Posted: June 6th, 2016

Guidelines for writing a case study

1. The Organization
Describe the organization or unit. The ministry/agency and its organizational unit, purpose, history, tasks, location, number of employees, culture, etc.
2. Persons Who Are in the Organization 
Describe the persons who play important roles in the case. Use fictitious names, but be close to accurate about age, gender, home emirate, education, work experience, work ethics, personal opinions, cultural background, goals, relationships with other people, and communication styles. Give the most emphasis to the main character in your case, the character who must make a difficult decision or is responsible for resolving a problem.
3. Outside Environment 
Often, actors outside of the organization are important for the case, such as managers in other government agencies, consulting companies, the media, and the government of another emirate. If outside actors play a role in your case, describe them and explain their relationship with the organization and persons in your case. Once again, use fictitious names.
4. The Problems and Need for Decisions 
A case is always about one or more problems that your main character faces. You will need to explain what happens to the main character. What are the problems or dilemmas he/she is facing? Is it the real problem or only a symptom of deeper problems? What makes the situation or decision so difficult? What would he/she want to do, and is it a wise choice? What is he/she able to do? What are some of the consequences of his/her actions? Does he/she have the support of his/her superiors? Are there alternative solutions to be considered? Are there conflicting opinions among the actors? What are the conflicts?
5. the Case 
End your case study by turning it over cleanly to your readers. Ask difficult questions to help them get started. Do not answer the questions! You are asking the questions to assist the person analyzing the case in problem identification but not to provide any solutions. That is for the person doing the analysis to grapple with.