Academic writing skills

Academic Writing Skills: Participant Handbook © Dr C P Rijal Page 1
ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS
A one-day training/workshop
Participant Handbook
Organized by
Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association (NELTA) Surkhet
Nepal
Facilitated by
C P Rijal, PhD
Associate Professor
Birendranagar, Surkhet, Nepal
June 15, 2013

Pleasure learning insights
Please answer the following questions as precisely as possible.
Q1. Please provide your brief introduction.
Q2. What are at least three things that you want to learn today?
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Q3. Why do you want to learn these things? Please describe with very short reasons.
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Q4. How do you think these things will serve instrumental in your professional
development?
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Q5. How would you like to provide with your commitment to make this day-long activity
a more fruitful one?
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Please put on your name and signature here: ___________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS
1. Preamble
Along the advancement of teaching learning process in school education and
development of a number of higher education institutions in the mid and far western
regions of the country, more efforts are sought to improve the overall quality of academic
inputs at all levels in these regions.
At this outset, Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association (NELTA), Surkhet has
taken a number of genuine initiatives with shared responsiveness to contribute in the
value system based development at all levels of academic discourse. NELTA, Surkhet
has already made it a part of its institutional culture to publish a research-based journal in
yearly basis. In addition to it, a number of talk programs and seminars are organized from
time to time to promote culture of academia industry dialogue, inquiry-based teaching
learning approaches, and value-driven discourse management.
The present idea on offer aims to orient the teaching learning community of modern
education with depth insights on design, development and delivery of a number of
academic writing skills. It has been crafted in the form of a one-day training/workshop
program. It is expected to serve as a milestone in the region to promote more systematic
and scientific approach in academia. The program is designed and developed keeping in
view the learning needs of wider spectrum of teaching professionals at different levels
and subject specializations.
2. Modular Organization of the Program
The program has been organized and developed in three specific modules. The first
module deals with the detailed sharing on selected areas of concern in academic writing,
followed by distinguishing features of a high sound piece of academic writing and finally,
relevant style guidelines for academic writing in the third module of the program.
3. Module-based Program Objective
Module I: Areas of Concern in Academic Writing
Objective 1: Create general awareness about the various areas of concern in academic
writing.
Objective 2: Bring in discussion the selected areas of concern in academic writing.
Objective 3: Provide with practical learning inputs how to develop a piece of academic
writing in each selected area of concern.
Module II: Features of Effective Academic Writing
Objective 4: Promote the culture of inquiry and research-based practices in academic
discourses.
Objective 5: Impart the sense of innovation in development higher education discourses
by means of academic writing skills.
Objective 6: Establish a common understanding of the use of appropriate language
skills in academic writing.

Objective 7: Help learn how to make an academic writing more focused on specific
beneficiaries, subject of concern and associated program.
Objective 8: Share different ways to develop an academic writing on constructive
thought patterns.
Objective 9: Promote universal teaching learning insights through academic writing for
all.
Module III: Style Guidelines in Academic Writing
Objective 10: Build a shared understanding about how to use computers to maintain
some common style guidelines of language and paper layout.
Objective 11: Establish ‘learning for going concern’ on basic rules of citation and
referencing using in respect with American Psychological Association
(APA) guidelines.
Objective 12: Help participants apply more systematic approach to produce a formal
document of academic writing.
4. Working Mechanism
This training/workshop delivery has been designed in a blend self learning, peer learning,
group work and presentation, followed by instructor guided lecture and discussion in
person-attended setting.
Throughout the program, all participants, organizers and the main facilitator will not use
their cell phones, unless and until it is extraordinarily important and urgent.
Each member of the program will use English as the means of language of discourse.
Please remember, we would like to extend a strong message through this program that
English language, if used in simple, localized form and nature, is the easiest universal
language for the second language learners.
We will work in as informal setting as possible, but will be remain intact with the basic
norms to make the program more effective.
5. Thematic Inputs
Module I: Areas of Concern in Academic Writing
Before we proceed ahead, what do you think are the most important types of academic
writing of your day to day use? Please recall at least three types and write them in the
space provided below:
1.
2.
3.

Research and Academic Writing
Academic writing is also referred to as research writing. It is best known as empirical or
evidence-based writing. We already know that research is referred to as a systematic and
objective investigation on a subject or problem in order to discover relevant information.
Investigation on a subject refers to the process of establishing a conceptual or theoretical
understanding about something to be promoted as part of disciplinary studies. For
example, development of a theory in public health science.
Similarly, investigation on a problem refers to assessing, diagnosing, exploring, or
evaluating various facets related to a management problem. For example, what
percentage of first time visitors of Bhatbhateni Superstores come again to this place for
shopping? Why is it difficult in teaching to higher education students in English medium
at Mid-Western University, Surkhet?
Discovery of relevant information refers to establishing theoretical grounds for a
disciplinary study, or deducting a conceptually or theoretically grounded problem
solution in a defined situation.
Basically, there are two types of research – 1. fundamental research, and 2. Applied
research.
Fundamental research is also known as the basic or pure research. It seeks to expand the
boundaries of subjective knowledge in the given area. For example, development of
research methods, propagation of new theories, and conduction of academic research
studies are a few examples of fundamental research.
Applied research is known as the decisional research. It attempts to use the existing
knowledge for resolving the current problem. For example, what are the customer needs,
expectations and problems associated to the offerings of Sunny Village Resorts? How did
the general public like the prevailing national ruling system?
Whatever be the purpose, a research may be considered as a systematic and objective
investigation that involves systematic design, collection, preparation, interpretation and
reporting of information needed to solve specific problems or promote a domain of
learning.
A piece of writing based on research findings is known research writing. From the above
discussion, it should also be understood that there are mainly two branches of scientific
exploration -- academic research and management research. Academic writing originates
from within the branch of academic research but may receive a lot of inputs from the
management research too.
In a recent survey research Burnett (2013) at the University of Essex, has identified that
writing and reasoning are the two interconnected skills. This study also identified that
most of the graduates were lacking these skills the highest. Here, in writing component,

the author has emphasized on text structuring or construction and grammatical soundness
as the key requirements. Similarly, providing with critical, evidence-based, and grounded
reasoning has been explored to be equally important element to make the piece of writing
a more effective one. This study has further identified that a large majority of
academically well off graduates highly lacked these two skills in their writing. It means
that lack of adequate focus on academic writing skills is a universal problem in the
mission of higher education.
Similarly, in a three volume work contributed by means of a team research at Wasedo
University (2013), it has been claimed that academic writing is one of the very essential
tools for promoting skills for authentic academic essay writing.
There may be a varying number of such academic essays. Today, we will mainly focus
our discussion on writing research proposals, research reports, articles, developing a case
study, and a number of other equally important academic writing works.
Proposal for Thesis Research
A research proposal serves as a plan in the form of a request to conduct and control a
research project. It describes the research problem, approach, design, methods of data
collection and analysis, and approach of reporting. A finely developed research proposal
serves as a blueprint in overall design, development and execution of a research project.
Learner Development Unit (2013) has claimed that there is no single format for research
proposals as a result of difference between different research projects, academic
disciplines, donor organizations and academic institutions having different formats and
requirements. There are, however, several key components which must be included in
every research proposal. For example, description of the problem, argument of the
significance of problem exploration, supporting with relevant reviews of literature,
description of proposed research methodology, and the description about how the
research findings will be treated are a few commonalities.
Say for example, a study may intend to explore why anarchism is developing in different
sectors in Nepal. In particular, the research will focus on the factors which promote and
maintain anarchism in the Nepalese society. Recent reports in the media detailing the
operation of extensive and organized anarchy groups that created public interest and
concern, and a number of important implications for policing policy need be reviewed.
Similarly, various facets of prevailing anarchism and their future consequences need be
confirmed through observation. For this, it may require a scientific research design. This
all will make over the research proposal for our liberal science graduates.
Basically, a research proposal is developed in two components – 1. technical component,
and 2. financial component.
The key technical components of an academic research proposal may comprise of these
elements --

1. Problem definition may comprise of essential, preliminary exploration about specific
areas of research gap, objective of the research, statement of the problem, research
questions, working hypotheses, significance of the study and limitations of the study.
2. Theoretical linkage should be built on review of relevant literature established from
the perspectives of theoretical constructs and managerial implications or broad, social
outcomes. It is normally organized in the second section of the proposal.
Development of a conceptual framework of the study should be the final ingredient to
guide the overall study on a more academic flight.
3. Study approach and design should present with relevant logic about the combination
of selected approach and designs that will be used to accomplish the proposed
research. This should serve as a gateway to methodological perspectives of the
research, normally written in the third section of the proposal.
4. Population and sampling attempts to logically establish and define the population of
the study and sampling techniques and size.
5. Instrumentation deals with the various data collection instruments to be used with
adequate discussion on proposed mechanism for their development and procedure for
their validation and testing. In many cases, the employers may seek detailed proposals
with appropriate data collection instruments attached with the proposal.
6. Field work/data collection approach should mention how the data will be collected,
who will collect it, how the accuracy and authenticity will be established and
confirmed, and so on... In this section, the ensured mechanisms to ensure the quality
of data and data collection mechanism should be described.
7. Mechanism for data processing and analysis deals with the kind of data that will be
collected, the way they will be processed, and how the results will be interpreted.
8. Work schedule serves as a quick look onto the time schedule, broken down by phases
of bottom line activities. A graphical portray of critical path method (CPM), or a
Gantt Chart showing such activities and corresponding time estimation may be more
preferred.
9. Use of resources should describe with logical pattern of diversity and intensity of
various human and non-human resources to be involved or used in executing the
proposed research project.
10. Sociao-ethical compliance is considered to be equally important issue that needs be
clarified in the proposal stating the various efforts to be made during specific stages
of research in action. It helps gain research authenticity with socio-ethical soundness.
Similarly, the financial component of a research proposal establishes a budgetary
estimation and ethical use of the funds.
11. Cost of the study is developed to establish a relevant projection of total estimated cost
for conducting the research. As the key part of financial proposal, budget breakdown
has to be developed with detailed indication of the funds needed to undertake the
research and how those funds will be utilized in each activity and how much cost will
be incurred for procuring/using various resources.
12. Compliance of financial transparency is equally important. The request should be
made by proposing with the evidence of compliance to general taxation and other
accounting systems and standards.

