers like Budweiser, World Wildlife Fund, GE, Amnesty International, Tesla, and Encyclopedia Britannica.
The case is set up to accomplish the following teaching goals:
- E-commerce sites have specific business goals, system functionality, and information needs.
- The quality of an e-commerce website may be affected by the features offered by e-commerce solution providers.
Flipkart, the first Indian e-commerce company valued at a billion dollars, was founded in 2007 with a small investment of Rs 4 lakhs. Flipkart exploited a large group of consumers eager to experience the convenience of online shopping.
Flipkart’s success is largely due to the following factors:
- Its warehouse and inventory management system give it a solid backend to work from.
- Focus on resolving delivery and defective product issues promptly. The company’s co-founders believe that discounts are not enough to satisfy the customer’s expectations of timely service and efficiency.
- Next, we’re going to see a lot of innovation. Cash-on-delivery and credit card payments at the doorstep are additional options that give customers more flexibility and convenience.
- Flipkart added the ‘surprise and delight’ factor to customers’ shopping experience. They were given offers that Flipkart tailored to their specific needs and preferences. That’s what the company’s Big Billion Sale was all about. In the eyes of many, the retailer was accused of making a hasty leap into the unknown. Flipkart maintained its goodwill by sending an apology and explanation letter to all its customers for its mistakes in managing site traffic and the demand-supply gap for its products. It made enough amends to regain the trust of its supporters.
- Samsung: Going from `Make for India` to `Make for the World`
This business case study discusses how Samsung’s manufacturing and R&D strategies formulated for India can help it succeed internationally. When Samsung launched its “Make in India” initiative in the mid-2010s, it took advantage of government SOPs to encourage multinationals to establish manufacturing facilities in India. In addition, its Indian R&D centres came up with innovative products after studying Indian customer needs and taking into account customer feedback.
The case discusses some of the products launched under the “Make for India” initiative and describes their impact on the company’s market position in great detail. As a result of these and other government incentives, Samsung ramped up its domestic production over time. With its “Make for the World” initiative, Samsung announced that it would relocate its manufacturing operations from other countries to India, where it would ship its products worldwide. Is it likely that Samsung will make India its sole Asian manufacturing hub in the future? Is it possible that its customer-oriented products will help it outperform the rest?
- Build international brands by devising strategies.
- Examine the government’s methods for promoting domestic manufacturing.
- Recognise the significance of multinational corporations (MNCs) being aware of the specifics of the local market when expanding into new regions.
- Importance of product globalisation to capture market share.
- Recognise the importance of product design innovations in the global marketplace.
- Supply chain management issues.
- Locate opportunities to reduce costs and speed the launch of new products in the market.
- A study of multinationals’ perspectives on the advantages and disadvantages of domestic manufacturing.
- Kingfisher Airlines – A lesson from failure
Vijay Mallya’s dream bird, “Kingfisher”, was devastated by some reckless and risky decision-making on Mallya’s part. Due to bankruptcy and non-payment of loans, Kingfisher, operating since 2005, was forced to shut down at the end of 2012. The airline owed a debt of $1 billion to a consortium of 17 banks.
How did the glitzy airline go out of business despite its increased brand recognition and loyal customer base?
- When Kingfisher was first launched, Mallya intended to be a value-added airline. After launching Kingfisher Red, the airline later positioned itself as a low-cost carrier (the spun-off fleet of Air Deccan).
- Air Deccan’s acquisition for the start of operations was a failure. In most cases, attempts to gain visibility on high-traffic international routes (like Bangalore to London or Bangalore to Silicon Valley) failed. The takeover of Air Deccan, which had been in crisis for three years, resulted in a loss of more than INR 10 billion (US$160 million).
- As a result of the frequent changes in senior leadership and the absence of a long-term CEO or MD, the airline suffered.
- Many of the airline’s planes were grounded in 2011 because of engine problems. However, even as the company overhauled the engines, market conditions and rising fuel prices significantly impacted yields.
- Customers would rather fly with other low-cost airlines. Hence, withdrawing from the low-cost segment (Kingfisher Red) was ineffective in attracting new customers to the company’s premium segment (Kingfisher).
