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Definition and Introduction

Case analysis is a problem-based teaching and learning method that involves critically analyzing complex scenarios within an organizational setting for the purpose of placing the student in a “real world” situation and applying reflection and critical thinking skills to contemplate appropriate solutions, decisions, or recommended courses of action. It is considered a more effective teaching technique than in-class role playing or simulation activities. The analytical process is often guided by questions provided by the instructor that ask students to contemplate relationships between the facts and critical incidents described in the case.

Cases generally include both descriptive and statistical elements and rely on students applying abductive reasoning to develop and argue for preferred or best outcomes [i.e., case scenarios rarely have a single correct or perfect answer based on the evidence provided]. Rather than emphasizing theories or concepts, case analysis assignments emphasize building a bridge of relevancy between abstract thinking and practical application and, by so doing, teaches the value of both within a specific area of professional practice.

Given this, the purpose of a case analysis paper is to present a structured and logically organized format for analyzing the case situation. It can be assigned to students individually or as a small group assignment and it may include an in-class presentation component. Case analysis is predominately taught in economics and business-related courses, but it is also a method of teaching and learning found in other applied social sciences disciplines, such as, social work, public relations, education, journalism, and public administration.

Ellet, William. The Case Study Handbook: A Student's Guide . Revised Edition. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2018; Christoph Rasche and Achim Seisreiner. Guidelines for Business Case Analysis . University of Potsdam; Writing a Case Analysis . Writing Center, Baruch College; Volpe, Guglielmo. "Case Teaching in Economics: History, Practice and Evidence." Cogent Economics and Finance 3 (December 2015). doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2015.1120977.

How to Approach Writing a Case Analysis Paper

The organization and structure of a case analysis paper can vary depending on the organizational setting, the situation, and how your professor wants you to approach the assignment. Nevertheless, preparing to write a case analysis paper involves several important steps. As Hawes notes, a case analysis assignment “...is useful in developing the ability to get to the heart of a problem, analyze it thoroughly, and to indicate the appropriate solution as well as how it should be implemented” [p.48]. This statement encapsulates how you should approach preparing to write a case analysis paper.

Before you begin to write your paper, consider the following analytical procedures:

• Review the case to get an overview of the situation . A case can be only a few pages in length, however, it is most often very lengthy and contains a significant amount of detailed background information and statistics, with multilayered descriptions of the scenario, the roles and behaviors of various stakeholder groups, and situational events. Therefore, a quick reading of the case will help you gain an overall sense of the situation and illuminate the types of issues and problems that you will need to address in your paper. If your professor has provided questions intended to help frame your analysis, use them to guide your initial reading of the case.
• Read the case thoroughly . After gaining a general overview of the case, carefully read the content again with the purpose of understanding key circumstances, events, and behaviors among stakeholder groups. Look for information or data that appears contradictory, extraneous, or misleading. At this point, you should be taking notes as you read because this will help you develop a general outline of your paper. The aim is to obtain a complete understanding of the situation so that you can begin contemplating tentative answers to any questions your professor has provided or, if they have not provided, developing answers to your own questions about the case scenario and its connection to the course readings,lectures, and class discussions.
• Determine key stakeholder groups, issues, and events and the relationships they all have to each other . As you analyze the content, pay particular attention to identifying individuals, groups, or organizations described in the case and identify evidence of any problems or issues of concern that impact the situation in a negative way. Other things to look for include identifying any assumptions being made by or about each stakeholder, potential biased explanations or actions, explicit demands or ultimatums , and the underlying concerns that motivate these behaviors among stakeholders. The goal at this stage is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the situational and behavioral dynamics of the case and the explicit and implicit consequences of each of these actions.
• Identify the core problems . The next step in most case analysis assignments is to discern what the core [i.e., most damaging, detrimental, injurious] problems are within the organizational setting and to determine their implications. The purpose at this stage of preparing to write your analysis paper is to distinguish between the symptoms of core problems and the core problems themselves and to decide which of these must be addressed immediately and which problems do not appear critical but may escalate over time. Identify evidence from the case to support your decisions by determining what information or data is essential to addressing the core problems and what information is not relevant or is misleading.
• Explore alternative solutions . As noted, case analysis scenarios rarely have only one correct answer. Therefore, it is important to keep in mind that the process of analyzing the case and diagnosing core problems, while based on evidence, is a subjective process open to various avenues of interpretation. This means that you must consider alternative solutions or courses of action by critically examining strengths and weaknesses, risk factors, and the differences between short and long-term solutions. For each possible solution or course of action, consider the consequences they may have related to their implementation and how these recommendations might lead to new problems. Also, consider thinking about your recommended solutions or courses of action in relation to issues of fairness, equity, and inclusion.
• Decide on a final set of recommendations . The last stage in preparing to write a case analysis paper is to assert an opinion or viewpoint about the recommendations needed to help resolve the core problems as you see them and to make a persuasive argument for supporting this point of view. Prepare a clear rationale for your recommendations based on examining each element of your analysis. Anticipate possible obstacles that could derail their implementation. Consider any counter-arguments that could be made concerning the validity of your recommended actions. Finally, describe a set of criteria and measurable indicators that could be applied to evaluating the effectiveness of your implementation plan.

Use these steps as the framework for writing your paper. Remember that the more detailed you are in taking notes as you critically examine each element of the case, the more information you will have to draw from when you begin to write. This will save you time.