This is how an academic research proposal may be developed in two distinctive
components – technical and financial. The technical component can be further branched
into three sub-components -- problem definition, theoretical linkage and methodological
perspectives, and financial component may end-up in 1 or 2 pages of relevant budgetary
propositions for carrying out the proposed study. In case of individual researcher’s self-
funded research project, financial component may not appear in the proposal.
Keeping in view the above stated components of a research proposal, it can be organized
in three distinctive chapters or sections:
Chapter I: Introduction
1.1. Preamble/Focus/Background of the study
1.2. Gap analyses
1.3. Objective of the study
1.4. Statement of the problem
1.5. Research questions
1.6. Working hypotheses
1.7. Significance of the study
1.8. Scope of the study
1.9. Definition of key terms
1.10. Limitations and delimitations of the study
1.11. Organization of the proposed study report
Chapter II: Review of Literature
2.1. Introduction
2.2. Review of theoretical perspectives
2.3. Review of relevant policy developments
2.4. Review of related studies
2.5. Development of theoretical framework of the study
2.6. Chapter summary
Chapter III: Research Methodology
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Study approaches
3.3. Study designs
3.4. Sources of information and population of the study
3.5. Sampling strategies
3.6. Development of data collection instruments
3.7. Test of validity and reliability
3.8. Mechanism for research administration
3.9. Mechanism for data reduction, presentation and analyses
3.10. Expertise to be involved
3.11. Other resources required
3.12. Compliance with socio-ethical considerations
3.13. Work schedule
3.14. Budgeting

The headings may vary significantly according to our interest and freedom of choice
when we apply a more qualitative journey. There are more restrictions on choice, if it is a
more quantitative study. It will also vary as per the specific level and type of
specialization.
References
All sources cited in any part of an academic paper need be presented following the
recognized styles by the respective department.
Appendices
This part should include the Curriculum Vitae of the main researcher and key members of
the team. All necessary instruments prepared for the use of proposed research should be
presented in both official language of the respective department and the local language/s
of the community/ies in which the research is planned for fielding. Similarly, highly
modular and structured secondary source documents on which the present study has been
visualized or developed also will be placed in this section.
So, what should be the length of a proposal? There is no concrete answer. If you are
submitting only a concept note, it may be completed between 4-10 pages, and it may go
more than 40 pages in the case of submitting a detailed proposal. These three chapters
should occupy around 70% of the total length of the final report after accomplishing
research.
Finally, please write about five features of an effective academic research proposal and
share them with the colleagues?
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5.
Also discuss what structural and grammatical considerations should be made while
developing and editing a research proposal? Please pin-point and share at least three
things.
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3.

Do you think you still have some room for the development of these areas? Please
specify.
Thesis Research Report
The contents of chapters I through III of the detailed proposal research are transformed
from the language of proposition to accomplishment and then at least two additional
chapters – data presentation and analyses in chapter iv and summary, conclusions and
recommendations in chapter v – are developed. In the case of more qualitative journey,
the options will be quite open.
Chapter IV: Data Presentation and Analyses
4.1. Introduction
4.2. Information on informant and unit of analyses
4.3. Research question-by-question structured headings to make detailed data
presentation, analyses and relevant testing
4.4. Key findings of the study
Chapter V: Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations
5.1. Summary of the work
5.2. Discussions
5.3. Conclusions
5.4. Recommendations
In the supplementary part of a well written research report, the references and appendices
are the same as prepared while developing a proposal, necessary annextures may be
added to provide the inventory of bulky information in different types of interactive form
of outputs which could not be fitted in the text in chapter iv.
One important section we have not yet talked about. Can you guess what it is! Probably
you could trace it by yourself. Yes, it is the prefatory part. It should be prepared at last
after the completion of all writing task and it should be placed before the first chapter of
the document. Mostly, the contents of this section are defined by the respective
department and they normally include –
Cover page
Title fly
Signatory page/s
Copyrights
Acknowledgements
Abstract
Table of contents
List of tables
List of figures
List of appendices
List of annextures
List of abbreviations

Now, please set at least five standards of a finely crafted research report from the
perspectives of relevancy of the subject matter of inquiry, grounded connectivity of
theoretical perspectives, methodological aspects, grounded academic insights, quality of
text and its documentation and share them with rest of members present here:
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5.
Case Study
Introduction
A case study presents an account of what happened to a business or industry or an
institution over time. In business studies, it is applied in the study of various situations
that the managers are expected to deal with, or have already dealt. For example, the
changes in the competitive environment leading to change in managers' responses, which
usually involve changing the corporate, business, product or service-level strategy.
A case study may be understood as a description of a real life business situation involving
decision-making for problem-solving. For example, Whitehead (as cited in Aguliar,
1988) has instructed that the root of true practice in education must start from particular
fact, concrete and definite individual apprehension, and must gradually evolve towards
the general idea. Cragg (as cited in Aguliar, 1988) is of the opinion that the learning
should be based on dynamic cooperation and interactive one rather than flatter, one-way
listening of wise statements.
A case can be based on real situation that actually has happened just as described, or
some portion is disguised for reasons of privacy. Most of the case studies are written such
that the reader takes the place of the manager whose responsibility is to make decision to
solve the problem explained in the case situation. In almost all case studies, a decision
must be made, even though the decision might be leaving the situation as it is and doing
nothing.
The case method is based on a philosophy that combines knowledge acquisition with
significant student involvement. In the words of Alfred North Whitehead, the case
method rejects the doctrine that students first learn passively, and then apply the
knowledge.
The case method is based on what Dewey (as cited in Horava, & Curran) has stated that
only by wrestling with the conditions of this problem at hand, seeking and finding his
own way out, does [the student] think... If he cannot devise his own solution (not, of

course, in isolation, but in correspondence with the teacher and other pupils) and find his
own way out he will not learn, not even if he can recite some correct answer with a
hundred percent accuracy.
The case method brings reality into the classroom, if it is developed and presented
effectively with rich and interesting details. Cases keep conceptual discussions grounded
in the reality. Experience shows that simple fictional accounts of situations and
collections of actual organizational data and articles from public sources are not as
effective for learning as are fully developed cases.
A comprehensive case presents you with a partial clinical study of a real-life situation
faced by a practicing manager. A case presented in a narrative form provides motivation
for involvement with, and analysis of a specific situation. By framing alternative strategic
actions and by confronting the complexity and ambiguity of the practical world, case
analysis provides extraordinary power for your involvement with a personal learning
experience.
1. Case analysis requires students to practice important managerial skills--
diagnosing, making decisions, observing, listening, and persuading--while
preparing for a case discussion.
2. Cases require students to relate analysis and action, to develop realistic and
concrete actions despite the complexity and partial knowledge characterizing the
situation being studied.
3. Students must confront the intractability of reality--complete with absence of
needed information, an imbalance between needs and available resources, and
conflicts among competing objectives.
As illustrated above, the case method can help you develop your analytical and judgment
skills. Case analysis also helps you learn how to ask the right questions-that is, the
questions that focus on the core strategic issues included within a case. Students aspiring
to be transformed as managers can improve their ability to identify the underlying
problems, rather than focusing on superficial symptoms, through development of the
skills required to ask probing, yet appropriate, questions. The particular set of cases your
instructor chooses to assign your class can expose you to a wide variety of organizations
and managerial situations. This approach vicariously broadens your experience base and
provides insights into many types of managerial situations, tasks, and responsibilities.
Such indirect experience can help you make a more informed career decision about the
industry and managerial situations you believe will prove to be challenging and
satisfying. Finally, experience in analyzing cases definitely enhances your skills in issue-
based probing and problem-solving.
Further, when you practice oral and written presentations, your communication skill will
be improved as you go on using case methods of teaching learning. Of course, these
added skills depend on your preparation and facilitation of teaching learning. However,
the primary responsibility for excellence is yours -- how you would like to equip
yourself. The quality of case discussion is generally acknowledged to require, at a
minimum, a thorough mastery of case facts and some independent analyses of them. The