The airline continued to lose money year after year due to external and internal issues. It wasn’t just a lack of a clear vision and a firm positioning strategy that kept the airline from resuming operations; a lack of understanding of consumer behaviour led to Mallya’s various decisions, such as suspending international operations and raising fuel surcharges.
- IPL – The right pitch at the right time
The Indian Premier League (IPL), conceived in 2007, is a perfect example of controversial marketing. BCCI’s Indian Premier League (IPL) generated excitement usually seen in basketball, soccer, and baseball franchises. In addition to attracting cricket-crazy Indians, what else did the Indian Premier League do to become a global brand?
- Fast-paced action and 3.5 hours of movie-like entertainment are the key selling points. Twenty20’s commercial potential has been demonstrated by the IPL’s involvement in high-stakes matches.
- Indian Premier League (IPL) is popular worldwide, and the presence of international star players influences the level of support and interest. In Australia, for example, Shane Warne’s contribution to the success of the Rajasthan Royals is widely recognised.
- The IPL’s popularity can be attributed largely to its coverage in the media. All year long, the season is covered by local, national, and international media outlets, even when the season is closed.
- The involvement of celebrities such as Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, and Shilpa Shetty as franchise owners and promoters added a lot of glitz and glamour to the show.
- The auctioning off of players and franchises, using cheerleaders, the opening ceremony, and live concerts, are all part of the IPL’s marketing strategy.
The IPL has expanded by leaps and bounds, but the IPL has also been embroiled in several controversies involving corruption, match-fixing, and mismanagement. The BCCI can sustain IPL success with improved administrative efficiency, strict oversight, and increased player awareness.
- Procter & Gamble – “Double Down’ Strategy during COVID-19 Pandemic”
According to this case study, Procter and Gamble used the strategy of “Double Down” during the COVID-19 pandemic to increase its brand visibility. When the US government implemented a lockdown after the coronavirus outbreak, people began stockpiling essential supplies in anticipation of a lockdown. As a result, retailers could not keep enough of the most popular products in stock. Businesses reduced their media spending in anticipation of the economic downturn. However, despite the uncertainty, P&G decided to increase its marketing investment to increase its brand visibility. Though the market and economy were slowing, did P&G’s advertising strategy succeed?
- Understanding consumer behaviour and the reasons for panic buying is critical to better understanding your customers.
- Consumers’ behaviour patterns change during times of crisis.
- To remain competitive in the event of a pandemic, assess the company’s business strategy.
- Analyze the company’s media strategy to increase media expenditures, especially during the pandemic.
- Investigate the issues and difficulties that the company might have encountered in implementing its strategies.
- Hindustan Unilever Limited: “Providing the Right Work-Life Balance”
HUL, India’s largest Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company, has implemented several programmes to help its employees achieve a healthy work-life balance. HUL’s HR policies are examined in depth in this case study, which shows how they aided employees in carrying out their professional and personal responsibilities more effectively. HUL’s efforts to meet the diverse needs of its female employees are explained in great depth. There are references to the company’s efforts to stay on top of new-age employees’ evolving needs. Will HUL continue to be an ‘Employer of Choice’ in India?’
- Understand the term “quality of work-life” (QWL).
- Look for new developments in the QWL field.
- Investigate the effect of allowing employees to work from home on their overall satisfaction with their work schedules.
- Develop strategies for retaining and managing talent.
- Create a plan to increase the diversity of your workforce.
- Examine HR policies to stop discrimination based on gender.
- Byju’s – A leader in EdTech
The case concerns the rapid expansion of the Bengaluru-based Indian e-learning platform Byju’s (Think and Learn Private Ltd). Founder and CEO of the EdTech start-up, Byju Raveendran previously worked for Pan Ocean Shipping, a UK-based shipping company. For 12 long years, Raveendran helped his friends get through the Common Admission Test for Management Courses in India and then built Byju’s learning app. BYJU – The company’s main product was the Learning App, which users could download on Android devices from Google Play and iOS devices from the Apple App Store. The app provides comprehensive learning programmes and special programmes for students preparing for competitive exams and for students in grades 6 to 12 in India.