NOTE : If the process of preparing to write a case analysis paper is assigned as a student group project, consider having each member of the group analyze a specific element of the case, including drafting answers to the corresponding questions used by your professor to frame the analysis. This will help make the analytical process more efficient and ensure that the distribution of work is equitable. This can also facilitate who is responsible for drafting each part of the final case analysis paper and, if applicable, the in-class presentation.

Framework for Case Analysis . College of Management. University of Massachusetts; Hawes, Jon M. "Teaching is Not Telling: The Case Method as a Form of Interactive Learning." Journal for Advancement of Marketing Education 5 (Winter 2004): 47-54; Rasche, Christoph and Achim Seisreiner. Guidelines for Business Case Analysis . University of Potsdam; Writing a Case Study Analysis . University of Arizona Global Campus Writing Center; Van Ness, Raymond K. A Guide to Case Analysis . School of Business. State University of New York, Albany; Writing a Case Analysis . Business School, University of New South Wales.

Structure and Writing Style

A case analysis paper should be detailed, concise, persuasive, clearly written, and professional in tone and in the use of language . As with other forms of college-level academic writing, declarative statements that convey information, provide a fact, or offer an explanation or any recommended courses of action should be based on evidence. If allowed by your professor, any external sources used to support your analysis, such as course readings, should be properly cited under a list of references. The organization and structure of case analysis papers can vary depending on your professor’s preferred format, but its structure generally follows the steps used for analyzing the case.

Introduction

The introduction should provide a succinct but thorough descriptive overview of the main facts, issues, and core problems of the case . The introduction should also include a brief summary of the most relevant details about the situation and organizational setting. This includes defining the theoretical framework or conceptual model on which any questions were used to frame your analysis.

Following the rules of most college-level research papers, the introduction should then inform the reader how the paper will be organized. This includes describing the major sections of the paper and the order in which they will be presented. Unless you are told to do so by your professor, you do not need to preview your final recommendations in the introduction. U nlike most college-level research papers , the introduction does not include a statement about the significance of your findings because a case analysis assignment does not involve contributing new knowledge about a research problem.

Background Analysis

Background analysis can vary depending on any guiding questions provided by your professor and the underlying concept or theory that the case is based upon. In general, however, this section of your paper should focus on:

• Providing an overarching analysis of problems identified from the case scenario, including identifying events that stakeholders find challenging or troublesome,
• Identifying assumptions made by each stakeholder and any apparent biases they may exhibit,
• Describing any demands or claims made by or forced upon key stakeholders, and
• Highlighting any issues of concern or complaints expressed by stakeholders in response to those demands or claims.

These aspects of the case are often in the form of behavioral responses expressed by individuals or groups within the organizational setting. However, note that problems in a case situation can also be reflected in data [or the lack thereof] and in the decision-making, operational, cultural, or institutional structure of the organization. Additionally, demands or claims can be either internal and external to the organization [e.g., a case analysis involving a president considering arms sales to Saudi Arabia could include managing internal demands from White House advisors as well as demands from members of Congress].

Throughout this section, present all relevant evidence from the case that supports your analysis. Do not simply claim there is a problem, an assumption, a demand, or a concern; tell the reader what part of the case informed how you identified these background elements.

Identification of Problems

In most case analysis assignments, there are problems, and then there are problems . Each problem can reflect a multitude of underlying symptoms that are detrimental to the interests of the organization. The purpose of identifying problems is to teach students how to differentiate between problems that vary in severity, impact, and relative importance. Given this, problems can be described in three general forms: those that must be addressed immediately, those that should be addressed but the impact is not severe, and those that do not require immediate attention and can be set aside for the time being.

All of the problems you identify from the case should be identified in this section of your paper, with a description based on evidence explaining the problem variances. If the assignment asks you to conduct research to further support your assessment of the problems, include this in your explanation. Remember to cite those sources in a list of references. Use specific evidence from the case and apply appropriate concepts, theories, and models discussed in class or in relevant course readings to highlight and explain the key problems [or problem] that you believe must be solved immediately and describe the underlying symptoms and why they are so critical.

Alternative Solutions

This section is where you provide specific, realistic, and evidence-based solutions to the problems you have identified and make recommendations about how to alleviate the underlying symptomatic conditions impacting the organizational setting. For each solution, you must explain why it was chosen and provide clear evidence to support your reasoning. This can include, for example, course readings and class discussions as well as research resources, such as, books, journal articles, research reports, or government documents. In some cases, your professor may encourage you to include personal, anecdotal experiences as evidence to support why you chose a particular solution or set of solutions. Using anecdotal evidence helps promote reflective thinking about the process of determining what qualifies as a core problem and relevant solution .

Throughout this part of the paper, keep in mind the entire array of problems that must be addressed and describe in detail the solutions that might be implemented to resolve these problems.

Recommended Courses of Action

In some case analysis assignments, your professor may ask you to combine the alternative solutions section with your recommended courses of action. However, it is important to know the difference between the two. A solution refers to the answer to a problem. A course of action refers to a procedure or deliberate sequence of activities adopted to proactively confront a situation, often in the context of accomplishing a goal. In this context, proposed courses of action are based on your analysis of alternative solutions. Your description and justification for pursuing each course of action should represent the overall plan for implementing your recommendations.

For each course of action, you need to explain the rationale for your recommendation in a way that confronts challenges, explains risks, and anticipates any counter-arguments from stakeholders. Do this by considering the strengths and weaknesses of each course of action framed in relation to how the action is expected to resolve the core problems presented, the possible ways the action may affect remaining problems, and how the recommended action will be perceived by each stakeholder.

