International Business Term Paper: Case Development (As part of learning in International Business) Some Guidelines

Steps to selection of Question for Case Study You can take up your own organization as a case to understand and explain the internationalization process of an MNE. You could pick any interesting aspect/question (pertaining to any business function viz., finance, marketing, production/outsourcing, operations, information systems, HR, etc) and analyze it from the organization’s internationalization perspective. A brief on the basics of Case Development and the process of developing a Case is given below for your reference XIMB-CCR / Amar

Step I Basics of Case Study

Case Methodology of study Key Characteristics  Inclusion of Context   Richness of the context - more variables than data points Multiple sources of evidence Distinctive strategies for research design & for analyses XIMB-CCR / Amar

Role of Theory / Hypothesis in Case study     Follow the experimental science   Greater focus to the study Provides direction to research XIMB-CCR / Amar

Step II Process of Case Study

Framework for Case Study Country Context Localization of Business Industry Context Growth Modes (M&A, Public Offer, International, etc) Competitiveness Firm Analysis Resource Reconfiguration XIMB-CCR / Amar

Firm Level Analysis Corporate History Focus of the Case Focus / Research Area (s): Finance Marketing Human Resource Operations Information Technology Strategy Business Dynamics (interrelationships & vectors) Corporate Performance XIMB-CCR / Amar

Secondary Data Collection Process Step III Secondary Data Collection Process (Immersing oneself into the issue and the problems associated with the issue that you want to deal with)

How & From where to collect Data Company Websites Company Annual Reports (last 5 years, get the financial figures & analyze from your research perspective, etc) Internal Company Documents, Interviews with key people for details of the issues involved Magazine, Newspaper, Internet Databases: CMIE ISI Emerging Markets Sansco - Annual Reports Related Research Articles: EBSCO XIMB-CCR / Amar

Data Collection from Company & Techniques for Analyses Step IV Data Collection from Company & Techniques for Analyses

Data Collection from Company & Techniques for Analysis Permutation & Combination of: Historical Company Data Study specific and relevant company documents Select Interviews with key people involved in the issue of your interest Across the Board Survey (employees / customers / intermediaries) Techniques (one or many) for Analyses Descriptive Statistics Multivariate Analyses (regression, factor, cluster, ANOVA, etc.) Event telling Story telling XIMB-CCR / Amar

Report Writing – Case Development Step V Report Writing – Case Development

Some guidelines for your Case Write-ups Develop your Research Questions Review your questions & freeze them Identify a few questions that are most relevant to your case and that you may delve with in greater detail Collect evidences to answer your questions Organize your evidences into tables, charts, figures, etc that can be presented as Exhibits in the Case Develop an outline, Write the story as an attempt to sew the various issues that will help in answering the questions and relate these issues to the exhibits of the case Raise relevant questions more than answering the questions themselves so that the reader should be able to analyze the case using the data given in the main text and exhibits himself/herself Essentially write a story with the main theme of one or two questions that you had chosen to focus on, some hints, thoughts, views on the case as guide posts to the case reader to lead to the reality or answers to the questions that you have already discovered from your own analysis of the case. XIMB-CCR / Amar

Specifications of Case Write-up Title Page (case title, author name, title & organizational affiliation): 1 page Key Questions in the Case Study: 1 page Main Text: 8-10 pages No. of Relevant Exhibits as Evidences: up to 20 pages References: up to 2 pages