This instruction sheet is intended to give you some guidance on how to start and on how to write a report that is credible, understandable, and readable. Please review this rubric for detailed grading information.
In a business case study, you are presented with a business problem that requires analysis and perhaps recommendations so that the reader, presumably a manager, will be able to make a good business decision based on your report. Managers want to read a report that is clear, succinct, brief, but with the statistical analysis presented in enough detail to prove your report credible.
Case Study Report Components
Your report will be graded on the following components:
Requirements:
For a class case study this means answering every question in the case problem statement. Don’t just start writing. Understand what problem(s) you are asked to solve and stick to that.
Presentation:
Your paper should have three sections:
(1) an introduction which is a short statement of what you intend to show (or a statement of the requirements). You might want to have a short statement about your conclusion here – some managers are too busy to read further;
Note: by short statement about your conclusion, we intend to say that you should provide some foreshadowing indication of what you will present as your major argument regarding findings. For example, you might write “The case will be made that productivity of sales professionals is inversely related to their base compensation, and sales-based bonuses could be an innovative approach to increase productivity especially of the most senior employees.” Notice that this is just one sentence about key findings that prepares the reader for conclusions that will later be made in greater detail.
(2) the body of the report, which includes your statistical analysis (you need to have some formulas and calculations), tables, charts, graphs, and an explanation of your analysis in clear, concise terms – remember, most managers are not statisticians and a report full of formulas and math will leave them confused. Lead your reader through the analysis with the language they can understand;
Note: The case details (e.g., where you find information about Sherwin Williams) tell you things that must be addressed. These items go in the body of your report.
(3) a restatement of your conclusions and any recommendations if requested.
This is where you will bring your ideas together from the body of your analysis to make clear and well-supported statements of conclusion. What you write here should reconcile (be consistent) with what you included in your introduction and throughout the body of your paper.
Please make detailed recommendations based on your analyses. Those should be very clearly expressed. Tell the employer what you found and what they should do about it.
If you need to make some assumptions along the way, that is encouraged, but be clear about communicating those assumptions in your writing. For example, imagine a case where “seniority” is a variable, but you don’t have information about exactly what that means. If you want to assume that seniority is years on the job, that is appropriate, and you should describe that in your write-up. Another student might decide that seniority has more to do with education and prior work experience. That is also a fair assumption to make and would need to be explained.
Grammar and Spelling:
These are a very important part of your report. People may become annoyed and quit reading, or certainly suspect your results, if your report contains misspellings, incorrect punctuation, and grammar that is stilted or incorrect. I recommend that you have someone proof-read your report prior to submitting it.
Visuals
Pie charts, trend and scatter plots, tables, histograms, bar charts, etc. are great ways to show data for statistical comparison; if you use tables make sure they are simple enough to be read and understood quickly; it does not help the reader to merely reproduce the raw data table that is being analyzed; do not split tables over two pages. If you use pie charts be sure that all the slices of the “pie” add up to 100% – not over or under. You must use Tableau to provide the visual charts and graphs to insert into your word document.
There is no requirement for a specific chart or graph. The purpose of using Tableau is to introduce you to the program. You can create scatter plots, bar charts, or histograms to display the data. You also need to explain the visualization you created.
Correctness
This is what the report is all about. Check your work. If you use EXCEL or another statistical package look over the results to see if they pass the test of reason. EXCEL will almost always give you an answer, but it may not make sense. After all the work of writing the report, you will want to make sure it is accurate.
Originality
This assignment will be submitted to Turnitin. This assignment is to be your own work and not a collaborative effort. If your Turnitin score matches another paper, you will receive a score of 0 on the assignment.