In addition, you should describe the criteria needed to measure how well the implementation of these actions is working and explain which individuals or groups are responsible for ensuring your recommendations are successful. In addition, always consider the law of unintended consequences. Outline difficulties that may arise in implementing each course of action and describe how implementing the proposed courses of action [either individually or collectively] may lead to new problems [both large and small].

Throughout this section, you must consider the costs and benefits of recommending your courses of action in relation to uncertainties or missing information and the negative consequences of success.

The conclusion should be brief and introspective. Unlike a research paper, the conclusion in a case analysis paper does not include a summary of key findings and their significance, a statement about how the study contributed to existing knowledge, or indicate opportunities for future research.

Begin by synthesizing the core problems presented in the case and the relevance of your recommended solutions. This can include an explanation of what you have learned about the case in the context of your answers to the questions provided by your professor. The conclusion is also where you link what you learned from analyzing the case with the course readings or class discussions. This can further demonstrate your understanding of the relationships between the practical case situation and the theoretical and abstract content of assigned readings and other course content.

Problems to Avoid

The literature on case analysis assignments often includes examples of difficulties students have with applying methods of critical analysis and effectively reporting the results of their assessment of the situation. A common reason cited by scholars is that the application of this type of teaching and learning method is limited to applied fields of social and behavioral sciences and, as a result, writing a case analysis paper can be unfamiliar to most students entering college.

After you have drafted your paper, proofread the narrative flow and revise any of these common errors:

• Unnecessary detail in the background section . The background section should highlight the essential elements of the case based on your analysis. Focus on summarizing the facts and highlighting the key factors that become relevant in the other sections of the paper by eliminating any unnecessary information.
• Analysis relies too much on opinion . Your analysis is interpretive, but the narrative must be connected clearly to evidence from the case and any models and theories discussed in class or in course readings. Any positions or arguments you make should be supported by evidence.
• Analysis does not focus on the most important elements of the case . Your paper should provide a thorough overview of the case. However, the analysis should focus on providing evidence about what you identify are the key events, stakeholders, issues, and problems. Emphasize what you identify as the most critical aspects of the case to be developed throughout your analysis. Be thorough but succinct.
• Writing is too descriptive . A paper with too much descriptive information detracts from your analysis of the complexities of the case situation. Questions about what happened, where, when, and by whom should only be included as essential information leading to your examination of questions related to why, how, and for what purpose.
• Inadequate definition of a core problem and associated symptoms . A common error found in case analysis papers is recommending a solution or course of action without adequately defining or demonstrating that you understand the problem. Make sure you have clearly described the problem and its impact and scope within the organizational setting. Ensure that you have adequately described the root causes w hen describing the symptoms of the problem.
• Recommendations lack specificity . Identify any use of vague statements and indeterminate terminology, such as, “A particular experience” or “a large increase to the budget.” These statements cannot be measured and, as a result, there is no way to evaluate their successful implementation. Provide specific data and use direct language in describing recommended actions.
• Unrealistic, exaggerated, or unattainable recommendations . Review your recommendations to ensure that they are based on the situational facts of the case. Your recommended solutions and courses of action must be based on realistic assumptions and fit within the constraints of the situation. Also note that the case scenario has already happened, therefore, any speculation or arguments about what could have occurred if the circumstances were different should be revised or eliminated.

Bee, Lian Song et al. "Business Students' Perspectives on Case Method Coaching for Problem-Based Learning: Impacts on Student Engagement and Learning Performance in Higher Education." Education & Training 64 (2022): 416-432; The Case Analysis . Fred Meijer Center for Writing and Michigan Authors. Grand Valley State University; Georgallis, Panikos and Kayleigh Bruijn. "Sustainability Teaching using Case-Based Debates." Journal of International Education in Business 15 (2022): 147-163; Hawes, Jon M. "Teaching is Not Telling: The Case Method as a Form of Interactive Learning." Journal for Advancement of Marketing Education 5 (Winter 2004): 47-54; Georgallis, Panikos, and Kayleigh Bruijn. "Sustainability Teaching Using Case-based Debates." Journal of International Education in Business 15 (2022): 147-163; .Dean,  Kathy Lund and Charles J. Fornaciari. "How to Create and Use Experiential Case-Based Exercises in a Management Classroom." Journal of Management Education 26 (October 2002): 586-603; Klebba, Joanne M. and Janet G. Hamilton. "Structured Case Analysis: Developing Critical Thinking Skills in a Marketing Case Course." Journal of Marketing Education 29 (August 2007): 132-137, 139; Klein, Norman. "The Case Discussion Method Revisited: Some Questions about Student Skills." Exchange: The Organizational Behavior Teaching Journal 6 (November 1981): 30-32; Mukherjee, Arup. "Effective Use of In-Class Mini Case Analysis for Discovery Learning in an Undergraduate MIS Course." The Journal of Computer Information Systems 40 (Spring 2000): 15-23; Pessoa, Silviaet al. "Scaffolding the Case Analysis in an Organizational Behavior Course: Making Analytical Language Explicit." Journal of Management Education 46 (2022): 226-251: Ramsey, V. J. and L. D. Dodge. "Case Analysis: A Structured Approach." Exchange: The Organizational Behavior Teaching Journal 6 (November 1981): 27-29; Schweitzer, Karen. "How to Write and Format a Business Case Study." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-write-and-format-a-business-case-study-466324 (accessed December 5, 2022); Reddy, C. D. "Teaching Research Methodology: Everything's a Case." Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods 18 (December 2020): 178-188; Volpe, Guglielmo. "Case Teaching in Economics: History, Practice and Evidence." Cogent Economics and Finance 3 (December 2015). doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2015.1120977.

