Case Study: Definition, How to Write,

Format and Examples

A case study is a type of monographic research, the immediate purpose of which is to
analyze the situation arising in the concrete state of affairs and develop a practical
solution that consists in evaluating the proposed options and choosing the best one for
solving the task.This model is also regarded as a learning system, which is based on
the analysis, decision and discussion of situations, both modeled and real.

It is used to solve problems in business and economics.Leading business schools in

Europe and USA use the case study as a model of learning. A case study is considered
one of the best methods for the development of analytical and critical thinking, as well
as creativity. It was first applied in the educational process at Harvard Law School in
1870; the introduction of this method at the Harvard Business School began in 1920.
What is Case Study?
The case is an example taken from the real business, is not just a truthful description
of events, but a single information complex that makes it possible to understand the
situation.

Today everybody writes cases. This method occupies the third place in the rating of
data that influence the decision to purchase. Therefore, the method is one of the most
effective tools for attracting customers.A case study allows you to show a product or
service in action, to examine it from all sides, to show what problems this product or
service helps to solve, and what result can be obtained.With the help of cases, you can
demonstrate your expertise: a potential client sees how you cope with professional
tasks and believes that you will help solve his problem.

By the way, the correctly written case is one of the most successful variants of
content: they are reposted, liked and saved in the bookmarks.A good case, as a rule,
has such characteristics:
 the number of words is about 200 – 300;
 corresponds to the clearly stated goal of creation;
 has an appropriate level of difficulty;
 illustrates several aspects of economic/business life;
 actual for today, not obsolete;
 has several solutions;
 illustrates typical situations;
 develops analytical thinking;
 provokes discussion.
How to Write a Case Study: Step-by-Step
1. Write a poster for the case. Accompany it with intrigue, so that the reader would be
interested in continuing reading.
2. Consider the initial data.
Who is the protagonist of the case? It can be, as a person, and a thing or even a
natural phenomenon

3. Use the classic narrative type of speech. The case is a history from the very
beginning. Therefore, to write case studies, it is recommended to choose a classical
narrative type of speech, where it is necessary to inform about developing events
and about their fulfillment in chronological order and answer the following
questions: Who? What was doing? Where? When? How?
4. Do not write long introductions. Start immediately to solve the problem! Write
what you said, what you did, what difficulties you decided, how much money you
spent.
5. Name the main participants of the project and thank them.
Customers’ feedback will also be relevant here.

6. Build the case so that the reader’s interest gradually increases and in the finale
reached a maximum. The strategy of a professional case is a plan, according to
which the involvement in the process is growing.
7. Do not forget the visual component. Use screenshots and photos of the process.
Take real photos during brainstorming sessions and work discussions, take a
picture with the client at the meeting, so as not to turn the narration into a bunch of
tables and diagrams.

8. A call to action. As a rule, the goal of any case is to push the person to some
decision. For example, you can offer to subscribe to your Facebook page, give
client’s e-mail, invite to a meeting, or provide an opportunity for free counseling.
Case Study Template
As a rule, the model has a clear structure and consists of the following elements:
1.

Title

The title should be as short as possible, where only the most important results should
be displayed.
2. General information

This item should contain information about the client (a description of the person or
company with whom you worked), with what problem he addressed. To visualize and
confirm the above information, use screenshots, charts, statistics, for example. But
before you write this paragraph, coordinate the text with the client so as not to give
out someone else’s commercial secret and not destroy the trust between you and the
client).

3. Before

At this point, it is necessary to describe the problem situation that the consumer
encountered.

4. Tasks

Outline ways to solve the problem. Show what methods you have chosen to achieve
the goal

5. What was done

This section should be 2-3 paragraphs, where it is about how your product or service
solved the problems of your client.

6. After

In this section, in 2-3 paragraphs, you need to specify how your product or service
affected a person or company and also helped in achieving goals. It is desirable to use
real data.