case method, therefore, first requires that you read and think carefully about each case.
Additional comments about the preparation you should complete to successfully discuss a
case appear in the next section.
The case method of analysis in university classrooms is a teaching learning tool in which
the students and instructors participate through direct discussions on given cases, as
opposed to the lecture or story telling method, where the instructor speaks and students
listen and take notes, or nod the head. In case study method, the students learn to teach
themselves, with the instructor being an active guide or facilitator rather than just a
talking head delivering content. The focus is on students’ learning through their joint, co-
operative efforts.
Assigned cases are first prepared by students under closer guidance of the instructor.
Such preparation forms the basis for guided class discussion. Students learn, often
unconsciously, how to evaluate a problem, how to make decisions, and how to orally
argue a point of view. Using this method, they also learn how to think in terms of the
problems faced by an administrator. In courses where the case method is used
extensively, a significant part of students’ learning evaluation may rest with classroom
discussion with lively participation, with another substantial portion resting on written
case analyses. For these reasons, using the case method tends to be very intensive for
both students and Instructors.
Case studies are used extensively thoughout most of the programs at the university level,
business administration classes with no exception. As you will be observing the
happening features of case studies in many of the lectures in my classroom proceedings
in Leadership, Organizational Psychology, Strategic Management, Business
Management, Human Resource Management, Brand Management, Advertising and
Promotions Management, Consumer Behavior, Organizational Design and Change,
Critical Thinking, Managerial Communication, Management Information System, Global
Business, Research and Innovation, and other similar areas of teaching learning, it is
important that you get off to a good start by learning the proper way to approach and
complete them. I am sure a case embedded approach of teaching learning practice will set
a new height and excellence in your professional career of university level teaching. You
must understand for your life-term learning with a felt understanding that you have a bag
full of collection of cases which may be directly applicable in many business dealings.
So, are you ready to learn how to help your graduates learn to understand and implement
the best decision alternatives through case study method?
My insights on case study approach are clear. The case study approach is valuable for
several reasons. First, a case study provides you, the learner and teacher, with
experience of organizational problems that you did not have the opportunity to
experience firsthand. In a relatively short period of time, you will have the chance to
appreciate and analyze the problems faced by many companies and to understand how
managers tried to deal with them.

Second, a case study illustrates what you have learnt for teaching. The meaning and
implication of the information is made clearer when it is applied to case studies. The
theory and concepts help reveal what is going on in the institution under observation, and
allow you to evaluate the solutions that specify companies adopted to deal with their
problems.
Consequently, when you analyze cases, you will be like a detective who, with a set of
conceptual tools, probes what happened and what or who was responsible and then
marshals the evidence that provides the solution. Top managers enjoy the thrill of testing
their problem-solving abilities in the real world. It is important to remember, after all,
that no one knows what the right answer is. All what managers can do is to make the best
guess. In fact, managers repeatedly say that they are happy if they are right only half the
time in solving strategic problems. Management is an uncertain game, and using cases to
see how theory can be put into practice is one of the ways to improve your skills of
diagnostic investigation.
Third, the case studies provide you with the opportunity for classroom participation to
gain experience in presenting your ideas to others. Instructors may sometimes call on
students as a group to identify what is going on in a case and through classroom
discussions the issues in and solutions to the case problem will reveal themselves. In such
a situation, you will have to organize your views and conclusions so that you can present
them to the class. Your colleagues and students may have analyzed the issues differently
from you, and they will want you to argue your points before they will accept your
conclusions, so be prepared for debate. This is how decisions are made in the actual
business world.
For the purpose of graduates’ collaborative learning, you also may assign to individuals,
but more commonly to groups, to analyze the case/s before the whole class. The
individual or group probably will be responsible for a thirty to forty-minute presentation
of the case to the class. That presentation must cover the issues involved, the problems
facing the company or institution, and a series of recommendations for resolving the
problems. The discussions then will be placed open to the class, and you will have to help
the graduates defend their ideas. Through such discussions and presentations, they will
experience how to convey their ideas effectively to others. Remember that a great deal of
managers' time is spent in these kinds of situations, presenting their ideas and engaging in
discussions with other managers, who have their own views about what is going on.
Thus, you will be able to make them experience the real life situation in the classroom the
actual process of what goes on in a business setting, and this will serve you and your
graduates well in future careers. If you are a working executive, it will help you reach
back to nature. Do you know what ‘back to nature’ all is about!
If you make the graduates work in groups to analyze case studies, they will also learn
about the group processes involved in working as a team. When people work in groups, it
is often difficult to schedule time and allocate responsibility for the case analysis. There
are always group members who shirk their responsibilities, and there are group members
who are so sure of their own ideas that they try to dominate the group's analyses. Most

business negotiations take place in groups, however, and it is best if you can make strong
feeling among the graduates about such problems now.
Significance of the case study
In my understanding, a business case study is a powerful decision-making tool in
business management studies for a few different reasons. First, it forces the decision
makers to follow a predetermined process or format to ensure all factors have been
considered. Next, it inherently points the user to determine the risk factors and other
major success factors. Finally, it allows multiple parties to review the case and its
assumptions.
The alternative to a business case study is decision making ‘on the fly’, ‘on the instinct’,
or ‘back of the envelop’. All of these are shortcuts of doing the work and formally
documenting the research, assumptions, and analyses.
Analyzing a case study
As just mentioned, the purpose of the case study is to let the learner apply the concepts
he/she has learnt when he/she analyzes the issues facing a specific situation. To analyze a
case study, therefore, you must examine closely the issues which the institution is
confronted with. Most often you need to read the case several times - once to grasp the
overall picture of what is happening to the company and then several times to discover
and grasp the specific problems.
Generally, detailed analyses of a case study should include eight areas:
1. The history, development, and growth of the company over time
2. The identification of the company's internal strengths and weaknesses
3. The nature of the external environment surrounding the company
4. A SWOT analysis
5. The kind of corporate-level strategy pursued by the company
6. The nature of the company's business-level strategy
7. The company's structure and control systems and how they match its strategy
8. Recommendations
1. Analyze the company's history, development, and growth. A convenient way to
investigate how a company's past strategy and structure affect it in the present is to
chart the critical incidents in its history - that is, the events that were the most unusual
or the most essential for its development into the company it is today. Some of the
events have to do with its founding, its initial products, how it makes new-product
market decisions, and how it developed and chose functional competencies to pursue.
Its entry into new businesses and shifts in its main lines of business are also important
milestones to consider.
2. Identify the company's internal strengths and weaknesses. Once the historical
profile is completed, you can begin the SWOT analysis. Use all the incidents you
have charted to develop an account of the company's strengths and weaknesses as
they have emerged historically. Examine each of the value creation functions of the

company, and identify the functions in which the company is currently strong and
currently weak. Some companies might be weak in marketing; some might be strong
in research and development. Make lists of these strengths and weaknesses. The
SWOT checklist gives examples of what might go in these lists.
3. Analyze the external environment. The next step is to identify environmental
opportunities and threats. Here you should apply all information you have learned on
industry and macro environment, to analyze the environment the company is
confronting. Of particular importance at the industry level is Porter's five forces
model and the stage of the life cycle model. Which factors in the macro environment
will appear salient depends on the specific company being analyzed (Thompson, Jr.,
Strickland III, Gamble, & Jain, 2006). However, use each factor in turn (for instance,
demographic factors) to see whether it is relevant for the company in question.
Having done this analysis, you will have generated both an analysis of the company's
environment and a list of opportunities and threats. The SWOT checklist lists some
common environmental opportunities and threats that you may look for, but the list
you generate will be specific to the institution or the company under observation.
4. Evaluate the SWOT analysis. Having identified the company's external
opportunities and threats as well as its internal strengths and weaknesses, you need to
consider what your findings mean. That is, you need to balance the strengths and
weaknesses against opportunities and threats. Is the company or institution in an
overall strong competitive position? Can it continue to pursue its current business- or
corporate-level strategy profitably? What can this institution do to turn weaknesses
into strengths and threats into opportunities? Can it develop new functional, business,
or corporate strategies to accomplish this change? Never merely generate the SWOT
analysis and then put it aside. Because it provides a concise summary of the
company's condition, a good SWOT analysis is the key to all the analyses that follow.
5. Analyze the institutional or corporate-level strategy. To analyze a company's
corporate-level strategy, first you need to review the company's mission and goals. If
they do not have one, define and establish one for them. Sometimes the mission and
goals are stated explicitly in the case; at other times you will have to infer them from
available information. The information you need to collect to find out the company's
corporate strategy includes such factors as its line(s) of business and the nature of its
subsidiaries and acquisitions. It is important to analyze the relationship among the
company's businesses. Do they trade or exchange resources? Are there gains to be
achieved from synergy? Alternatively, is the company just running a portfolio of
investments? This analysis should enable you to define the corporate strategy that the
company is pursuing (for example, related or unrelated diversification or a
combination of both) and to conclude whether the company operates in just one core
business. Then, using your SWOT analysis, debate the merits of this strategy. Is it
appropriate, given the environment the company is in? Could a change in corporate
strategy provide the company with new opportunities or transform a weakness into