Writing Tip

Ca se Study and Case Analysis Are Not the Same!

Confusion often exists between what it means to write a paper that uses a case study research design and writing a paper that analyzes a case; they are two different types of approaches to learning in the social and behavioral sciences. Professors as well as educational researchers contribute to this confusion because they often use the term "case study" when describing the subject of analysis for a case analysis paper. But you are not studying a case for the purpose of generating a comprehensive, multi-faceted understanding of a research problem. R ather, you are critically analyzing a specific scenario to argue logically for recommended solutions and courses of action that lead to optimal outcomes applicable to professional practice.

To avoid any confusion, here are twelve characteristics that delineate the differences between writing a paper using the case study research method and writing a case analysis paper:

• Case study is a method of in-depth research and rigorous inquiry ; case analysis is a reliable method of teaching and learning . A case study is a modality of research that investigates a phenomenon for the purpose of creating new knowledge, solving a problem, or testing a hypothesis using empirical evidence derived from the case being studied. Often, the results are used to generalize about a larger population or within a wider context. The writing adheres to the traditional standards of a scholarly research study. A case analysis is a pedagogical tool used to teach students how to reflect and think critically about a practical, real-life problem in an organizational setting.
• The researcher is responsible for identifying the case to study; a case analysis is assigned by your professor . As the researcher, you choose the case study to investigate in support of obtaining new knowledge and understanding about the research problem. The case in a case analysis assignment is almost always provided, and sometimes written, by your professor and either given to every student in class to analyze individually or to a small group of students, or students select a case to analyze from a predetermined list.
• A case study is indeterminate and boundless; a case analysis is predetermined and confined . A case study can be almost anything [see item 9 below] as long as it relates directly to examining the research problem. This relationship is the only limit to what a researcher can choose as the subject of their case study. The content of a case analysis is determined by your professor and its parameters are well-defined and limited to elucidating insights of practical value applied to practice.
• Case study is fact-based and describes actual events or situations; case analysis can be entirely fictional or adapted from an actual situation . The entire content of a case study must be grounded in reality to be a valid subject of investigation in an empirical research study. A case analysis only needs to set the stage for critically examining a situation in practice and, therefore, can be entirely fictional or adapted, all or in-part, from an actual situation.
• Research using a case study method must adhere to principles of intellectual honesty and academic integrity; a case analysis scenario can include misleading or false information . A case study paper must report research objectively and factually to ensure that any findings are understood to be logically correct and trustworthy. A case analysis scenario may include misleading or false information intended to deliberately distract from the central issues of the case. The purpose is to teach students how to sort through conflicting or useless information in order to come up with the preferred solution. Any use of misleading or false information in academic research is considered unethical.
• Case study is linked to a research problem; case analysis is linked to a practical situation or scenario . In the social sciences, the subject of an investigation is most often framed as a problem that must be researched in order to generate new knowledge leading to a solution. Case analysis narratives are grounded in real life scenarios for the purpose of examining the realities of decision-making behavior and processes within organizational settings. A case analysis assignments include a problem or set of problems to be analyzed. However, the goal is centered around the act of identifying and evaluating courses of action leading to best possible outcomes.
• The purpose of a case study is to create new knowledge through research; the purpose of a case analysis is to teach new understanding . Case studies are a choice of methodological design intended to create new knowledge about resolving a research problem. A case analysis is a mode of teaching and learning intended to create new understanding and an awareness of uncertainty applied to practice through acts of critical thinking and reflection.
• A case study seeks to identify the best possible solution to a research problem; case analysis can have an indeterminate set of solutions or outcomes . Your role in studying a case is to discover the most logical, evidence-based ways to address a research problem. A case analysis assignment rarely has a single correct answer because one of the goals is to force students to confront the real life dynamics of uncertainly, ambiguity, and missing or conflicting information within professional practice. Under these conditions, a perfect outcome or solution almost never exists.
• Case study is unbounded and relies on gathering external information; case analysis is a self-contained subject of analysis . The scope of a case study chosen as a method of research is bounded. However, the researcher is free to gather whatever information and data is necessary to investigate its relevance to understanding the research problem. For a case analysis assignment, your professor will often ask you to examine solutions or recommended courses of action based solely on facts and information from the case.
• Case study can be a person, place, object, issue, event, condition, or phenomenon; a case analysis is a carefully constructed synopsis of events, situations, and behaviors . The research problem dictates the type of case being studied and, therefore, the design can encompass almost anything tangible as long as it fulfills the objective of generating new knowledge and understanding. A case analysis is in the form of a narrative containing descriptions of facts, situations, processes, rules, and behaviors within a particular setting and under a specific set of circumstances.
• Case study can represent an open-ended subject of inquiry; a case analysis is a narrative about something that has happened in the past . A case study is not restricted by time and can encompass an event or issue with no temporal limit or end. For example, the current war in Ukraine can be used as a case study of how medical personnel help civilians during a large military conflict, even though circumstances around this event are still evolving. A case analysis can be used to elicit critical thinking about current or future situations in practice, but the case itself is a narrative about something finite and that has taken place in the past.
• Multiple case studies can be used in a research study; case analysis involves examining a single scenario . Case study research can use two or more cases to examine a problem, often for the purpose of conducting a comparative investigation intended to discover hidden relationships, document emerging trends, or determine variations among different examples. A case analysis assignment typically describes a stand-alone, self-contained situation and any comparisons among cases are conducted during in-class discussions and/or student presentations.