Since its inception in 2015, the startup has received funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Chinese internet giant Tencent. Byju’s turned profitable in 2019 after three years of annual growth of 100% (2016-18). In July 2019, its valuation increased to US$5.5 billion, making it the world’s most valuable EdTech company. It remains to be seen if Byju’s strategies that worked in India would be successful in other markets as the company enters international markets.
- Realise the importance of educational technology in India’s educational system.
- Observe the business models of educational technology start-ups.
- Determine whether or not educational technology in India is well-accepted.
- Oneplus – A Chinese success story in India
The focus of this case study is the success of Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus in India. In December 2014, OnePlus launched its first smartphone in India, and within four years, it had become the country’s most popular premium smartphone brand.
According to the case study, OnePlus’s strategy in India was to launch high-end smartphones at affordable prices, build a strong community, focus on customer service, and use clever marketing techniques. Obsession with product design and quality, branding, and customer engagement was OnePlus’s core strength. An emphasis on viral marketing and community interaction, including social media, to spread the company’s message.
OnePlus faced several challenges, despite its phenomenal success in India. Competition, scaling offline, price-sensitive Indian consumers, low smartphone penetration, and an economic slowdown were all factors that contributed to the decline. Furthermore, OnePlus risked losing price-conscious customers as its phones became more expensive. Vikas Agarwal , OnePlus India’s General Manager, faced several challenges as India remained a critical market for the company. These included increasing the adoption of OnePlus devices in India, expanding offline, crushing competition, and maintaining OnePlus’ dominance in India’s premium smartphone segment.
- Evaluate the expansion and entry of OnePlus into India.
- Recognise the significance of India as a market for OnePlus.
- Find out what helped OnePlus become so popular in India.
- Consider OnePlus’s key growth market, India, and the issues and challenges it faces there.
- Consider how OnePlus can maintain its position as a leading player in the Indian premium smartphone market by looking at the company’s plans.
- Tesla’s convertible bonds
This business case study looks at how Tesla, Inc., a company with a credit rating below investment grade, has successfully issued convertible bonds and funded its electric car business at a low-interest rate since 2013. However, things changed over time. Tesla’s stock price soared, and some speculated that this could spell the end of the company’s use of convertible bonds. A new low-cost, long-term source of financing for Tesla’s business is now on the CEO’s radar.
- Become familiar with convertible bonds and other financial instruments.
- Bonds and debentures are two different types of investments.
- Recognise the benefits and drawbacks of long-term financing via convertible bonds.
- Look into the various funding options available to startup businesses.
- Malden Mills Case
In some situations, making the right decision can be compared to financial benefits, as Malden Mills has firsthand knowledge of. The industrial facility was set on fire two weeks before Christmas in 1995, and the management told employees that they would be out of work until they rebuilt the processing plant. On the other hand, CEO Aaron Feuerstein of Malden Mills increased the number of representatives by 90 days at full pay and 180 days with benefits for $25 million.
Collaboration and profitability reached a new high, with 40% more business and 95% client and representative retention. After they modified the processing plant, the majority of the uprooted specialists were rehired. Each week, the amount of yardage created increased from 130,000 to 200,000. As a result, Malden Mills has gone through three rounds of the bankruptcy court, with a significant portion of the debt being tied to a reimagining of the industrial complex. Business students should consider this case to see if engaging in humanitarian activities will satisfy their needs in the long run.
- Starbucks and Exclusivity
In 2008, Starbucks announced that it would be closing 600 of its locations in the US. Starbucks stores had been gaining new features, such as wi-fi and music, but they had begun to lose their warm “neighborhood store” feel for a chain store persona. According to the Harvard Business Review, Starbucks is a mass brand attempting to charge an exceptional price for an event that is not any more extraordinary. As a result, to compete with its price-conscious customers, Starbucks would have to either cut costs or reduce the number of stores to regain its image selectiveness.
Starbucks’ growth has been hampered by three issues, according to the HBR study: alienating early adopters, attracting an excessive amount of attention, and moving too slowly forward with new locations and products. According to Harvard Business Review, Starbucks should have remained a privately held company and grown at a moderate pace to maintain its status as a top brand.
