Page 45 - Case Lab Summary

Pitfalls & Errors

General Reminders

• remember you will never have enough information

• the most critical aspect of case analysis may be

"identifying the problem"

• you will never be sure you have identified the real

problem

• there is rarely one "right" answer-different answers

may be somewhat right

• accept that cases and managerial situations involve:

• ambiguous situations multiple causality inadequate

information

• no elegant solution

• acknowledge that personal values play a role in case

analysis

• no one (including the instructors) can "solve" the case

• try to imagine "living" with the problem and your

recommendations

• try to avoid: confusing symptoms with problems

making premature evaluations

• blindly applying stereotypes to problems accepting

information at face value

• judging behavior-we assume no one is "good" or "bad";

labelling people as such is an easy way to dispense with

problems of trying to figure out why someone does

what he does