The Case Analysis . Fred Meijer Center for Writing and Michigan Authors. Grand Valley State University; Mills, Albert J. , Gabrielle Durepos, and Eiden Wiebe, editors. Encyclopedia of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010; Ramsey, V. J. and L. D. Dodge. "Case Analysis: A Structured Approach." Exchange: The Organizational Behavior Teaching Journal 6 (November 1981): 27-29; Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods . 6th edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2017; Crowe, Sarah et al. “The Case Study Approach.” BMC Medical Research Methodology 11 (2011):  doi: 10.1186/1471-2288-11-100; Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research: Design and Methods . 4th edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing; 1994.

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Cases and Exercises in Organization Development & Change

• Donald L. Anderson - University of Denver, USA
• Description

Cases and Exercises in Organization Development & Change, Second Edition encourages students to practice organization development (OD) skills in unison with learning about theories of organizational change and human behavior. The book includes a comprehensive collection of cases about the OD process and organization-wide, team, and individual interventions, including global OD, dialogic OD, and OD in virtual organizations. In addition to real-world cases, author Donald L. Anderson gives students practical and experiential exercises that make the course material come alive through realistic scenarios that managers and organizational change practitioners regularly experience.

See what’s new to this edition by selecting the Features tab on this page. Should you need additional information or have questions regarding the HEOA information provided for this title, including what is new to this edition, please email [email protected] . Please include your name, contact information, and the name of the title for which you would like more information. For information on the HEOA, please go to http://ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/hea08/index.html .

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Supplements

Password-protected Instructor Resources include teaching notes for the cases,  designed for instructors to expand questions to students or initiate class discussion.

The Text has not yet arrived.

Case studies support course work synthesis

This is a very good book to use in the classroom because it helps students connect theoretical knowledge about organizational development and change with practice.

Cases were well put together and kept the students engaged.

NEW TO THIS EDITION

• New cases discuss relevant areas of growing importance to OD practitioners, encouraging students to think about topics such as global OD, dialogic OD, and OD in virtual organizations.
• Each case contains learning objectives, discussion questions, and suggestions for further reading, encouraging students to take an active role to interpret and discover the cases’ meaning.
• The revised structure aligns with Organization Development, Fourth Edition , making it easier for students and instructors to use the two books simultaneously in a semester.

KEY FEATURES

• Provides rich scenarios of organizational life , with each case constructed as a brief scene in which students are asked to weigh the pros and cons of alternate courses of action.
• Written by experts in the field , these original cases focus precisely on a specific topic in the OD process or intervention method.
• Cases represent a wide range of industries in which OD is practiced, exposing students to issues in for-profit businesses, educational institutions, government agencies, and health care organizations.

  Includes a variety of exercises including self-assessment tools, role-play exercises, and individual or group simulations to enhance students' skill development in acting as change agents.

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Organizational Development Case Study

Organization development case study: introduction.

For any organization to be successful in its field and progress to profitability, it is important that managers and employees in its leadership embrace organizational development. According to Cummings and Worley, “Organizational Development (OD) is a planned long-term effort led and supported through the top management to improve an organization’s ability in a bid to solve its own problems by continuously working together and managing the culture using behavioral skills” (2005, p. 1).

The paper uses the Tedtec Company Limited, which is a fictional organization. The company chosen for this case study is respected in the country of origin. It is among the pioneers of organizational development in the country. Tedtec Company Limited that is located in India has been in operation for the last 70 years dealing with machinery, engineering, production, and construction works.

According to the results of the performance index of India’s companies, Tedtec Company Limited “is also adjudged India’s best managed and most respected company on various attributes of customer delight and shareholder value” (Roy, 2006, p. 25). The case study on organizational development was based on this company because of its significant history in this field in India.

Company profile

Tedtec Company Limited is among the most respected of India’s private sector companies that deal with technology, construction, engineering, and manufacturing. The company has been in existence for about seven decades with a strong international presence including offices in the China as well as her Gulf neighbors.

A wide marketing and distribution network and decades of strong customer focused approach has ensured that the company is the leader in its field. The company also “believes that progress must be achieved in harmony with environment” (Roy, 2006, p. 25). This claim has informed its commitment to protection of the environment and participation in community welfare.

Some of the achievements that the company has made include the record for having made the largest coal gasifier in India that it exports to China.

It is the largest FCC regenerator for a refinery, which is the longest coal conveyer in the world besides being Asia’s highest viaduct and the world’s largest EO reactor for a protochemical complex in the Gulf. The company also took part in the construction of India’s first nuclear powered submarine. It has won a number of local and international awards and recognitions.

The company is also one of the most profitable construction companies in the region with thousands of employees being employed directly or indirectly by the company. A policy of giving back to the society has ensured that the company establishes good relations with workers and the communities in which it is involved, with only the issue of pollution being the major challenge.

Tedtec Company Limited has however managed to remain viable and important within the manufacturing and construction sector even with the financial crisis experienced over the years in this part of the world and elsewhere in the world.

Diagnostic methods

The methods used for diagnosis in this particular organization included interviews and questionnaires, which were addressed to the employees in the organization. Initially, the company had experienced faults in its existing appraisal system at some point in its history. This challenge necessitated a professional correction of the system.