- Retirement revolution study: American Express
With the retirement of senior employees comes the loss of knowledge and experience in the organisations. Retiring workers leave the workplace with a wealth of knowledge and experience in their wake. American Express came up with a pilot programme to retain this. American Express created a group of workers who would gradually take over some of the day-to-day responsibilities of retiring employees. In return, the individual would devote some of their free time to mentoring and teaching future generations. This resulted in phased retirement, allowing employees to leave gradually and enjoy the extra time while still receiving a portion of their previous salary and regular benefits. This also meant that some employees stayed a year or more past the traditional retirement age.
With this programme, AMEX believes senior employees can enjoy their final years of work in an unrestricted capacity while educating the current workforce for future success.
- Ad spending study
There are times when an organisation’s financial situation does not allow it to spend large sums of money on advertising. However, forgoing advertising in favour of higher profits can be costly. Experts recommend expanding your marketing strategy to reach a wider audience when you’re in a slump. During a recession, this is especially true, as many organisations cut back on their ad spending.
Firehouse Subs’ boom petered out after seven years of expansion from 30 to 300 locations. The company’s leadership realised they needed to find a solution. As a result, they gave back the fees franchisees had paid for local advertising to take control of their local marketing. Since sales continued to decline, it became clear that this was an ineffective strategy. Firehouse reclaimed its local marketing fee and allowed franchisees to participate in a new marketing campaign. This required them to pay double for local marketing but included them in an $8 million advertising campaign poised for success. Experts applaud Firehouse for having the fortitude to ask franchisees for more money where it was needed, even during difficult times.
- Tylenol’s 1982 scandal
Seven people died in Chicago in 1982 after taking Tylenol after an unknown suspect laced the capsules with cyanide after it hit the shelves. Even though the problem was limited to the Chicago area, Tylenol’s domestic market share dropped immediately from 37% to 7%. Tylenol was not responsible for the product’s tampering. Still, to maintain the product’s reputation, Johnson & Johnson removed all Tylenol from the shelves, incurring a loss of more than 100 million dollars.
Tylenol was successfully reintroduced to the medical community with tamper-resistant packaging, sales presentations, and discounts. Johnson & Johnson’s quick action and effective public relations saved the brand.
- Market expansion via partnership
Expanding beyond a company’s initial customer base is usually a daunting task for small businesses to support new growth. On the other hand, businesses greatly benefit from collaborating with a well-established market leader.
Diagnostic Hybrids, a company specialising in medical nosology, collaborated with Quidel, a leader in rapid diagnostic tests, to achieve this goal. As a result of this partnership, Diagnostic Hybrids gained a larger market presence and a wider range of resources for research and development. As a separate subsidiary, the same company’s president and operations were allowed to remain as part of the acquisition strategy.
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- Tesco’s Korean venture
Tesco’s Korean venture is an excellent example of establishing a market share on a global scale. The company made some well-thought-out moves in its Korean expansion, notably partnering with Samsung, the largest Korean conglomerate. It embraced the Korean way of life by operating stores as nearby agencies and neighbourhood centres.
Tesco also made a wise decision by employing nearly entirely Koreans, with only four British employees out of a total workforce of 23,000. According to reports, Tesco’s well-planned strategy has gained customers in Seoul, with 25% of Koreans signing up for loyalty cards and earnings in the billions, finding success in “cracking[ing] the Asian tiger” where competitors such as Carrefour and WalMart have failed.
- The Uber way – “Forecasting in the Platform Economy”
Uber’s forecasting process is examined in-depth in this case study. For forecasting, the company relied on its own Time Series data. Time Series is a type of dataset that includes data collected over a set amount of time. You can measure time in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, years, and even millennia. Analysis of time series data and regression analysis were used to forecast demand for Uber cabs. Additionally, the use of different variables from different sources lends credibility. This analysis relies heavily on the selection of variables. It is important to combine data from various sources for the analysis to be useful.
- To gain a fundamental understanding of Uber’s business model and the platform economy.
- Learning how to wrangle data properly is the first step in data analysis.
