GBA 398: Integrated Perspectives Business: Home

If you're enrolled in an executive education or MBA program, you've probably encountered a powerful learning tool: the business case. But if you're like many people, you may find interpreting and writing about cases mystifying, challenging, or downright frustrating. In "The Case Study Handbook", William Ellet presents a potent new approach for analyzing, discussing, and writing about cases. Early chapters show how to classify cases according to the analytical task they require (solving a problem, making a decision, or forming an evaluation) and quickly establish a base of knowledge about a case. Strategies and templates, in addition to several sample Harvard Business School cases, help you apply the author's framework. Later in the book, Ellet shows how to write persuasive case-analytical essays based on the process laid out earlier. Extensive examples of effective and ineffective writing further reinforce your learning. The book also includes a chapter on how to talk about cases more effectively in class. Any current or prospective MBA or executive education student needs to read this book.

Teeming with practical examples, this guide promotes an integrated approach for carrying out a case study. With a background emphasis on how to ensure the reliability and validity of results, the different steps of this approach are detailed: assessing the appropriateness of a case study; preparation; selecting cases; data collection, analysis and interpretation; and reporting results