The company elicited help from some of experts in this field with eminent professors being invited to carry out a study and assessment of the appraisal process in the company (Wilson, 2003, p. 13). Walter Jay and Engineer Schwartz Raymond were the professors that were consulted in the evaluation process for the company.

In their study of the appraisal process in the company, they began by interviewing departmental heads and their subordinates. To accomplish the interview, they used diagnosis or action research with the results being recorded and analyzed against a background of other results they had gotten elsewhere and against the existing case studies.

Analysis and feedback methods

From the diagnostic methods used in the company, a number of feedbacks were obtained. In the analysis of information provided by the subordinates in the various departments, there was apparent communication breakdown in the administrative hierarchy with junior workers not getting information and feedback on their performance in the company.

This case was despite their expressed a desire to get the feedback, which was not forthcoming. Another interpretation of the results of the feedback included the fact that the managerial staff members were responsible for a large number of employees thus making an appraisal of their subordinates difficult.

However, one shortcoming was that the appraisal form used was too lengthy meaning that the number of employees participating was reduced due to time constraint.

The results of the feedback were presented by the two professors to the top management of the company for consideration and formulation of suggestions and recommendations on the possible solutions to the actual problem.

According to Cummings and Worley, an appraisal system is important in any organization as it helps the company’s employees to understand their strengths and weaknesses and the progress they are making in the job performance (2005, p. 15).

It also enables them to understand the options available for growth in the company. Cummings and Worley claim that the process should “address the issues of appraisal, potential, counseling, career development, and training all in one” (2005, p. 15).

SWOT analysis

As in the case of IKEA that was discussed as a case study, Tedtec Company Limited used SWOT analysis in the achievement of objectives and planning of its strategic achievements.

As discussed in the essay and in the literature on planning strategies in organizations, this form of analysis investigates the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats that an organization establishes in its course of operations and development (Cummings, & Worley, 2005, p. 15).

According to Cummings and Worley, threats are external to an organization, and are outside the control of the company with the best examples being economic performance of the country, the levels of technology at the time, social changes, and the environmental conditions (2005, p. 24).

On the other hand, strengths and weaknesses are internal to an organization thus serving to counter the threats that are outside the organization’s control (Cummings, & Worley, 2005, p. 25).

As an opportunity, Tedtec Company Limited has over the years invested in manufacturing and construction industry. It boasts of creating a respected brand in India. The company has been in existence since 1938 when it started as a manufacturer of daily equipment.

Therefore, it has a well-established organizational culture and management policies that stand the test of time. The company also has vast investments in technology, investing heavily in the latest technology available in the industry. This opportunity has created a competitive edge over her competitors.

As strength, the organizational culture in the organization has been described as a goal-oriented one with the employees largely reporting career satisfaction when working with the company.

The company has invested in a number of international brands mainly in the region thus ensuring relevance and competitiveness in the industry. With diversification of its operations, the organization is now able to produce different products besides offering a range of services in the region.

A significant weakness that the organization has established in its operations is the pollution that has been created in the production method in the process of rectification following the ambitious investment in environmental conservation and social responsibility.

The company also faces a threat in operations in the form of the financial crisis that, as demonstrated in the last one, has the ability to paralyze its operations. The threat is however countered by the cautious financial investment in other market coupled with strict financial auditing and consultations.

OD intervention options and general risk and value scenarios

The assessment of risks in an organization is important as it enables the management to formulate the desired change and effect on it. This assessment is quite crucial for any company since it makes it aware and ready for any particular risk that it might incur.

Many companies have experienced an untimely closure following the occurrence of risks that it did not expect or rather risks that were not planned for in the event of their occurrence.

For Tedtec Company Limited, the specific interventions that were necessary included diversification of products and expansion into other markets to counter the decline in demand in the home country in a bid to create new opportunities to secure industrial relevance.

In the analysis of vales, one of the relevant values to the company is customer service. The company has established a number of methods of ensuring the customers are loyal to it. Customer loyalty is recognized as one of the factors leading to the success of many organizations and that the company is no exception (Cummings, & Worley, 2005, p. 25).

To guarantee exceptional customer service, organizations need to have an effective indicator in place (Cummings, & Worley, 2005, p. 21). For Tedtec Company Limited, customer loyalty rating is the key indicator. The organization has commissioned a number of surveys to find out the satisfaction of its clients on its products and services.

According to Cummings and Worley, this strategy is an effective way of doing it (2005, p. 21). The results have then been used to gauge performance and or inform decision-making.

The expected benefits include improved service provision and customer satisfaction as well as profitability. The company also utilizes feedback from clients especially complaints that are provided as feedback to change its operations.

Since Tedtec Company Limited carries out many civil projects that are funded by the Indian government and other governments, the quality of work is also evaluated by government contractors as well as other state agencies concerned with quality control (Cummings, & Worley, 2005, p. 25).

This ensures a subjective review of products and services provided thus ensuring that there is quality in the future projects. The strategy has enabled the company to win a number of tenders based on previous projects that were evaluated as being professionally carried out.

Evaluation methods

According to Cummings and Worley, post change evaluation in an organization is important since it presents the executives with a picture of the effects of the change (2005, p. 17) made by the change agent “in consultation with the management of the organization” (Wilson, 2003, p. 23). Wilson also states, “The evaluation sets initial agreed aims and objectives against the current, post-change situation” (2003, p. 23).

In the analysis made of Tedtec Company Limited, the attitude and satisfaction of workers as well as the financial outlook and performance ratings were made thus being some of the most common areas of evaluations in an organization development analysis.