- Importance of value forecasting.
- For a better understanding of how to use time series forecasting.
- To better understand how you can use various data sources to enhance the analysis.
- JPMorgan Chase & Co. – “Creating a Next-Gen Banking Experience Powered by Digital Technology”
This business case study examines JPMorgan Chase’s digital initiatives to create a next-generation banking experience powered by technology (JPMC). JPMC employed 50,000 technologists worldwide and spent $11.5 billion on technology in 2019 to stay relevant in the face of shifting customer expectations and the growing popularity of digital banking. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMC, took on the challenge of increasing the reliance of banking operations on digital technology in 2006.
JPMC’s digital initiatives included the “mobile-first, digital everything” strategy, which was an important part of the company’s evolution over time. Big Data, Cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence, Mobile and Electronic Payments, Machine Learning, Blockchain, Robotics, and Cybersecurity are discussed in detail by JPMC. With the help of several FinTech companies, JPMC has been working on various new technologies for its banking operations and preparing for future competition from both banking and non-banking entities. Amidst all of its technological innovation, JPMC faced an ever-increasing threat from banking organisations aligned with technology companies. As a result, it made a concerted effort to use digital technology to combat the competition.
- Use digital technology to examine the impact of traditional banking processes on the modern world
- In the present and future, how important is mobile banking?
- Recognise the methods financial institutions use to overcome the difficulties of implementing new technology.
- Explain the difference between incremental and disruptive/breakthrough innovation using the banking industry as an example.
- Twitter and the Creme Brulee
Marketing is essential for any business, irrespective of the size and turnover. Marketing can cost a lot of money, but it won’t yield much return unless done correctly. Curtis Kimball, the man behind the Creme Brulee Cart, used Twitter to his advantage. He amassed many followers and expanded his commercial enterprise by allowing people to follow the cart online.
Curtis developed personal relationships with his followers by soliciting their feedback on everything from flavour combinations to cart locations. Perhaps the most incredible aspect of this story is that Kimball has no advertising budget (Twitter is a free service) but enjoys a distinctly popular following and high Yelp ratings.
- Excessive variety leads to a revenue loss
Hickory Farms began with holiday gift baskets containing sausage, ham, and cheese and eventually had a presentation of 2,500 special products. This stretched the employer and resulted in a loss of flavour with customers.
Recognising this problem, Hickory Farms reduced its product line from 2,500 to 300, with more modern visuals, descriptions, and other features such as less packaging and more recycled content. In addition, the organisation revamped its website, making it easier to save online. This streamlining resulted in a 13 per cent cost reduction that Hickory Farms could pass on to their customers. Jennifer Woodbery, a brand strategist, believes that this was a wise decision, making the most of Hickory Farms’ trusted name and image through an effective rebranding of offerings.
- Employees maintenance
It is common for your best employee to change after promotion. Such was the case at the cat shelter Paws Need Families, where Della, a cleaner, rose through the ranks to become an assistant manager and, eventually, manager. She began arriving late, allowing applications to sit, skipping inoculations, which were all serious offences. Meetings were held instead of confronting Della directly, and they hired an assistant manager to compensate for Della’s shortcomings. Della was eventually fired for failing to clean up her act.
According to Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager, short meetings and a review system could have avoided this situation. With an effective employee system in place, we can identify problems before they become major issues.
- Supply Chain Disruption
When a fire at Philips’ microchip plant occurred in 2000, the Nokia and Ericsson phone companies were affected. They responded in different ways, and ultimately Ericsson did not fare so well in the mobile smartphone market. Instead, the European customer market was taken over by Nokia.
Nokia devised a new business model for snatching up spare chips from various suppliers and re-engineered some of their telephones to adapt to one-of-a-kind chips from new suppliers. At the same time, Ericsson decided to wait until the hassle was over. While Ericsson slashed its production and sales, Nokia was able to dominate the market. This incident and its aftermath are textbook examples of managing supply chain risk.