strength? For example, should the company diversify from its core business into new
businesses?
Other issues should be considered as well. How and why has the company's strategy
changed over time? What is the claimed rationale for any changes? Often it is a good
idea to analyze the company's businesses or products to assess its situation and
identify which divisions contribute the most to or detract from its competitive
advantage. It is also useful to explore how the company has built its portfolio over
time. Did it acquire new businesses, or did it internally venture its own? All these
factors provide clues about the company and indicate ways of improving its future
performance.
6. Analyze business-level strategy. Once you know the company's corporate-level
strategy and have done the SWOT analysis, the next step is to identify the company's
business-level strategy. If the company is a single-business company, its business-
level strategy is identical to its corporate-level or institutional strategy. If the
institution or the company is in many businesses, each business will have its own
business-level strategy. You will need to identify the company's generic competitive
strategy - differentiation, low cost, or focus - and its investment strategy, given the
company's relative competitive position and the stage of the life cycle. The company
also may market different products using different business-level strategies. For
example, it may offer a low-cost product range and a line of differentiated products.
Be sure to give a full account of a company's business-level strategy to show how it
competes.
Identifying the functional strategies that a company pursues to build competitive
advantage through superior efficiency, quality, innovation, and customer
responsiveness and to achieve its business-level strategy is very important. The
SWOT analysis will have provided you with information on the company's functional
competencies. You should further investigate its production, marketing, or research
and development strategy to gain a picture of where the company is going. For
example, pursuing a low-cost or a differentiation strategy successfully requires a very
different set of competencies. Has the company developed the right ones? If it has,
how can it exploit them further? Can it pursue both a low-cost and a differentiation
strategy simultaneously?
The SWOT analysis is especially important at this point if the industry analysis,
particularly Porter's model, has revealed the threats to the company from the
environment. Can the company deal with these threats? How should it change its
business-level strategy to counter them? To evaluate the potential of a company's
business-level strategy, you must first perform a thorough SWOT analysis that
captures the essence of its problems.
Once you complete this analysis, you will have a full picture of the way the company
is operating and be in a position to evaluate the potential of its strategy. Thus, you
will be able to make recommendations concerning the pattern of its future actions.

However, first you need to consider strategy implementation, or the way the company
tries to achieve its strategy.
7. Analyze structure and control systems. The aim of this analysis is to identify what
structure and control systems the company or institution is using to implement its
strategy and to evaluate whether that structure is the appropriate one for the company.
Different corporate and business strategies require different structures. For example,
does the company have the right level of vertical differentiation? Does it have
appropriate number of levels in the hierarchy or decentralized control or horizontal
differentiation? Does it use a functional structure when it should be using a product
structure? Similarly, is the company using the right integration or control systems to
manage its operations? Are managers being appropriately rewarded? Are there right
rewards in place for encouraging cooperation among divisions? These a few issues to
be considered.
In some cases there will be little information on these issues, whereas in others there
will be a lot. Obviously, in analyzing each case you should gear the analysis toward
its most salient issues. For example, organizational conflict, power, and politics will
be important issues for some companies. Try to analyze why problems in these areas
are occurring. Do they occur because of bad strategy formulation or because of bad
strategy implementation?
Organizational change is an issue in many cases because the companies are
attempting to alter their strategies or structures to solve strategic problems. Thus, as a
part of the analysis, you might suggest an action plan that the company in question
could use to achieve its goals. For example, you might list in a logical sequence the
steps the company would need to follow to alter its business-level strategy from
differentiation to focus.
8. Make recommendations. The last part of the case analysis process involves making
recommendations based on analysis. Obviously, the quality of your recommendations
is a direct result of the thoroughness with which you prepared the case analysis. The
work you put into the case analysis will be obvious from your side as a professor to
make your graduates internalize the problems and make real-life suitable
recommendations for implementation.
Recommendations are directed at solving whatever strategic problem the company is
facing and at increasing its future profitability. The recommendations should be in
line with the analyses; that is, they should follow logically from the previous
discussion. For example, the recommendation generally will center on the specific
ways of changing functional, business, and corporate strategy and organizational
structure and control to improve business performance. The set of recommendations
will be specific to each case, and so it is difficult to discuss these recommendations
here. Such recommendations might include an increase in spending on specific
research and development projects, the divesting of certain businesses, a change from
a strategy of unrelated to related diversification, an increase in the level of integration

among divisions by using task forces and teams, or a move to a different kind of
structure to implement a new business-level strategy.
Again, make sure the recommendations are mutually consistent and are written in the
form of an action plan. The plan might contain a timetable that sequences the actions
for changing the company's strategy and a description of how changes at the
corporate level will necessitate changes at the business level and subsequently at the
functional level.
After following all these stages, you will have performed thorough process of case
development and analyses and now you will be in a position to join in class discussion or
present your ideas to the class, depending on the format you used as a professor.
Remember that you must tailor your analyses to suit the specific issue discussed in your
case. In some cases, you might completely omit one of the steps in the analyses because it
is not relevant to the situation you are considering. You must be sensitive to the needs of
the case and not apply the framework we have discussed in this section blindly. The
framework is meant only as a guide and not as an outline that you must use to do a
successful analysis.
Writing a case study
Often, as part of your course requirements, you will need to present your graduates with a
written case analysis to facilitate their learning. You will often ask the graduates to do the
same again. This may be an individual or a group report. Whatever the situation be, there
are certain guidelines to follow in writing a case analysis. Before I outline these
guidelines for your use, please make sure they do not conflict with any directions I have
given to you. Also remember that your rest of the colleagues may have their own ways of
doing it. Respect them too.
I firmly believe that at this level of your profession, the structure of your written piece
should be not only more comprehensive, but also equally critical. Generally, if you
follow the steps for analysis discussed in the previous section, you already will have a
good structure for your written discussion.
All reports begin with an introduction to the case. But the captions are yours, you should
be showing your comfort, that’s all! In the introductory part, you should outline briefly
what the company or institution does, how has it been developed historically, what
problems it is experiencing, and how you are going to approach the issues in the case
write-up. Do this sequentially by writing, for example, "First, we discuss the environment
of Company X...Third, we discuss Company X’s business-level strategy... Last, we
provide recommendations for turning around Company X’s business."
In the second part of the case write-up, the strategic-analysis section, do the SWOT
analysis, analyze and discuss the nature and problems of the company’s business-level
and corporate strategy, and then analyze its structure and control systems. Make sure you
use plenty of headings and subheadings to structure your analysis. For example, have
separate sections on any important conceptual tools you use. Thus, you might have a

section on Porter’s five forces model as part of your analyses of the environment. You
might offer a separate section on portfolio techniques when analyzing a company’s
corporate strategy. Tailor the sections and subsections to the specific issues of importance
in the case. Interestingly, you may find plenty of room to use a number of tools
developed from behavioral science perspective.
In the third part of the case write-up, present your solutions and recommendations. Be
comprehensive, and make sure they are in line with the previous analysis so that the
recommendations fit together and move logically from one to the next. The
recommendations section is very revealing because, as mentioned earlier, you will have a
good idea of how much work you put into the case from the perspective of quality of
your recommendations.
Following this framework will provide a good structure for most written reports, though
obviously it must be shaped to fit the individual case being considered. Some cases are
about excellent companies experiencing no problems. In such instances, it is hard to write
recommendations. Instead, you can focus on analyzing why the company is doing so
well, using that analysis to structure the discussion. Following are some minor
suggestions that can help make a good analysis even better.
Do not repeat in summary form large pieces of factual information from the case. The
instructor has read the case and knows what is going on. Rather, use the information in
the case to illustrate your statements, to defend your arguments, or to make salient points.
Beyond the brief introduction to the company, you must avoid being descriptive; instead,
you must be analytical.
Make sure the sections and subsections of your discussion flow logically and smoothly
from one to the next. That is, try to build on what has gone before so that the analysis of
the case study moves toward a climax. This is particularly important for group analysis,
because there is a tendency for people in a group to split up the work and say, "I’ll do the
beginning, you take the middle, and I’ll do the end." The result is a choppy, stilted
analysis because the parts do not flow from one to the next, and it is obvious to for your
audience to feel that no real group work has been done.
Avoid grammatical and spelling errors. They make the paper sloppy. All people admire
simple and short language and hardly a few of them love long sentences with newer
words.
In some instances, the case dealing with well-known companies may not include up-to-
date research because it was not available at the time the case was written. If possible, do
a search for more information on what has happened to the company in subsequent years.
Some of the highly pertinent sources may include, if you have access to, The World Wide
Web the place to start your research; compact disk sources provide an amazing amount of
good information, including summaries of recent articles written on specific companies
that you can then access in the library; companies themselves provide information if you