7. Conclusions

Summarize the results in terms of customer benefits; if the plans are indicated, then
tell us about the client’s future plans.

Thanks to this you will be able to demonstrate your professionalism and show that the
client is satisfied with your work and wants to do something else with your help. Do
you know how to cite a case study?
H5: Topic and Examples

One woman created toilet water, but she did not have the funds for a high-quality
presentation and advertising of her goods. So she offered it on her own, traveling
around Europe and looking at different stores. Once she was in the gallery Lafayette,
but the manager did not want to buy anything. But woman turned out to be a creative
person, with the help of one action she convinced not only the manager as his spirits
but also visitors to the gallery.

Task: What Exactly Did The Heroine Of The Story Do?Answer: She took a bottle of
toilet water from her purse and smashed it on the floor of the gallery. The scent was so
popular with visitors that in time the world recognized and fell in love with the
brilliant creations of Este Lauder. You can find more case study examples.

Teaching Note Preview

Bitcoin: A Cryptocurrency or an Asset Class?

Synopsis
Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, is a reward to the miners who finds solution to the mathematical puzzle. The process
is very competitive and decentralized and known as mining. The bitcoin earned is credited to the bitcoin wallet
of miner who can use it for transaction over 100,000 merchants and vendors or exchange it to another currency
over specified stock exchanges or can keep it as an investment. The case endeavors to discuss the utility of
bitcoin as a currency for medium of exchange or as an asset for investment to earn higher return or as a means
to diversify the portfolio and minimize the risk.

Pre-requisite Conceptual Understandings

Currency and its functions from any Macroeconomics text book.

Case Positioning and Setting

This Teaching/ Research Case can be used as a Business Management Case for both first year MBA students
for the course like Economics and second year MBA students for the elective course like Security Analysis,
Financial Planning and Portfolio Management to elaborate the following topics:

• Characteristics of currencies

• Characteristics of currencies
• Definition and function of money
• Difference between money and currency
• Monetary policy, fiscal policy and money supply
• Return and risk of assets
• Creating and managing portfolio
Expected Learning Objectives
• Understand the concept of Bitcoin
• Understand the economy as a whole and currencies in particular
• Understand the behaviour of assets

Assignment Questions
I. Do you think Bitcoin is better than fiat currency?
II. Do you think Bitcoin is more secure than fiat currency?
III..........

Case Preview

Bitcoin: A Cryptocurrency or an Asset Class?

The Reserve Bank of India had cautioned the users, holders and traders of virtual currencies, including
bitcoins, about the potential financial, operational, legal, customer protection and security related risks that
they are exposing themselves to, vide its press release dated December 24th 2013. The Reserve Bank of India
had clarified that it has not given any license/authorization to any individual/entity/company to deal with
Bitcoin or any virtual currency. The Central Bank of India clarified that any user, holder, investor, trader, etc.
dealing with virtual currencies will be doing it at their own risk.

In the midst of mounting political and market risk following Brexit, Demonetization, US elections, stringent
immigration policies, uncertainties in commodity prices, Mr. Malhotra, an entrepreneur, approaches Mr. Iyer,
Vice President of Young India investment bank seeking his advice for investment and diversify his current
portfolio. Mr. Iyer, after analyzing the needs of his client, Mr. Malhotra, and general market conditions,
suggests him to invest in an emerging digital asset “Bitcoin”. However, Mr. Malhotra was skeptical as he
thought that bitcoins are highly volatile, unsafe and unreliably priced. Mr. Iyer informs Mr. Malhotra about the
recent developments of various bitcoin products like formation of ‘Digital Asset and Blockchain Foundation of
India’ (DABFI) to raise awareness about the risks and benefits of digital currencies, lobby with the regulators
and self-regulation on trading of bitcoin and other such cryptocurrencies. Therefore, in order to convince Mr.
Malhotra about growing popularity of bitcoin among investors, he exemplified various nuances of bitcoin as
asset and currency..................

