Brexit and Canada: Implications and Challenges for Leadership

Significance of Brexit Vote

The panic of 2008 and Brexit: Regional integration versus nationalism.Ivey Business Publishing. Instructions Review readings from unit 1. Thoroughly read the case. It is recommended that you read 2-3 times. Prepare a 5-page report (12-point font, double spaced not including the title page or reference page), that addresses the following questions:

Q: Why is the Brexit vote significant both within the UK and globally?

Q: What are the potential implications for the Brexit vote in relation to Canada’s relationship with the EU and the UK?

Q: What are the key challenges facing leadership in the UK in light of the Brexit vote?

A case or case study is a real business story that requires you to step into the role of a manager or a member of the management team that faces a dilemma, or the role of a consultant assisting an organization that faces a dilemma. Acting in that role, you are tasked with resolving the issues or problems that the profiled organization is facing at a particular moment in time. Alternatively, you are asked to evaluate and choose among opportunities that exist for the organization at a specific point in time. Those issues and opportunities may be confined to a specific discipline in business, such as accounting, marketing, human resources, or strategic management. However, the challenges often involve several disciplines, reflecting the multi-faceted nature of business in practice. 

The case method involves learning by doing. It provides you with an opportunity to apply your knowledge and skills to real-life and realistic situations. Listening to class lectures, reading about various business subjects, and performing quantitative and qualitative analyses to solve well-defined problems are all valuable learning tools; however, management skills and knowledge cannot be developed by these methods alone. Management requires more than applying a storehouse of prepackaged solutions or standard answers. Each situation faced by management has its own variables unique to the situation. Using the case method provides you with valuable opportunities to develop and practise skills you will need in those situations. 

For all case assignments, you will be required to analyze the case by performing one or more of the basic steps of analysis (i.e., identify the issues, analyze the issues, develop and evaluate alternative solutions, and recommend a course of action). Analyze, in the broad sense, refers to the full process of applying the case method. Analyze can also specifically refer to the case analysis step of probing into and dissecting issues. In both contexts, analysis is a critical component of the case method. 

Implications for Canada's Relationship with EU and UK

This note of the Case Guide Series guides you through the specific process of analyzing a case. This method for basic case analysis can be used for several purposes: discussing the case in class, writing a report, making a presentation, and writing a case exam. 

To correctly identify issues, it is important to distinguish between symptoms and underlying causes. Your goal should be to focus on the underlying causes. To uncover them, ask the question "Why?" until you can no longer provide a satisfactory answer. 

For instance, an organization might be suffering from low productivity. Asking why productivity is low might lead you to conclude that employee morale is low and that employees are not motivated to perform well. Probing further, you might find that both of these issues arise because the reward system does not adequately recognize good performance. Low productivity and employee morale are symptoms of the underlying cause. 
Alternatively, an organization might be plagued by low customer retention. Asking why customers are going elsewhere might lead you to conclude that customer service is poor, product defect rates are high, 

The first step in analyzing the case is to identify the organization's issues, problems, and opportunities (collectively referred to hereafter as "issues") that you will attempt to resolve. A clear understanding of the issues is paramount; otherwise, your analysis and your generation of alternative solutions will lack the necessary focus. Although some cases will direct your attention toward specific issues (especially early in your business studies), a considerable degree of judgment is usually required to identify the issues. 

• The principal actors or characters in the case. These clues are musings or direct questions raised by the principal actors themselves. You can usually fmd these clues at the beginning and end of the case, but they might also be sprinkled throughout the case.

• Your instructor. Questions can often be found in the syllabus or course package, or on the course website. These questions are sometimes intended to limit your analysis to issues that fit within a specific topic of discussion. At other times, these questions are intended to focus your attention on the most important issues.

• The author of the case. In cases presented in textbooks, the case author sometimes provides attention-directing questions at the end of the case. 
If, in your analysis of the case, you have not answered all of the questions posed in the case or in your course syllabus, you have likely either omitted an important issue or become sidetracked by minor issues.

Challenges Facing Leadership in Light of Brexit Vote

Moreover, even if you have resolved some issues, if you have not addressed all of the questions posed in the case or in your course syllabus, your analysis will likely fail to totally satisfy your instructor—and later, your supervisor or client. 

