Analysing a Case

It is common on and before the exam to be given a case. It is from such that questions will be asked.

Cases are a way of presenting to the student real life kind of situations in which application of their marketing and
business skills are tested. These real world kind of situations can originate from any enterprise development of indeed
company activity.

It is important for students to appreciate that the theories that they learn such as those of segmentation, positioning and
branding need to be translated into practice if they have to be meaningful at all. For a number of assignments i give, i
give cases with the objective of testing the student on a number of areas such as

- analysis skills
- problem solving
- presentation
- general marketing theories and subsequent application

It is no different on the final exam. Now, how then does one analyse a case. Here are a few tips.

1. Internal Factors.

-what is the name of the organisation?
-what is the size or how big is the organisation?
-is it service or production oriented?
-what is the vision and mission of the organisation?
-what is the hierachy structure?
-for how long has it been in business?
-what products does the organisation offer?
-what are the organisational profits?
-ht pricing strategy has the company adopted?
-what promotional tools does the company use and why?
ou will usually be given a brief
You need to have an understanding on the above.

2. External Variables

Micro

-who does the organisation work with, who are the stakeholders?
-what are the interests/concerns of the respective stakeholders?
-what role do the respective stakeholders play in the success of the organisation?
-what factors affect the demand and supply of what the organisation has to offer?
-who are your competitors and what variables about them are of interest and importance to your organisation?
-who are ts customers and what variables affect them individually or collectively?


Macro

-what are the prevailing economic variable? Examples of these include inflation levels, GDP and exchange rates.
-what are the does and donts of the society you operate or intend to do business in?
-politically, is the environment stable and friendly to foreigners, for example.
-what technological tools/equipment are need for operations and what are the variable factors relating to them?
-what are the laws relating to the business you are in and is there any body mandated to look into such issues?
-ecologicially, where applicable to your organization, what are the main issues needing consideration?
-what specific demographic variables should you pay attention to?

That is about it. There are a number of other questions that may need answers but that may then vary from one organisation to another.

It is important to note that there can be a lot of irrelevant information given in a case. With that in mind, you then need to identify
key success factors and relevant information to help plan and execute your program.

Please do feel free to contact(email saboi@marketinginzambia.com or call/sms +260966930260) me if you need assistance with a case. One point i should however mention is the fact that you are likely to face problems with analysis if you do not have adequate knowledge on the principles and theories if the respective subject.

Assisting with a case does not mean analyzing it for you. Instead, it means thinking through the information with you and guiding on what needs to be done.
At the end of it all, you make the decisions of what to include and what to omit.

We will soon begin to analyze December exam cases. To be a part of this, join my blog and actively participate. We will then meet with a number of other students to compare notes and further enlighten each other.

All the best!