Introduction and Background

On October 31st 2008, an anonymous cryptocurrency expert using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto posted a
whitepaper called “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” on a cryptography discussion group,
outlining a new cryptocurrency called bitcoin. Bitcoin is an open source P2P payment network that enables a
new secure and digital payment mechanism. Bitcoin is completely virtual and decentralized money. It is driven
by its users around the world with no central bank as its guarantor. From a layman’s perspective, bitcoin is just
a secure currency that can be transacted using a mobile wallet without anyone identifying the individual behind
the public address of the wallet.............
Bitcoin as an Asset Class
In order to justify investment in bitcoin, Mr. Iyer compares various features of an asset class with bitcoin.

I. Liquidity and Opportunity to Invest

Exchange traded volume of bitcoin depicts the liquidity available to the investors. A robust environment has
grown in the past 9 years and therefore giving a chance to the retail investors, to drive millions of dollars in
daily liquidity.............

II. Risk and Reward

Risk is measured in terms of volatility and the reward in terms of absolute returns. Volatility is one of the
imperative characteristics of bitcoin to be considered while making investment. Bitcoin is traded 24 hours and
its daily price movements can go as high and low as 50%, which rarely occurs in case of any other asset
class......

III. Politico-Economic Factors

Bitcoin is delineated from other asset classes on the basis of value, governance and its applications. Donald
trump when elected as the 45th President of USA, the behavior of bitcoin mirrored other asset classes such as
gold,.............................

IV. Price Independence

The correlation between the assets defines the market behavior. +1 signifies that the assets are correlated
positively and -1 indicates that the assets are negatively correlated. The overall risk of the portfolio decreases
as the correlation between the assets gets more negative leading to diversification of the portfolio. Bitcoin is
the only asset that sustains minimum correlation with other asset classes as can be seen from the correlation
table (Exhibit VI). This shows the independent behavior of bitcoin within the capital markets...............

After discussing all the features of Bitcoin, Mr. Iyer advises Mr. Malhotra to invest atleast 10% of his
investible amount in this new asset class i.e Bitcoin. He emphasises that investment in Bitcoin is going to
provide him real hedge against inflation...................

Assignment Questions
I. Do you think Bitcoin is better than fiat currency?
II. Do you think Bitcoin is more secure than fiat currency?
III. ............
Exhibits
Exihibit I: Journey of Bitcoin

Exihibit II: Daily Liquidity (Trailing Three Month Average)

Exhibit III: Market Price (USD)

Exhibit IV: Sharpe Ratio

Exhibit V: Global Daily Bitcoin Volumes: Trading Relative to Transacting

Exhibit VI: Correlation Matrix

Exhibit VII: Return & Risk of Bitcoin, Assets and Alternative Investments

Case Preview
Portugal’s Banking Sector – Safe or Not

August 3rd 2014, was the day Banco de Portugal was forced to split the second largest bank in the country to
rescue the Portuguese economy from any further damage. Banco Espírito Santo, S.A.(BES) reported huge
losses due to the parent group, Espirito Santo’s default on regular debt payments. Portugal was able to bailout
BES with €4.9 billion but it had to erode the cash buffer saved from its own bailout fund under IMF-EU
programme. This event caught the global attention and there were concerns about the financial stability of the
euro-zone. Economy of 18 countries in European Monetary Union (EMU) using common currency ‘Euro’ was
still recuperating and European Central Bank (ECB) had to define the way forward for the proposed common
banking union. Any distress signal from euro-zone could increase the contagion threats and vulnerabilities of
the global financial markets.

The Portugal Economy

The year 1974 marked the beginning of the current democratic era of Portugal. The first regional elections
were held in 1976, the first full-fledged parliamentary elections. Mario Soares became the first Prime Minister
and the country got its new constitution. Subsequently, Portugal had several changes in governing political
party. Portugal joined the European Union in 1986 and was among the initial countries which adopted Euro as
currency in 1999. In 2002, Euro as a currency completely replaced the erstwhile currency Escudo...........

