Page 37 - Case Lab Summary

studies have been undertaken such as fraud cases, banking cases,
and marketing cases.

Diagram 2

It is tempting to think that short case study development might well
encourage lecturers to attempt developing their own case studies.
But writing your own business case study (long or short) is not a

simple task. According to Davis (1993) embodied case characteristics
are that the case:

• tells a “real” and engaging story

• raises a thought-provoking issue
• has elements of conflict
• promotes empathy with the central characters

• lacks an obvious or clear-cut right answer
• encourages students to think and take a position

• portrays actors in moments of decision
• provides plenty of data about character, location, context,
actions

• is relatively concise

This said it seems self-evident that writing a short case study should

manifestly be simpler. The word count for one thing is lower! But, as
will be seen, what is self-evident may not be so when finely