Today is the day a client group works through a case simulation I have written. It's a pilot test of the exercise and is scheduled to last 1.5 days. It's been quite an experience writing it as I hadn't ventured into this type of authoring before, and as with all things new, find that there is an enormous community of people with expertise in it. (But maybe my 'beginner's eye' will carry it through).
I started off contacting two organizations who provide case studies ecch, and ivey. The latter who runs case method workshops but I had a tight timetable so couldn't go on one of those before I had to submit the case to the client. However, the person at Ivey I spoke with pointed me in the right direction on where and how to proceed. I ended up buying a book which was well worth the price.
Writing Cases, 4th Edition
Michiel R. Leenders , James A. Erskine , Louise A. Mauffette-Leenders
The fourth edition of this best seller sets a new milestone on how to write good cases quickly. Case writing is identified as a three-phase process, and the book guides the reader through each phase. New ideas in this edition include the Case Origin Grid, The Case Shopping List, action triggers, and the story line and decision frame cuts. Another addition is the class testing of the new case. The development of the Case Plan with its five components remains as the central planning tool for effective case development All of the material contained in this text has been fully tested in over 35 countries on all continents with thousands of workshop participants from many disciplines. The new case writer who follows faithfully the three-phase process of case writing advocated in this text can produce good cases fast.
I ended up writing a simulation rather than a case. The participants work in teams, have roles, and conduct practical exercises (using the organization design tools they have learned). Their objective is to redesign a sales and marketing department to give it the capability to support the business strategy of penetrating a new market and gaining 15% market share within three years. Yesterday evening we briefed the group on the simulation and handed out the pre-read. I didn't get any calls last night from anyone perplexed so hopefully it will go well.
Naomi Stanford 