The results of the evaluation were then presented to the management. The summary consisted of areas where the effected change was successful, recommendation for improvement, areas that were unsuccessful and not in line with the company objectives, areas that required constant monitoring, and the suggested rolling evaluation program.

For Tedtec Company Limited, the results showed success in areas of change such as improved organizational performance since the entry of the firm in to the international market.

The change in organizational culture, which was made mainly involving the diversification of the employee base, was also reported to influence the company in a positive manner with the employees reporting improved satisfaction from the working conditions.

The employees also reported a breakdown in communication and ineffective management mainly due to the large size of the personnel department, which was created by expansion. This exposition meant that the employees were getting inadequate attention from their bosses.

Recommendations

One of the recommendations is that the company should consider splitting or bifurcation of the personnel department in the company to ensure that fewer employees are under the supervision of managers in the various departments. It is said that the smaller the number of subordinates that each manager is responsible for, the better the output of the employees (Wilson, 2003, p. 21).

The company should also consider increasing the number of managerial staff especially those in the human resource department in an attempt to improve the contact between the administration and subordinates (Wilson, 2003, p. 18). Another recommendation is that the organization should monitor the human resource department and the marketing department to enhance customer loyalty.

OD Case Study: Conclusion

In conclusion, organizational development is an important aspect in the success of companies. Organizations that wish to perform well have a well established organizational development plan that stipulates the issues that they need to do or rather the issues that they need to be aware of so that they remain not only in track but also ready for any unexpected emergency.

The paper has used the Tedtec Company Limited as a fictional company in an attempt to address this key issue of organizational development. Thus, its evaluation should be carried out in a formal manner. Tedtec Company Limited is considered to have made significant organizational changes since its inception. The changes have affected its operations in a number of ways.

An evaluation of its organizational development established a number of threats, weaknesses, and strengths, as well as the effects of the organizational change. These elements were then evaluated with recommendations and suggestions being made to the development specialists and business executives of the organization.

Reference List

Cummings, T., & Worley, G. (2005). Organization development and change . Mason, Ohio: Thomson/South-Western.

Roy, S. (2006-2005). Made in India: a study of emerging competitiveness . New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Pub. Co.

Wilson, D. (2003). Promoting institutional & organizational development . London: Dept. for International Development.

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• Case Studies

Food Co-op Engages Its Members

“There was no way to move forward until we could build consensus around a plan for the future of this organization,” said Paul Cultrera, general manager.

“Things were so bad,” said then board of directors member Peter Keat, “that we literally felt paralyzed as an organization.”

With tensions running high, Cultrera interviewed Eric Douglas of Leading Resources Inc. (LRI). Cultrera was impressed by Douglas’ track record for managing change and gaining consensus within large organizations. “I was looking for someone with really good communication skills,” Cultrera said. “Someone skilled at working with diverse constituencies.”

D2K: Establishing Trust as a Foundation for Long-term Growth

Together Douglas and Cultrera mapped out a five-stage process they called “Directions 2000” or “D2K.” The process was carefully crafted to engage as many member-owners as possible in a productive dialogue with management and each other. At each stage of the process, Douglas guided the participants toward an understanding of the complex business issues under consideration while improving their communication and problem-solving skills. Because the issues were complex, and emotions were running high around the issue of expansion, flexibility had to be at the heart of the process itself.

“Eric has experience working with large, fractured groups, so he was able to bring people together in a constructive manner,” Cultrera said. “As we got into the process and realized that changes needed to be made, he was flexible. He didn’t have a tremendous amount of ego tied up in his own process.”

Stage 1: Identifying Basic Values

“I sat through all 13 of these ‘listening’ sessions and hardly said a word,” Cultrera said. “Eric facilitated them tightly, to the extent that there was a program – but loosely, to the extent that people were able to express themselves very freely. It took me out of it, so there wasn’t this perception of the general manager pushing this thing where he wants it to go.”

Stage 2: Casting a Wider Net

Using input from the focus groups, LRI drafted a survey with 50 questions about values and visions and distributed it to all 7,000 Co-op member-owners. LRI’s analysis of the 1,645 returned surveys confirmed that pricing was most important to members. Member-owners were evenly divided on the question of whether to expand to additional locations. A third issue that came into focus from the survey was the 5% member-owner discount: Owners did not want to give it up, even if it meant they paid higher prices in the store.

Stage 3: Moving Beyond Conflict to Strategy

With the survey data in hand, a group of 25 people – comprised of 15 member-owners, seven members of the Board of Directors and three members of management – began working together as the D2K Planning Team under the guidance of LRI consultants.

Within a few weeks, the team had defined the purpose and values – what Douglas calls the “strategic foundation.” The team then faced the question of vision – and the deep conflict over whether or not the Co-op should expand to a second store.

As a first step, Douglas broke the drafting committee into two teams to generate deeper discussion. The resulting dialogue between the teams ultimately led to a draft vision that called for the Co-op to extend its services “to as many people as possible in the communities we serve.”

“This vision was based on a philosophy of inclusion,” said Keat who was a Planning Team member. “The Co-op offers something very special in the quality of its products, its support for local farmers, and its reliance on cooperative economic principles. Our vision was to share that.”

“We tested this vision again and again within the Planning Team,” Douglas said. As they grew more comfortable, team members used a combination of brainstorming exercises, management input and survey feedback to develop seven key goals to achieve the vision. LRI consultants carefully translated their decisions into a draft strategic plan.