Portugal - Post 1974

Nation observed its Carnation Revolution3 in 1974 that ended the earlier authoritarian ‘Estado Novo’ regime
and started the era of democracy. The earlier regime encouraged and created conditions for the formation of
large business conglomerates and these conglomerates still control large part of economy. BES’s parent group
‘Espirito Santo’ was one such empire whose interests ranged from European banks to Miami condos to a
diamond mine in Angola. Its patriarch Ricardo Espirito Salgado was nicknamed “Dono Disto Tudo,” or
“Owner of All This.”...........
Portugal’s Economic Slump Prior to European Debt Crisis (2000-2007)

Portugal was growing rapidly between 1995 and 2000 but faced economic slump after 2000. During 2000 to
2007 real capita GDP growth in Portugal was 0.61% p.a. as opposed to 1.34% in the Euro area. Considering
that Portugal was relatively the poorest of 12 Euro area nations, this was dismal performance. Several reasons
have been cited in the literature for the slowdown. (i) Poor schooling: In 1975, among those with age of more
than 25 years................

Finances of Portugal’s Government

Government budget deficit (revenue - expenditure) kept rising over time (Exhibit I) and so did government
debt as percentage of GDP (Exhibit II). From 2006 Portugal’s net external debt remained higher than 50% of
GDP (Exhibit II). A government cannot sustain such a high debt of above 60% of GDP for too long and could
result into severe debt crisis. Gross domestic savings as a percentage of GDP declined, recording lowest rate of
12.46% in 2010................

Surviving the Euro Crisis

Real difficulties started with 2007-8 global financial crisis which originated in USA with multiple collapses in
financial sector. The contagion spread fast to Europe and EU observed 0.4% GDP growth rate in 2008
followed by (-)4.5% growth in 2009. EU tried to recover from this but soon it was hit by sovereign debt
troubles in 2010............

Exiting the Bailout

In May 2014, Portugal on its own political will decided to exit from the €78 billion IMF-EU bailout
programme. But there were negative signals for the investors as its economy was not in a good shape (Exhibit
V, Exhibit I and Exhibit VI)...........
Portugal Banking Sector
Since 1933, the pre-revolution period of Portugal, business houses remain the prime driver of economic
growth. The Portugal’s banking system was also knitted with the complex ownership structures and parallel
accounting system. This system is a result to lax banking regulations of Banco de Portugal (Portugal’s central
bank) which is part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) since its inception in 1998. ESCB
consists of European Central Bank (ECB) and the national central banks of the European Union (EU)..............

Portugal Banking Crisis

There was some turmoil in the capital markets on July 10th 2014 like Lisbon’s benchmark PSI 20 stock index
slumped 4.2%, BES credit rating was downgraded, and its shares fell 19%22. As an immediate response to
this, regulators stopped the share trading of BES for rest of the day.

This press release said that BES was safe and things were under the regulatory control of central bank of
Portugal...........

Exhibits
Exhibit I: Portugal: Composition of GDP

Exhibit II: Debt Break-up

Exhibit III: Selected Countries and Eurozone: Comparative Statistics (2011)

Exhibit IV: Benchmark Bond Yields of Portugal’s Government Bond (five year and ten year)

Exhibit V: Portugal: Selected Macroeconomic Indicators (Annual Growth Rates)

Exhibit VI: Balance of Payments details (in € thousand)

 Exhibit VII: Portugal: Banking Sector Indicators

Exhibit VIII: Financial Stability Ratios of Portuguese Banking Sector

Submit

SBS MBA-Managerial Economics Assignment –

2018– Kuwait
SECTION “A”
1. Wholesalers buy and sell roses in containers that hold 120 stems. The table provides information
about the wholesale market for roses in the UAE. The demand schedule is the wholesalers’ demand,
and the supply schedule is the UAE rose growers’ supply. Wholesalers can buy roses at auction in
Aalsmeer, Holland, for the US $125 per container.
(10 marks)