Once you have identified the issues, you might need to reduce them to a manageable size to enable you to effectively carry out the subsequent steps in case analysis. 

For some cases, you might be required to resolve a single issue. However, you should still identify sub-issues, and decide which are most important and which you have the time and space to tackle. For example, the issue might be to set an admission price for a new museum. Possible sub-issues to consider include fit with the mission of the museum, customers' ability and willingness to pay, the possibility of differential pricing (e.g., lower rates for students), competing forms of entertainment and their admission prices, costs that need to be covered by the admission price, and the break-even point. To identify the most important sub-issues, consider the information in the case, the questions discussed in Section 2.1, and the nature of the course. 

Other cases might present multiple issues. You might find it helpful to look for relationships among the issues and cluster them under one overarching issue. For instance, in an organizational behaviour case, you might be able to trace several issues—such as unclear decision making processes, inability to deal with job stresses, and inability to delegate—to the root issue of inadequate training of managers. Dealing with one issue is easier than dealing with three separate issues and will lead to better solutions. 

Other cases might not have an overarching issue; instead, you might face a seemingly unconnected set of distinct issues. You will then need to prioritize the issues, using the questions referred to in Section 2.1, and your judgment, so that you give adequate time and attention to the most important issues. 

One aspect of analysis is using case facts to develop a detailed understanding of the issues. You can use the case facts to help build logical arguments, develop findings, and draw educated inferences rather than casual guesses. For instance, if the issue in an organizational behaviour case is inadequate managerial training, facts from the case should indicate that the training provided to managers did not sufficiently clarify decision making processes or how to delegate tasks, or both. Or, for a marketing case, an issue with increased competition might be supported by the case facts describing the entrance of new competitors into the market, new products introduced by competitors, or price reductions offered by competitors. 

Performing a Case Analysis

Many important case facts are contained in a case's figures and exhibits. These case facts could include data about the worldwide market size, the competition, the company's revenues and profit, industry sales, product prices, or organizational charts. Study each figure or exhibit to determine the key insights it offers. 

Another aspect of analysis is the use of business concepts, models, and tools to analyze the issues. For example, in an organizational behaviour case, you could use equity theory or expectancy theory to explain why an organization's reward system has been unsuccessful in motivating employees. In a marketing case, you could apply the model of a product life cycle or the concept of a target market; you could also calculate market share and changes in market share. To analyze issues in an accounting case, you could use tools such as contribution margin analysis or capital budgeting. In an integrated strategic management case, you might apply the concepts of value chain and competitive advantage, compute financial ratios, and apply tools such as a competitive position matrix and Porter's five forces framework. 

You will sometimes be given directions to apply specific concepts or tools; other times, you are expected to use your discretion in selecting the most relevant concepts or tools to apply. For some cases, the analysis will largely rely on qualitative models and tools. However, many cases will involve both qualitative and quantitative elements. 

Note 7 of the Case Guide Series—"Using Common Tools for Case Analysis,"—describes some common qualitative and quantitative tools for analyzing issues and possible courses of action. 

The first step in analyzing the case is to identify the organization's issues, problems, and opportunities (collectively referred to hereafter as "issues") that you will attempt to resolve. A clear understanding of the issues is paramount; otherwise, your analysis and your generation of alternative solutions will lack the necessary focus. Although some cases will direct your attention toward specific issues (especially early in your business studies), a considerable degree of judgment is usually required to identify the issues. 

Questions from three sources provide important clues about the key issues: 

• The principal actors or characters in the case. These clues are musings or direct questions raised by the principal actors themselves. You can usually fmd these clues at the beginning and end of the case, but they might also be sprinkled throughout the case.

• Your instructor. Questions can often be found in the syllabus or course package, or on the course website. These questions are sometimes intended to limit your analysis to issues that fit within a specific topic of discussion. At other times, these questions are intended to focus your attention on the most important issues.

• The author of the case. In cases presented in textbooks, the case author sometimes provides attention-directing questions at the end of the case. 
If, in your analysis of the case, you have not answered all of the questions posed in the case or in your course syllabus, you have likely either omitted an important issue or become sidetracked by minor issues. Moreover, even if you have resolved some issues, if you have not addressed all of the questions posed in the case or in your course syllabus, your analysis will likely fail to totally satisfy your instructor—and later, your supervisor or client.