- Triumphant in International Market
A British motorcycle manufacturer, Triumph began to fade from prominence three decades ago. It did, however, find a new life on a global scale. Triumph sold 7,562 bikes in the UK in 2010 but 50,000 worldwide, indicating that the company’s international expansion paid off. Triumph’s famous manufacturing plant in Warwickshire closed in 1983, but the Indian factory remained, and it is now very popular. With a six-month ready list and a new factory under construction, the company is struggling to meet demand in India, as the country has embraced the brand.
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How to get started with MBA case studies?
You cannot solve a case study with minimal effort. When you begin working on an MBA case study, you will develop your perspective. So, it is critical to do the following at the start:
- Contemplate
The most difficult aspect of solving the case study is comprehending the case in which most students fail. To overcome this, the four stages listed above can be useful.
Begin by comprehending how this case relates to the rest of the course. The first case is typically used to introduce you to the course and the material you’ll be covering, and the final case study summarises what you’ve learned and covered in the course.
Steps to solve MBA case studies
To solve an MBA business case study, you should follow the following general guidelines:
- Think of yourself as a manager or, as the Harvard Business School likes to say, as a protagonist. Define the issue or the problem you are dealing with as a protagonist.
- Take a closer look at what’s causing the problems and issues you’re having. You may uncover evidence that proves their case. Form your hypothesis.
- Create options within the scope of the organisation’s goals and objectives.
- Return to your original hypotheses and assumptions to determine the best course of action. You should back your solution or strategy with data from the exhibits.
- Put it to the people. Discuss. Brainstorm. Trade-offs for each alternative need to be identified
- Offer a final alternative and explain why it is a better choice.
- Make a note of any interesting/new/innovative solutions that others encounter during the case study discussion.
Advantages of learning from business case study
Management case studies are the best tools to understand the rapidly changing market realities and managerial challenges, shifting consumer expectations and the race to meet them. Some of the perks of using case studies are:
- Business leadership skills: Employers want people who can make quick, sound decisions that benefit the company. This is why case studies are so useful in preparing students for real-world business situations in the future. Confidence is essential in business because colleagues and business partners may not always share the same beliefs, and it is necessary to defend your thinking. This is achieved through the debating process, in which students defend their solutions to each case and attempt to persuade one another to support their ideas.
- Better than lectures: Case studies with a narrative arc appeal to students on an emotional and intellectual level. Solving a real-world problem gives them a feeling of accomplishment. This method encourages students to get emotionally and intellectually involved in each case.
- Holistic view of the company’s business: Candidates who complete the MBA program are exposed to many domestic and international case studies, broadening their career options after graduation. Students will learn how to apply what they’ve learned from previous cases to any situation throughout their career.
How to start your own case studies?
Practice by putting yourself in the shoes of a business owner or manager, as it will help you become familiar with the various components of a case study. You should practice identifying relevant facts and critical issues while reading through cases. After reading the case, take notes to have a list of items and possible solutions to research. As you come up with solutions, make a list of the advantages and disadvantages of each one, and make certain that the solutions you come up with are attainable.
Through these real-world business scenarios, you learn various skills such as asset management, acquisition strategy, business administration, and so on, without having to bear any actual risks or potential losses as in real life. This promotes quick thinking and provides students with a good understanding of a challenging experience.
Different ways of looking at the same business situation can yield very different results from the same data. Participating in case discussions with your peers will allow you to gain new perspectives on the company’s challenges, which you can then apply to your work. As a result, business school students significantly benefit from using case studies.
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Case Studies should act as instructive examples to people who might encounter similar problems. Ideally, in medicine, Case Studies should detail a particular medical case, describing the ...
The aim of a case study is to help your potential customer understand what you do. Showing how you helped a client via a story is the best way to connect with the reader. Giving examples and details about how you work with your clients will help to convert customers; it is giving them all the information they need to help make the buying ...
Case studies are one part promotional marketing and two parts market research. When researching the information for your case study you tend to learn more about your own products as well as gain a better idea about how your actual customers utilize your products or services.
1) Case studies capture your buyers' attention with highly relevant content that positions your SaaS company as an expert in the products or services you deliver. 2) Case studies also build trust by sharing social proof in an interesting format that uses storytelling to weave a narrative.
