EuroCHRIE
Case Panel
Presentation
R.M. O’HALLORAN
SCHOOL OF HOSPITALITY LEADERSHIP
EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
Framing what a case should be?

“Case studies reflect the reality of managerial decision-making in
the real world, in that students must make decisions based on
insufficient information. Cases reflect the ambiguity and complexity
that accompany most management issues” (Uhl, 2008).

Case studies are a teaching technique that allows students to learn
important strategic problem-solving and decision-making skills
(Connolly and McGing, 2006) that are highly valued in the
hospitality industry.
Case Reviews

A good case is a story but more……

What kind of a case is it?

Is there a business problem or challenge?
Usefulness and the Parameters of a
Case


“Cases compel students to: distinguish pertinent from peripheral
information, identify the problem(s) at hand and define its context and
parameters, identify a set of possible solutions, formulate strategies and
recommendations for action, make decisions, and confront obstacles
to implementation” (Golich et al., 2000).
Does the case(s) being reviewed allow students to accomplish
these tasks?

Identify Facts

Generate alternatives

Make a decision

Problem / Issue Identified

Case or situational analysis requires the identification of key decision
making facts. There may be huge amounts of information but not all of it
will be useful for the situation presented.


Identify what the problem is in the scenario presented. Differentiate between
a symptom and a problem. For example, is employee absenteeism a
problem or a symptom of a bigger issue?
Alternative Solutions

Learners using cases need to generate plausible and realistic outcomes
for situations.

Or do nothing and hope the problem will go away. Decision-making requires
a balance of information and the ability to evaluate data for its importance.
Reflective Judgment
Educational Goal for Case Studies


Ill Structured Problems

Cannot be described with a high degree of completeness.

Cannot be solved with a high degree of certainty.

Experts often disagree about the best solution.
Examples:



Determining the long-term impact of recession on the hotel industry.
Judging the ethical correctness of an operating decision.
Learn to construct and defend reasonable solutions.
What will the case user need to
do?
 Identify
the content
 Identify
the level of learning of the
students’: year, class, experience
 Identify
lesson
 Does
Is
the learning objectives of the
the case provide a framework?
the case analysis written or oral?
Case Framework for Students:
As reviewer is this a good teaching tool?

Read the case thoroughly

Identify the relevant content

Not all content of a case will be integral to the ultimate outcomes and decision making process

Identify the problem: what is the problem and students may need faculty assistance in differentiating between symptoms and real and/or bigger
problems

Differentiate between symptoms and problems : What kind of case is it? Is it marketing, human resources, financial, etc…?

Identify the relevant facts of the case

Differentiate between useable and unusable facts

What are the decision-making facts?

What assumptions, if any, are you as the reader making?

Does the case require the reader to make any assumptions? Can they assume the company, organization, boss or decision maker actually wants to solve
the problems, has the tools to solve the problem?

There should also be some discussion of decision making limitations. A quick solution for a student could be to spend large amounts of money or to
delegate the decision. Are these realistic given the parameters of the case?

Generate plausible alternatives for the case

Students need to generate plausible and realistic outcome for the situation presented in the case. One alternative is to do nothing and hope the problem
will go away. This is usually not the solution a faculty member is looking for from a student and/or group of students.


Example: Do nothing! Spend a lot of money to fix the problems. Neither of these is typically an acceptable solution.
Make a decision based on your alternatives !
Case Rubric:
Possible Pts.
Statement of facts
• Identify facts related to the issues of the case.
30
Identification of Issue/Problem
• Is there one issue and or problem; why is this the
problem and not a symptom of a bigger issue?
30
Alternatives Generated
30
Analysis
50
Organization
30
Decision
30
Justification
50
Total
250
Your Score
Review Requirements for Case
Studies

Read the Case

Assess Content and flow of information

Details


Free of grammatical, spelling and/or punctuation errors.
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Include author(s) details in the file of your case study (see below example for details).

Format Specifications:

Set the page margins to 2,54 cm (up and down) and 3,17 (left and right).

Indent the first sentence of each paragraph with 1/2 inch and align text left.

Single spaced within each paragraph but double spaced between paragraphs. Do not number the
pages but make sure the pages are in the correct order. Pages will be numbered by the editors.

Use “Times New Roman” font size 10.
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References
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Teaching notes
Other …….