write and ask for it; Fortune, Business Week, and Forbes have many articles on company
featured cases.
Sometimes your hand-out questions should facilitate each case to help your graduates.
You should help your graduates use such things guides for writing the case analysis.
They often illuminate the important issues that have to be covered in the discussion. If
you follow the guidelines in this section, you should be able to write a thorough and
effective evaluation.
The significance and role of financial analysis in a case study
An important aspect of analyzing and writing a case study analysis is the role and use of
financial information. A careful analysis of the company's financial conditions
immensely improves a case write-up. After all, financial data represent the concrete
results of the company's strategy and structure. Although analyzing financial statements
can be quite complex, a general idea of a company's financial position can be determined
through the use of ratio analysis. Financial performance ratios can be calculated from the
balance sheet and income statement.
These ratios can be classified into five different subgroups: profit ratios, liquidity
ratios, activity ratios, leverage ratios, and shareholder-return ratios. These ratios
should be compared with the industry average or the company's prior years of
performance. It should be noted that deviation from the average is not necessarily bad. It
simply warrants further investigation. For example, newer companies will have
purchased assets at different price and will likely have different capital structures than the
ones. In addition to ratio analysis, a company's cash flow position is of critical
importance and should be assessed. Cash flow shows how much actual cash a company
possesses.
Profit Ratios
Profit ratios measure the efficiency with which the company uses its resources. The more
efficient the company, the greater is its profitability. It is useful to compare a company's
profitability against that of its major competitors in its industry. Such a comparison tells
whether the company is operating more or less efficiently than its rivals. In addition, the
change in a company's profit ratios over time tells whether its performance is improving
or declining. A number of different profit ratios can be used, and each of them measures a
different aspect of a company's performance.
The most commonly used profit ratios are gross profit margin, net profit margin, return
on total assets, and return on stockholders' equity.
1. Gross profit margin. The gross profit margin simply gives the percentage of sales
available to cover general and administrative expenses and other operating costs.
It is defined as follows:
Gross Profit Margin=
Sales Revenue - Cost of Goods Sold
Sales Revenue

2. Net profit margin. Net profit margin is the percentage of profit earned on sales.
This ratio is important because businesses need to make a profit to survive in the
long run. It is defined as follows:
Net Profit Margin=
Net Income
Sales Revenue
3. Return on total assets. This ratio measures the profit earned by employing the
assets. It is defined as:
Return on
Total
Assets
=
Net Income Available to
Common Stockholders
Total Assets
4. Net income is the profit after preferred dividends (those set by contract) have
been paid. Total assets include both current and noncurrent assets.
5. Return on stockholders' equity. This ratio measures the percentage of profit
earned on common stockholders' investment in the company. In theory, a
company attempting to maximize the wealth of it stockholders should be trying to
maximize this ratio. It is defined as follows:
Return on
Stockholders' Equity
=
Net Income Available to
Common Stockholders
Stockholders' Equity
Liquidity Ratios
A company's liquidity is a measure of its ability to meet short-term obligations. An asset
is deemed liquid if it can be readily converted into cash. Liquid assets are current assets
such as cash, marketable securities, accounts receivable, and so on. Two commonly used
liquidity ratios are current ratio and quick ratio.
1. Current ratio. The current ratio measures the extent to which the claims of short-
term creditors are covered by assets that can be quickly converted into cash. Most
companies should have a ratio of at least 1, because failure to meet these
commitments can lead to bankruptcy. The ratio is defined as follows:
Current Ratio =
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
2. Quick ratio. The quick ratio measures a company's ability to pay off the claims of
short-term creditors without relying on the sale of its inventories. This is a
valuable measure since in practice the sale of inventories is often difficult. It is
defined as follows:
Quick Ratio =
Current Assets - Inventory
Current Liabilities

Activity Ratios
Activity ratios indicate how effectively a company is managing its assets. Inventory
turnover and days sales outstanding (DSO) are particularly useful:
1. Inventory turnover. This measures the number of times inventory is turned over. It
is useful in determining whether a firm is carrying excess stock in inventory. It is
defined as follows:
Inventory Turnover =
Cost of Goods Sold
Inventory
2. Cost of goods sold is a better measure of turnover than sales, since it is the cost of
the inventory items. Inventory is taken at the balance sheet date. Some companies
choose to compute an average inventory, beginning inventory, plus ending
inventory, but for simplicity use the inventory at the balance sheet date.
3. Days sales outstanding (DSO), or average collection period. This ratio is the
average time a company has to wait to receive its cash after making a sale. It
measures how effective the company's credit, billing, and collection procedures
are. It is defined as follows:
DSO =
Accounts Receivable
Total Sales/360
4. Accounts receivable is divided by average daily sales. The use of 360 is standard
number of days for most financial analysis.
Leverage Ratios
A company is said to be highly leveraged if it uses more debt than equity, including stock
and retained earnings. The balance between debt and equity is called the capital
structure. The optimal capital structure is determined by the individual company. Debt
has a lower cost because creditors take less risk; they know they will get their interest and
principal. However, debt can be risky to the firm because if enough profit is not made to
cover the interest and principal payments, bankruptcy can occur.
Three commonly used leverage ratios are debt-to-assets ratio, debt-to-equity ratio, and
times-covered ratio.
1. Debt-to-assets ratio. The debt-to-asset ratio is the most direct measure of the
extent to which borrowed funds have been used to finance a company's
investments. It is defined as follows:
Debt-to-Assets Ratio=
Total Debt
Total Assets
Total debt is the sum of a company's current liabilities and its long-term debt, and
total assets are the sum of fixed assets and current assets.

2. Debt-to-equity ratio. The debt-to-equity ratio indicates the balance between debt
and equity in a company's capital structure. This is perhaps the most widely used
measure of a company's leverage. It is defined as follows:
Debt-to-Equity Ratio=
Total Debt
Total Equity
3. Times-covered ratio. The times-covered ratio measures the extent to which a
company's gross profit covers its annual interest payments. If the times-covered
ratio declines to less than 1, then the company is unable to meet its interest costs
and is technically insolvent. The ratio is defined as follows:
4.
Times-Covered Ratio=
Profit Before Interest and Tax
Total Interest Charges
Shareholder-Return Ratios
Shareholder-return ratios measure the return earned by shareholders from holding stock
in the company. Given the goal of maximizing stockholders' wealth, providing
shareholders with an adequate rate of return is a primary objective of most companies. As
with profit ratios, it can be helpful to compare a company's shareholder returns against
those of similar companies.
This provides a yardstick for determining how well the company is satisfying the
demands of this particularly important group of organizational constituents. Four
commonly used ratios are total shareholder returns, price-earnings ratio, market to
book value, and dividend yield.
1. Total shareholder returns. Total shareholder returns measure the returns earned
by time t + 1 on an investment in a company's stock made at time t. (Time t is the
time at which the initial investment is made.) Total shareholder returns include
both dividend payments and appreciation in the value of the stock (adjusted for
stock splits) and are defined as follows:
Total Shareholder
Returns
=
Stock Price (t + 1) -
Stock Price (t) + Sum of Annual Dividends per
Share
Stock Price (t)
Thus, if a shareholder invests $2 at time t, and at time t + 1 the share is worth $3,
while the sum of annual dividends for the period t to t + 1 has amounted to $0.2,
total shareholder returns are equal to (3 - 2 + 0.2)/2 = 0.6, which is a 60 percent
return on an initial investment of $2 made at time t.
2. Price-earnings ratio. The price-earnings ratio measures the amount investors are
willing to pay per dollar of profit. It is defined as follows:

Price-Earnings Ratio=
Market Price per Share
Earnings per Share
3. Market to book value. Another useful ratio is market to book value. This measures
a company's expected future growth prospects. It is defined as follows:
Market to Book Value=
Earnings per Share
4. Dividends yield. The dividend yield measures the return to shareholders received
in the form of dividends. It is defined as follows:
Dividend Yield=
Dividend per Share
5. Market price per share can be calculated for the first of the year, in which case the
dividend yield refers to the return on an investment made at the beginning of the
year. Alternatively, the average share price over the year may be used. A
company must decide how much of its profits to pay to stockholders and how
much to reinvest in the company. Companies with strong growth prospects should
have a lower dividend payout ratio than mature companies. The rationale is that
shareholders can invest the money elsewhere if the company is not growing. The
optimal ratio depends on the individual firm, but the key decider is whether the
company can produce better returns than the investor can earn elsewhere.
Cash Flows
Cash flow position is simply cash received minus cash distributed. The net cash flow can
be taken from a company's statement of cash flows. Cash flow is important for what it
tells us about a company's financing needs. A strong positive cash flow enables a
company to fund future investments without having to borrow money from bankers or
investors. This is desirable because the company avoids the need to pay out interest or
dividends. A weak or negative cash flow means that a company has to turn to external
sources to fund future investments. Generally, companies in strong-growth industries
often find themselves in a poor cash flow position (because their investment needs are
substantial), whereas successful companies based in mature industries generally find
themselves in a strong cash flow position.
A company's internally generated cash flow is calculated by adding back its depreciation
provision to profits after interest, taxes, and dividend payments. If this figure is
insufficient to cover proposed new-investment expenditures, the company has little
choice but to borrow funds to make up the shortfall or to curtail investments. If this figure
exceeds proposed new investments, the company can use the excess to build up its
liquidity (that is, through investments in financial assets) or to repay existing loans ahead
of schedule.