Case studies bring together the body of knowledge you've been studying throughout your degree program - pharmaceutical chemistry to pharmacology to clinical medicine. Case studies give you the opportunity to think like a professional. The more exposure you have to case studies, the better.
Case studies are important for sales and marketing efforts because: They help tell your company's story They offer concrete proof They leverage the power of your customer's experience They help your company stand apart from competitors They position you as a leader They can be used in various sales and marketing scenarios
Case studies provide insight into real challenges and an in-depth look at how your company goes about solving them. They give you a chance to display your strategic thinking and approach, your expertise and innovation, and your ability to follow through on your promised solution. 4. Assist with Furthering Research
3. Case studies help people decide. Case studies help readers understand what it would be like to go through the same experience. The result: more informed decisions (Slovice and Gregory, 2000). These narratives work because they help people: Weigh factors in decision-making.
Case Study It is an in-depth study and analysis of an individual, group, community, or phenomenon. The results of a case study cannot be applied to the whole population, but they can provide insights for further studies. It often uses qualitative research methods such as observations, surveys, and interviews.
Attending a recent industry conference had me wondering, "Are case studies important?". It's been a long time since I've attended an event like this and it seemed to me things have really changed. As industries and businesses are influenced and pressured to follow a certain way of doing things, the pressure to communicate following ...
PRO TIP: Case studies were ranked "very important by" 52% of B2B buyers while evaluating vendors.. With 88% of consumers trusting online ratings and reviews, case studies prove to be a reliable way to establish social proof - ranking up there with blogs, ebooks, and video.. And from a marketing standpoint, using case studies is so impactful because those who read about success in their ...
Case studies can be used in various fields, including psychology, medicine, education, anthropology, political science, and social work. The purpose of a case study is to learn as much as possible about an individual or group so that the information can be generalized to many others.
A case study helps in bringing the understanding of a complex issue or object. It can extend experience or add strength to the existing knowledge through previous research. Their contextual analysis revolves around a limited number of events or conditions and how they relate.
Find the case study most important to your business Find the company and reference you need. Search over 733,699 case studies browse key categories Customer Data Platforms Enterprise Project Management Robotic Process Automation Sales Forecasting Low-Code Development See All 706 Categories Featuring Case Studies from companies like
It also encourages rigorous thinking and helps students improve their communication skills. Contributing one's own views - expressing and defending - becomes one of the best learning outcomes. The ...
Cases are important because they let you have clear investigations regarding the subjects, community, individuals, companies, etc. They are crucial to have a better understanding of the complexity of the objects and issues. It also leads you to increase your experience.
Case studies Popular in post-graduate programmes, the case-study method usually replaces the historical order of teaching theory first and then applying theory in practice, and depends upon...
Case studies are often used in exploratory research. They can help us generate new ideas (that might be tested by other methods). They are an important way of illustrating theories and can help show how different aspects of a person's life are related to each other.
A case study is an important tool for designers to showcase their skills and approach in a story format, to recruiters, hiring-mangers, colleagues, or fellow designers. Approach it with the same ...
There will be five sections in the 2023 CBSE Class 12 Physics exam, and the last section E will comprise two case study-based questions of 5 marks. These questions are very important from the exam ...
Case study methodology serves to provide a framework for evaluation and analysis of complex issues. It shines a light on the holistic nature of nursing practice and offers a perspective that informs improved patient care. References ↵ Gustafsson J . Single case studies vs. multiple case studies: a comparative study (Thesis).
Case Study #2 Vera Martin is a 62-year-old who lost her employer-provided insurance when she was laid off nearly 2 years ago. Vera was eligible for health insurance benefits through her employer through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) but was unable to afford the full costs of the premium. A year and half following the layoff Vera was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The annual CBSE exam is extremely important for the students, and the next paper will be Physics on 6th March.The subject also demands immense practice, there will be five sections in the Physics exam, and the last section E will have two case study-based questions of 5 marks each.These questions are very important from the exam point of view, and you can read the solved versions here.
A case study is an important part of an aspiring manager's curriculum because it requires the use of critical thinking while solving a problem. Each situation requires a different approach to reading and interpreting information and, ultimately, a different way of thinking.