Guideline for Preparing a Case Study Report in MLA Style

CASE STUDY REPORT FORMAT GUIDELINE Following is a guideline for preparing your case study reports (remember to always use MLA Style for all formatting and referencing as per the course outline): Cover Page (Separate) ? Include Case Study Name or Title Centered on the page. ? Team member names and student IDs, Professor Name, Course Number, Date – all in lower right corner. ? Staple your report in the upper left. Do not use report jackets or any kind of cover. Table of Contents ? Use MS-Word’s Table of Contents tool to help Executive Summary ? Remember, this is written last and is a BRIEF overview of your key findings, recommendations and action plan. It also describes who the main actor in the case is. Issue(s) Statement ? May include your short cycle process to analyze the case (do not restate the case). It should clearly state what you find to be the key issue(s) of the case. Key concern(s), problem(s), decision(s), challenge(s) and opportunities you are facing as the main actor in the case. Analysis ? State your assumptions ? Analysis (analysis of the materials that may be included in the case appendix) ? Provide only a summary of your analysis in this main part of the document. Include any detailed findings, calculations, tables, etc. in your appendices. Alternatives Analysis ? Include the results of your alternatives analysis in this section. This is the result of your work using the alternatives assessment matrix, tree diagrams, predicted outcomes, quantitative v. qualitative analyses etc. ? State only your key alternatives assessment in this section Recommendations ? This section includes your recommendations. They should make sense given your stated issues, the various analyses and alternatives explored. ? Consider advantages and disadvantages of your options and recommendations 1 BAN120 – Analytic Case Study Group Case Report Format Guideline Action and Implementation Plan ? This section includes your short term and long term action and implementation plan. ? Remember, it must relate to your decisions and recommendations, and answer the questions: Who? What? When? Where? And How? ? A contingency plan is often a good addition to the Action and Implementation Plan. It addresses some of the pros and cons of your recommendations, and the risks associated with your recommendations. What will you do if things don’t quite go according to plan? References ? Recommend that you source business journals, periodicals, and textual references as well as any online research. There are many great journals at the Seneca Libraries website. ? Better grades come from reviewing many sources of insight. Not just one or two wikis! ? Make sure you support your ideas with facts and figures. ? Using your own words, rather than quoting is usually preferable. In either case, you must cite the source for your ideas. ? You should USE PROPER MLA style in-text citations, image source citations, and an alphabetical WORKS CITED LIST in a references section. ? If you reviewed extra articles, books, journals, but didn’t use them all directly, include them in a Bibliography. Exhibits and Appendices All your spreadsheets and charts, financial analysis, diagrams, and other related items can be placed here and referenced in your report. t.