More on analyses…
What, if you are developing a case study on students’ dropout analyses in public schools
of Birendranagar Municipality? What could be the possible areas of analyses in this case?
Discuss more specifically, the relevant areas of empirical analyses in a case study
developed to assess the socio-economic situation in Guptipur Tharu community in
Surkhet.
Please think of an area of your interest in which you would like to conduct a systematic
inquiry and develop a case at the end to contribute to the teaching learning community.
Focus:
Purpose:
Key issues of investigation:
Conceptual linkage:
Expected research findings:
Expected contribution to the field of academia:
The learning points
When evaluating a case, it is important to be systematic. Analyze the case in a logical
fashion, beginning with the identification of operating and financial strengths and
weaknesses and environmental opportunities and threats. Move on to assess the value of a
company's current strategies only when you are fully conversant with the SWOT analysis
of the company. Ask yourself whether the company's current strategies make sense, given
its SWOT analysis. If they do not, what changes need to be made? What are your
recommendations? Above all, link any strategic recommendations you may make to the
SWOT analysis. State explicitly how the strategies you identify take advantage of the
company's strengths to exploit environmental opportunities, how they rectify the
company's weaknesses, and how they counter environmental threats. Also, do not forget
to outline what needs to be done to implement your recommendations.
The work of completing a case can be divided up into three components – preparation
before the class discussion, class discussion proceedings of the case, and anything

required after the class discussion has taken place. For maximum effectiveness, it is
essential that you do all three components. Here are the subcomponents –
Before the class discussion --
1. Read the reading assignments (if any)
2. Use the Short Cycle Process to familiarize yourself with the case.
3. Use the Long Cycle Process to analyze the case
4. Usually there will be group meetings to discuss your ideas.
5. Write up the case (if required)
During the class discussion --
6. Someone will start the discussion, usually at the prompting of the
Instructor.
7. Listen carefully and take notes. Pay close attention to assumptions. Insist
that they are clearly stated.
8. Take part in the discussion. Your contribution is important, and is likely a
part of graduate evaluation for the course.
After the class discussion --
9. Review as soon as possible after the class. Note what the key concept was
and how the case fits into the course.
It helps to have a system when sitting down to prepare a case study as the amount of
information and issues to be resolved can initially seem quite overwhelming. The
following is a good way to start.
The Short Cycle Process
1. Quickly read the case. If it is a long case, at this stage you may want to read only
the first few and last paragraphs. You should then be able to
2. Answer the following questions:
a. Who is the decision maker in this case, and what is their position and
responsibilities?
b. What appears to be the issue (of concern, problem, challenge, or
opportunity) and its significance for the organization?
c. Why has the issue arisen and why is the decision maker involved now?
d. When does the decision maker have to decide, resolve, act or dispose of
the issue? What is the urgency to the situation?
3. Take a look at the Exhibits to see what numbers have been provided.
4. Review the case subtitles to see what areas are covered in more depth.
5. Review the case questions if they have been provided. This may give you some
clues are what the main issues are to be resolved.
The Long Cycle Process
At this point, the task consists of two parts:
1. A detailed reading of the case, and then
2. Analyzing the case.

Most, but not all case studies will follow this format which comprises of a number of
coherent actions. The purpose here is to thoroughly understand the situation and the
decisions that will need to be made. Take your time, make notes, and keep focused on the
intended study objectives. Be sure, the overall task comprises of at least all these actions -
- defining the issues or problems, analyzing the situation, analyzing the case data or
information, generating alternatives, establishing cost-benefit analysis, selecting effective
decision criteria, analyzing and evaluating alternatives, choosing among the most relevant
alternatives for critical problem solving, developing a plan of action for the
implementation of the plan.
Making Case Analysis a More Functional Journey
Step 1 – Be familiar
a. In general--determine who, what, how, where and when (the critical facts in a
case).
b. In detail--identify the places, persons, activities, and contexts of the situation.
As the first step of an effective case analysis process, I recommend you to become
familiar with the facts featured in the case and the focal firm's situation. Initially, you
should become familiar with the focal firm's general situation (who, what, how, where,
and when). Thorough familiarization demands appreciation of the nuances as well as the
key issues in the case.
For you to gain familiarity with a situation, it requires to study several situational levels,
including interactions between and among individuals within groups, business units, the
corporate office, the local community, and the society at large. Recognizing relationships
within and among levels facilitates a more thorough understanding of the specific
situation. It is also important that you should evaluate the information on a continuum of
certainty. Information that is verifiable by several sources and judged along similar
dimensions can be classified as a fact. Information representing someone's perceptual
judgment of a particular situation is referred to as an inference. Information gleaned from
a situation that is not verifiable is classified as speculation. Finally, information that is
independent of verifiable sources and arises through individual or group discussion is an
assumption. Obviously, case analysts and organizational decision makers prefer having
access to facts over inferences, speculations, and assumptions.
Personal feelings, judgments, and opinions evolve when you are analyzing a case. It is
important to be aware of your own feelings about the case and to evaluate the accuracy of
perceived "facts" to ensure that the objectivity of your work is maximized.
Step 2 – Recognize the symptoms
a. List all indicators (including stated "problems") that something is not as expected
or as desired
b. Ensure that symptoms are not assumed to be the problem (symptoms should lead
to identification of the problem).

Recognition of symptoms is the second step of an effective case analysis process. A
symptom is an indication that something is not as you or someone else thinks it should
be. You may be tempted to correct the symptoms instead of searching for true problems.
True problems are the conditions or situations requiring solution before an organization's,
unit's, or individual's performance can improve. Identifying and listing symptoms early in
the case analysis process tends to reduce the temptation to label symptoms as problems.
The focus of your analysis should be on the actual causes of a problem, rather than on its
symptoms. It is important therefore to remember that symptoms are indicators of
problems; subsequent work facilitates discovery of critical causes of problems that your
case recommendations must address.
Step 3 – Identify the goals
a. Identify critical statements by major parties (people, groups, the work unit, etc.).
b. List all goals of the major parties that exist or can be reasonably inferred.
The third step of effective case analysis calls for you to identify the goals of the major
organizations, units, and/or individuals in a case. As appropriate, you should also identify
each firm's strategic intent and strategic mission. Typically, these direction-setting
statements (vision, mission, goals, objectives, strategies, etc.) are derived from comments
of the central characters in the organization, business unit, or top management team
described in the case and/or from public documents, for example, annual report.
Completing this step successfully sometimes can be difficult. Nonetheless, the outcomes
you attain from this step are essential to an effective case analysis because identifying
goals, intent, and mission helps you to clarify the major problems featured in a case and
to evaluate alternative solutions to those problems. Direction-setting statements are not
always stated publicly or prepared in written format. When this occurs, you must infer
goals from other available factual data and information.
Step 4 – Conduct the analysis
a. Decide which ideas, models, and theories seem useful.
b. Apply these conceptual tools to the situation.
c. As new information is revealed, cycle back to sub-steps a and b.
The fourth step of effective case analysis is concerned with acquiring a systematic
understanding of the situation. Occasionally cases are analyzed in a less-than-thorough
manner. Such analyses may be a product of a busy schedule or the difficulty and
complexity of the issues described in a particular case. Sometimes you will face pressure
on your limited amount of time and may believe that you can understand the situation
described in a case with-out systematic analysis of all facts. However, experience shows
that familiarity with a case's facts is a necessary, but insufficient, step to the development
of effective solutions - solutions that can enhance a firm's strategic competitiveness. In
fact, a less-than-thorough analysis typically results in an emphasis on symptoms, rather

than problems and their causes. To analyze a case effectively, you should be skeptical of
quick or easy approaches and answers.
A systematic analysis helps you to understand a situation and determine what works and
what does not. Key linkages and underlying causal networks based on the history of the
firm become apparent. In this way, you can separate causal networks from symptoms.
The quality of a case analysis depends on applying appropriate tools. So, it is important
that you should use the ideas, models, and theories that seem to be useful for evaluating
and solving individual and unique situations. As you consider facts and symptoms, a
useful theory may become apparent. Of course, having familiarity with conceptual
models may be important in the effective analysis of a situation. Successful students and
successful organizational strategists add to their intellectual tool kits on a continual basis.
Step 5 – Make diagnosis
a. Identify predicaments (goal inconsistencies).
b. Identify problems (discrepancies between goals and performance).
c. Prioritize predicaments/problems regarding timing, importance, etc.
The fifth step of effective case analysis-diagnosis-is the process of identifying and
clarifying the roots of the problems by comparing goals to facts. In this step, it is useful
to search for predicaments. Predicaments are situations in which goals do not fit with
known facts. When you evaluate the actual performance of an organization, business unit,
or individual, you may identify over- or under achievement (relative to established goals).
Of course, single-problem situations are rare. Accordingly, you should recognize that the
case situations you study probably will be complex in nature.
Effective diagnosis requires you to determine the problems affecting longer-term
performance and those requiring immediate handling. Understanding these issues will aid
your efforts to prioritize problems and predicaments, given available resources and
existing constraints.
Step 6 – Do the action planning
a. Specify and prioritize the criteria used to choose action alternatives.
b. Discover or invent feasible action alternatives
c. Examine the probable consequences of action alternatives.
d. Select a course of action.
e. Design the implementation plan of action.
f. Create a plan for assessing the action results.
The final step of an effective case analysis process is called action planning. Action
planning is the process of identifying appropriate alternative actions. Important in the
action planning step is selection of the criteria you will use to evaluate the identified
alternatives. You may derive these criteria from the analyses; typically, they are related to
key strategic situations facing the focal organization. Furthermore, it is important that you
prioritize these criteria to ensure a rational and effective evaluation of alternative courses
of action.