Stage 4: Honoring the Process through Feedback

The resulting feedback was overwhelmingly positive. More than 95% of those responding said they supported the process. More than 90% said they supported the vision.

“Based on our previous experience, I thought we might get 55% in favor and 45% opposed. And then we’d be stuck where we were at the beginning,” Cultrera admitted.”Instead, we got a very high approval rating of each individual piece of the plan.”

Even more surprising: “Many of the member-owners who approved the plan had only been touched tangentially by the process – through taking the survey or reading about it in the Co-op’s newsletter,” Douglas said. “But because they had been touched, they supported the change.”

Stage 5: From Approval to Action

After unanimously voting to approve the plan, the Board handed it over to management to implement. “It makes my job as general manager a whole lot easier,” Cultrera said.

“Now, when we run into pockets of controversy or resistance, it’s very easy to say, ‘Well, thank you. I really appreciate your input. But we heard from a lot of people who said this is what they want us to do.’ I feel like when there are other issues we need to face on a nitty-gritty level, we can call that process up again.”

Roadmap to the Future: From Plan to Action

That opportunity was right around the corner. Fresh from the D2K victory, the Co-op again hired LRI to implement one of the plan’s key initiatives. This was the hot button issue of deciding whether to keep or modify the 5% member-owner discount.

True to the D2K process model, Douglas and Cultrera ensured a high level of member-owner involvement at every stage.

They convened a half-dozen “focus groups” to educate member-owners about the impacts of the discount. As with D2K, a Planning Team representing a broad spectrum of viewpoints was selected by LRI to explore alternatives and make a recommendation to the Board.

“At that point, we ran up against the fact that grocery store finance is not easy,” said Douglas. “Yet the team had to learn it in order to make a cogent decision.” For example, the Co-op marked up prices for most items beyond the normal operating markup to support the 5% member-owner discount. This meant higher prices throughout the store and placed the Co-op at a competitive disadvantage with other natural food store chains in the market.

“There were lots of questions and concerns,” said Barbara Mendenhall, Board president. “Eric finally broke us into small groups and asked us to answer three questions:

‘Is there a problem that needs to be fixed?’ ‘What would you propose as an alternative to the discount?’ and ‘What additional information do you need?’

All of the groups came back and said yes, there is a problem. It needs to be fixed. And here’s what we think the new benefits package should be. The amazing thing was – we all proposed the exact same solution!”

As team members became convinced of the wisdom of changing to the discount structure, some wanted to survey member-owners about the alternatives they were considering. “But a new survey would only confirm what the earlier survey told us,” Douglas said. “Without going through the education process, people would resist giving up the discount.” The team finally agreed to stage a series of forums that would bring member-owners from the Planning Team face to face with fellow member-owners still skeptical about making a change.

It was a critical part of the process that Mendenhall calls “transformative.”

“One planning team member really turned the group around just on the force of her own presentation,” Mendenhall said. “As she talked about what she and the group had gone through, you’d start to see heads nod. You could see she felt it from the heart.”

With positive feedback from member-owners, the Board approved changes to an end-of-the-year patronage refund that has worked well at a number of co-ops throughout the country, combined with special pricing programs such as monthly category specials. Some of the original benefits – such as a 10% discount on Owner Appreciation Days – remained in force.

Moving Ahead with Confidence

“We’ve learned that there are a variety of ways to involve members in decision-making, besides just sending everything out for a member vote,” said Mendenhall. “Communication and cooperative education are very important.”

Cultrera agrees. “Because we kept the lines of communication open with the ownership throughout this long process, we heard from people we had never heard from before. By the end of it, member-owners clearly honored the process, so they trusted the plan. It’s given the organization a tremendous amount of strength and ability to keep moving forward.”

The bottom line:

The Co-op’s annual sales increased to $17 million. Its employees had received an across-the-board pay increase reflecting the plan’s commitment to a quality workplace. Meanwhile, the Co-op had begun looking at new locations for a second store, this time with the clear support of its owners.

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Organizational Analysis in Preparation for LMS Change: a Narrative Case Study

• Original Paper
• Published: 07 October 2022
• Volume 67 , pages 133–142, ( 2023 )

Cite this article

• F. Eamonn Powers   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1405-6753 1 &
• Robert L. Moore   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5645-9297 2  

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Collaboration and teamwork are concepts routinely attributed to organizational success and successful change management. Yet often the details of these collaborative experiences are limited to participants in the team involved. In this case study we highlight how a learning experience architect, as part of an organizational working group, could leverage human performance technology (HPT) principles to lead the analysis efforts surrounding an LMS platform change at a professional training organization. Human performance technology is the study and practice of improving productivity in organizations. This includes designing and developing effective interventions, processes, and methodologies that are ethical, results-oriented, comprehensive, and systemic (West, 2018 ). This article covers the project’s genesis, the project team’s creation, and how the analysis work was carried out. The first author’s unique access to the subject matter of this case study provides the ability to present the project’s analysis phase in the following narrative format. This article’s intrinsic case study represents an exploratory inquiry into a single case, as this article’s conclusions are inherently limited to its scope. Nevertheless, the article provides evidence that large scale change within organizations requires a balance of effective communication practices and organizational systems thinking.

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Powers, F.E., Moore, R.L. Organizational Analysis in Preparation for LMS Change: a Narrative Case Study. TechTrends 67 , 133–142 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-022-00784-z

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Accepted : 12 September 2022

Published : 07 October 2022

Issue Date : January 2023

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-022-00784-z

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