Typically, managers feel content when selecting courses of actions; that is, they find
acceptable courses of action that meet most of the chosen evaluation criteria. A rule of
thumb that has proved valuable to strategic decision makers is to select an alternative that
keeps aside another possible alternative available if the one selected fails.
Once you have selected the best alternative, you must specify the implementation plan.
Developing a plan of action for implementation serves as a reality check on the feasibility
of your alternative. You should give thoughtful considerations to all issues associated
with the implementation of the selected alternative.
Now, please develop you personal thought patterns to go beyond the one or two-
page text length of a written case study while making its presentation in masses.
Research Article
A research article is prepared as the final output prepared for contributing in the
discipline of academia. In other words, a research article attempts to build the linkage
between the context, concept and the grounded reality and also provides with directions
to support with functional implications using the evidence-based information.
A research article blended by the concept of academic writing, should attempt to bring in
each component and subcomponent of the detailed report of research with condensed
form and precision as well as adequacy of content of the information.
The first paragraph should provide with an abstract of ‘the abstract’ of main report, and it
should be extended with step-by-step coverage of the contents. Focus should be on
exploration of the context, examining the problem, and establishing subjective claims on
the basis of objective observation and analyses.
Length depends partly on the length of the mother document and partly on the basis of
expectation of the publisher. For example, a daily national newspaper will be happy to
publish an empirical work-based article of around 1000 words or less sometimes. A
journal article may go upto 5000 words, or so. Sometimes, the journal publisher may be
interested in your work comprising of a separate chapter or section of above 20 pages. In
rare cases, they may ask you to prepare your paper fitting to a full volume of publication.
I already have experienced it Global Fund. They published a full journal from a single
work by me and my team.
So, you need to prepare according to their expectation and limitations. Remember, more
than 90% of the research articles are not accepted by the publishers of referred journals.
They have their own criteria for choosing. Some of the commonly used criteria may
include relevancy of the subject matter, shared trustworthiness of the empirical aspects
communicated, language efficiency, length of work, legitimacy of information
ownership, etc.

Tasks for you...
Please remember about the placement of these elements while writing a research-based
article:
1. Develop a precise abstract
2. Introduce the core problem observed
3. Explain the overall methodological approaches implemented
4. Illustrate the key findings
5. Produce grounded argument
6. State your conclusions and implications
7. Use short citations in the text and provide with detailed list of references
8. State the key source of publication, if it has been published earlier in the same
or different form.
Other Important Pieces of Academic Writing
1. Teaching learning notes
2. Class presentation and discussion materials
3. Coursework project/fieldwork report
4. Mini research based course seminar paper
5. Workshop proceedings
6. Internship project report
7. Study manual
8. Book review
9. Textbook
10. Pleasure learning materials
What else do you think are additional examples of academic writing? Please discuss
about each of them and try to convince the participants.
Module II: Features of Effective Academic Writing
In this module, let’s work collectively in a total of 6 working teams, brainstorm, pinpoint
the specific features of an effective piece of academic writing, and then make a short
presentation. Each team will take up a specific theme.
Team 1: How can a more effective academic writing serve in promoting the culture of
inquiry and research-based practices in academic discourses?
Team 2: Impart the sense of innovation in development higher education discourses by
means of academic writing skills. How is it possible?
Team 3: How is it possible to establish and promote common understanding and
standards of the use of appropriate language skills in academic writing?
Team 4: Please help us to know how academic writing skill can be promoted as an
instrumental tool for making our academic discourses more focused on specific
beneficiaries, subject of concern and associated program?

Team 5: What are the various constructive thought patterns required to transform our
academic writing as more effectively?
Team 6: In your opinion, what are the ways to promote universal teaching learning
insights through academic writing for all?
Activities and time management: You will be given 15 minutes for brainstorming, 10
minutes to condense the discussion inputs, 10 minutes for developing presentation
materials, and 3 minutes x 6 teams for giving presentation = 53 minutes.
Resources available: Writing marker, chart paper, and meta-cards.
Important !: Please make notes of the key points presented by each team and finally make
a compiled description about these six thematic variants that will serve as the roots of
more effective academic writing skills. If you are able to explore a few completely
different variants, please bring them to the mass discussion at the end.
Learning outcomes: At the end of these team works, we all will be confidently able to
explore and use several insights to make our journey academic writing more effective
one.
Module III: Style Guidelines in Academic Writing
A scientifically written piece of academic work should witness the use of definite style
and layout portrayal. In this module, we will discuss and learn to apply at least three
things to make our work more scientific, impressive and consistent one.

MID-WESTERN UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES
STYLE GUIDELINES FOR ACADEMIC WRITING
PREPARED BY
CHANDRA P RIJAL, PHD
JUNE 2013
Compiled by
C P Rijal, PhD
Associate Professor

PAPER DOCUMENTATION
Medium of Language
Generally, all the academic documents including book reviews, term paper, research
reports and thesis must be written in correct English language. Exceptions may be made,
if appropriate, in appendix material or if the employer or course instructor gives special
waiver for any other language.
Parts of the Paper
Mostly, a more systematically documented course paper prepared in three distinctive
parts – prefatory part, main body and supplementary part. You will be oriented about
these parts in the subsequent sections.
Title page for project work course work and thesis work may slightly vary.
EMPOWERED WOMEN SERVES AS THE BACKBONE OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
A Mini Research in
Project Planning and Development
Submitted to
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Mid-Western University
by
Shyam K Bista, Lecturer
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
June 2013
Submitted to
Dr C P Rijal
Associate Professor

Most of the cases, the respective Faculty/Department issues a defined layout of the title
page of an academic writing.
For course work it should include the title of the paper, author’s name, course or project
for which the paper is being presented (include course code and title), name of the course
professor, faculty, institute of the study, date of presentation, and date of submission
placed at the end of the page.
Thesis includes the title of the paper, author’s name, degree for which the paper is
presented, faculty, institute of the study, date of presentation, and date of submission
placed at the end of the page.
Professional research includes the title of the paper, researcher’s name, project name,
institution awarding research project, and date of submission placed at the end of the
page.
Outline of the paper shows the organization of ideas in the paper. It will be presented
after the title page in the form of a table of contents and will include the page numbers for
each of the major headings in the paper. Letter of transmittal, signatory pages,
declaration, executive summary or abstract, table of contents, list of tables, list of figures,
list of annexure, list of appendices, and abbreviations are the main components of paper
outline.
Introduction
This section will include an introduction to the theme of the paper. As the title name
implies, introduction section simply intends to introduce the area of study or the major
problem under investigation. It might also include a brief overview, historical
perspectives, and present status, if relevant. More specifically, background of the study,
focus of the study, objectives of the study, statement of problem, research questions,
working hypotheses, scope of works, significance of the study, limitations and
delimitations of the study, operational definitions of key terms and overview of the
section or chapter-wise organization of the working paper or dissertation are the major
headings used in introduction section. However, the use of these headings will vary as per
the nature of the work, supervisor’s concern and academic requirements in the particular
work.
For example, the Introduction of a general course-based project work and a thesis
research may be organized as follows:
Thesis Research Works Other Than Thesis Research
Chapter I: Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
1.2 Gap Analyses
1.3 Focus of the Study
1.4 Objectives of the Study
1.5 Statement of the Problem
1.6 Research Questions
Section I: Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
1.2 Focus of the Study
1.3 Objectives of the Study
1.4 Issues/Problems Observed
1.5 Scope of Study
1.6 Significance of the Study

1.7 Working Hypotheses
1.8 Scope of Study
1.9 Significance of the Study
1.10Limitations and Delimitations of the
Study
1.11Operational Definitions of the Key
Terms
1.12Organization of the Dissertation Report
1.7 Methodology of the Study
1.8 Expertise Involved
1.9 Work Schedule
1.10Budgeting
1.11Managerial Implications of the
Study
These all are a few examples of components of Introduction section of a well documented
paper. However, they may slightly vary across the paper and subject matter of inquiry.
Body of the Paper
The body of the paper will be organized as such that the major ideas are clearly indicated
and the supporting ideas and comments are identifiable. It will include an elaboration on
two or more main topics with sub-topics. It will include references of the literature used
for the paper and will use appropriate style of citation.
The presentation of ideas will follow a sequential outline of major and sub-headings. The
presentation in the typed format will follow APA style guidelines. If the paper is short, a
3-level format will be adequate. Longer papers, which are more extensive and have more
complexity in presentation of ideas, may need a 4-level or 5-level format.
For example, the Body of the Paper of a thesis research and a general course-based
project work may be organized as follows:
Thesis Research Works Other Than Thesis
Research
Chapter II: Review of Literature
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Review of Theoretical Perspectives
2.3 Review of Related Policy Documents
2.4 Review of Related Studies
2.5 Development of Theoretical Framework of
the Study
2.6 Chapter Summary
Chapter III: Research Methodology
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Research Approach and Designs
3.3 Population of the Study
3.4 Sampling Techniques
3.5 Development of Data Collection Instruments
3.6 Mechanism for Field Works
3.7 Techniques for Data Reduction and Analyses
3.8 Work Schedule and Budgeting
3.9 Socio-ethical Considerations
Section II: Problem Analyses
2.1 Introduction
2.2 <Major issue or problem-
based headings of
information exploration and
problem analyses>
2.xx Key Findings of the Study
Section III: Summary and
Conclusions
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Conclusions of the Study
3.3 Managerial Implications
3.4 Recommendations

3.10 Chapter Summary
Chapter IV: Data Presentation and Analyses
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Respondent Information
4.3 <Research Question-wise Headings of Data
Presentation and Analyses>; many headings
may apply here
4.xx Key Findings of the Study
4.xy Chapter Summary
Chapter V: Summary and Conclusions
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Summary
5.3 Discussions
5.3 Conclusions
5.4 Recommendations
Each chapter or section will be further defused in a number of needs based headings, sub-
headings, and sub-sub-headings.
Finally, the paper will follow a detailed list of References prepared in line with APA style
guidelines for writing academic papers and then the Annextures and Appendices will be
placed towards the end of formally composed paper.
Basic Reference Information
The list of references should follow the guidelines as set out by APA. After every citation
in the main body of the text, you should immediately prepare the detailed listing of the
sources of information. Remember, bibliography is not the list of references.
The best time to make a record of the reference materials you have consulted is at the
time of reading it. Therefore, you should establish a system for making a complete
record. This will save time and effort in the writing a well-documented paper. Your note
making system should be established to record the following information in the sequence
suggested below:
A. Name(s) of Author(s) Family name and given names in full.
B. Date of Publication Note date for current edition in English dates.
C. Title and Edition No. Your notes should be clear as to whether this is an article in
a journal or magazine, a chapter in a book, or other source.
D. Publisher For book: city and publisher name. For journal or
magazine: may not be needed if the source is a recognized
journal.

E. Volume and Issue Especially needed for journal and magazines. It should
always include page/s where the article is located.
F. Pages Citation of chapters in a book and article in a journal or
magazine should always include pages where the article is
located.
G. Internet Sources Identify www, http, or any other search engines and
newsgroup postings and e-mail; also date.
H. Other Information Any other information to verify your source.
Such information system will be of great use while preparing for text citation and
referencing in future while document preparation.
Annex (Annexure) or Appendix (Appendices)
An Annex or Appendix is included in a paper when the writer wishes to extend or support
the information presented in the main body of the paper. This may include data tables or
other types of materials. All information should be identified as a separate Annex or
Appendix. Materials which are not the work of the present researcher should indicate the
original sources with proper documentation (use APA style).
Page Margins and Fonts
All research reports should be easy to read. Therefore, the pages should have margins of
at least 1” on all sides (excluding page numbers, which may be within a one half inch
margin). Maintain 1.5” margin in the left side of the document.
In addition, specific font types should be selected making it easy for the reader.
For example, you are now reading in a type known as Arial size 10. In the next
section you will see examples of the Courier 12 pitch font. Many other fonts
are available, but the following fonts are more commonly used:
Arial 10/ Arial 11, Prestige 12 pitch (12, Courier font (12), Times
New Roman (10) or Times New Roman (11) or Times New Roman (12).
If you want to consider using the alignment setting so that margins are even on both sides
of the page, then you should use a font that has automatic (proportional) spacing between
letters and words. Fonts such as Arial and Times New Roman are examples of these
fonts. Fonts such as Prestige 12 pitch (12) and Times New Roman (10)
should be used with “align left” only.
Paragraphs and Line Spacing
Maintain 1.5 lines spacing throughout your document with justified document setting.
Apply 18 points before and after for the chapter heading. Keep 12 points spacing before

and 6 points after the sub-headings consistently. Maintain paragraph breaks by using a
line break.
CITATION & REFERENCING
Quotations from Other Sources
Authors of scholarly papers are expected to give credit to the work done by other
scholars. Therefore, a format for citation of works in the text of the paper is needed. Each
citation in the text of the paper must be included on the reference list at the end of the
paper.
The following examples have been adapted from Diana Hacker’s 1997 publication, A
pocket style manual (2nd
ed.), and the 1994 Publication manual of the American
Psychological Association (4th
, 5th
, and 6th
ed.). They have been contextualized for Nepal.
For additional examples and updates, follow the latest edition of the Manual.
In general, the APA style requires the use of past tense (e.g.; Smith reported…) or the
present perfect tense (e.g.; Smith has argued; or Smith argues) in the sentence which
introduces materials that are being cited. Please remember, all review works and citations
must be done consistently. A variety of situations are explained below.
Direct quotation: When introducing a quotation, the author’s family name and date of
publication should be identified; the page notation appears in parenthesis at the end of the
quotation. Note that this quotation is less than 5 lines in length.
Cross (1990) stated, “Most of us are naïve observers of
teaching and naïve practitioners of the art and science of
teaching as well” (p. 10).
OR:
One scholar (Cross, 1990) stated, “Most of us are naïve
observers of teaching and naïve practitioners of the art
and science of teaching as well” (p. 10).
Alternatively, when the author’s name does not appear in the introductory sentence, then
the author’s last name, the date, and the page number should be placed in parenthesis at
the end of the sentence.

“We don’t know enough about the intricate processes of
teaching and learning to be able to learn from our constant
exposure to the classroom” (Cross, 1990, p. 10).
Summary or a paraphrase: For a summary or a paraphrase, include the author’s last
name and the date either in the first phrase or in parenthesis at the end. A page number is
not required, but it may be included to help your readers find a specific passage in a long
work.
An idea being Promoted (Cross, 1990) for the …
An idea being promoted for the improvement of college teaching is that teachers should
be helped in knowing how to use higher level of cognitive skills, i.e., ability to diagnose,
analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information (Cross, 1990).
Quotations with more than 40 words or 5 lines: Quotations with more than 40 words
should be shown as a free-standing block of typewritten lines as shown below. Note that
the block quotation starts on a new line and is indented five spaces from the left margin
(in the same position as a new paragraph). All subsequent lines are typed flush with the
indent (align left) and the right margin is similarly indented. Note that when a quotation
is set apart by indentation, quotation marks are not used. In a double spaced document,
the entire quotation may be either double-spaced or single-spaced. The format that is
chosen should be used throughout the paper. The example below is single-spaced.
In a study of memory and comprehension
activities in Sri Lanka primary school
classrooms, it was found that memory-related
activities were less than 30 percent of all
learning activities, ranging from 37.01 percent
in the first year to 24.94 percent in the third,
and 24.13 percent in the fifth year.
Furthermore, the critical thinking and problem
solving type of activities were found to be less
than 10 percent of all learning activities in
all years (Gorrell et al., 1995, p. 87).
Quotation or citation of a work discussed in a secondary source. Many times an author
will make reference to publications that are not available to you, the scholar. These
publications become a “secondary source” for you. For example, you are reading a

document written by Wagley and Mumaw which mentions a study published in a journal
article written by Heyneman. Heyneman’s article is the “primary source” and Wagley
and Mumaw’s document is the “secondary source”. Example will be discussed in later
part.
Citation of References in the Text of the Paper: APA Style
One author (one work): The author’s name and year of publication are essential for the
citation. For example,
Rijal (2003) has claimed that leadership commitment is the
key to lead organizations towards their success.
Two authors (one work): Name both authors in the initial phrase or parenthesis each time
you cite the work. In the initial phrase use “and” between the authors’ name; in the
parenthesis use the Ampersand (&) between the authors’ names.
Cooper and Mueck (1990) have defined cooperative learning
as a structured, systematic instructional strategy in which
small groups work toward a common goal (p. 69).
Cooperative learning can be distinguished from other forms
of team learning by the characteristic features of
“positive interdependence” where all members of a learning
team are responsible for the learning of other members
(Cooper, & Mueck, 1990).
Three, four, or five authors: Identify all authors the first time you cite source. In a
phrase it would appear as Gorrell, Kularatna, Dharmadasa, and Abeyratne (1995). In the
parenthesis format it would appear as: (Gorrell, Kularatna, Dharmadasa, & Abeyratne,
1995). In subsequent citations, use the first author’s name followed by “et al.” in either
the phrase or the parenthesis, i.e., Gorrell et al. (1995) or (Gorrell et al., 1995). The
example below assumes the citation is after the first one.
Studies of memory and comprehension activities in primary
school classroom show varying results. A study of Sri Lanka
classroom activities, reported by Gorrell et al. (1995),
found that memory-related activities were less than 30
percent of all learning activities and ranged from...

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