Price Quantity Demanded Quantity Supplied

(US $/container) (millions of containers per year)

100 15 0

125 12 2

150 9 4
 175 6 6

200 3 8

225 0 10

Required:
 Without international trade, what would the price of a container of roses be and how many containers
of roses a year would be bought and sold in the UAE?
 At a price in your answer to part (a), does the UAE or the rest of the world have a comparative
advantage in producing roses? Explain.
 If UAE wholesalers buy roses at the lowest possible price, how many do they buy from UAE
growers and how many do they import.
2.) Although he was a prolific artist, Pablo Picasso painted only 1,000 canvases during his ―Blue
Period.‖ Picasso is now dead, and all of his Blue Period works are currently on display in museums
and private galleries throughout Europe and the United States.
(10 marks)
 Draw a supply curve for Picasso Blue Period works. Why is this supply curve different from ones
you have seen?
 Given the supply curve from part a, the price of a Picasso Blue Period work will be entirely
dependent on what factor(s)? Draw a diagram showing how the equilibrium price of such a work is
determined.
 Suppose rich art collectors decide that it is essential to acquire Picasso Blue Period art for their
collections. Show the impact of this on the market for these paintings.
3.) A market failure occurs when the supply of a good or service is insufficient to meet demand.
This results in an inefficient distribution of resources among market participants. Hence government
needs to intervene to bring efficiencies. Explain any six tools available for government interventions
to deal with the market failures with suitable examples.
(10 marks)
4.) A demand for a product is usually very sensitive to economic variables, such as the prices and
consumer income. This responsiveness of demand is elasticity. Explain the different types of demand
elasticity with appropriate formulae. Identify and defend the expected signs associated with each
form of elasticity. (10 marks)

SECTION “B”
Answer all the below questions.
1.) It is dawn in Shanghai, China. Already thousands of Chinese are out cleaning the city’s streets.
They are using brooms.
On the other side of the world, night falls in Washington, D.C., where the streets are also being
cleaned—by a handful of giant street-sweeping machines driven by a handful of workers.
The difference in method is not the result of a greater knowledge of modern technology in the United
States—the Chinese know perfectly well how to build street-sweeping machines. It is a production
decision based on costs in the two countries. In China, where wages are relatively low, an army of
 workers armed with brooms is the least expensive way to produce clean streets. In Washington,
where labor costs are high, it makes sense to use more machinery and less labor.
 Keeping the production aspect in mind, explain the relationship between Total Product (TP), Average
Product (AP) and Marginal Product (MP) with the help of diagram?
 Also, describe graphically how a firm can reduce its costs in the short run and at what point the firm
should stop hiring more cleaners.
(20 marks)
2.) Show in a diagram the effect on the demand curve, the supply curve, the equilibrium price, and
the equilibrium quantity of each of the following events.
a) The market for newspapers in your town.
1. Case 1: The salaries of journalists
2. Case 2: There is a big news event in your town, which is reported in the newspapers.
b) The market for St. Louis Rams (a professional football team) cotton T-shirts
1. Case 1: The Rams win the Super Bowl competition.
2. Case 2: The price of cotton increases.
c) The market for bagels
1. Case 1: People realize how fattening bagels are.
2. Case 2: People have less time to make themselves a cooked breakfast.
d) The market for the Krugman and Wells economics textbook
1. Case 1: Your professor makes it required reading for all of his or her students.
2. Case 2: Printing costs for textbooks are lowered by the use of synthetic paper.
3.) The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) is the UAE’s independent industry
regulator. Since its launch in 1976, Etisalat has held a monopoly in the market. That changed in 2006
with the emergence of du, which was awarded a 20-year concession to operate fixed-line, wireless,
internet, and international telecoms services. Assume after the 20 years period; a du license was
terminated. You are required to – (15 marks)
 Apply your understanding and concepts from microeconomics, to investigate and summarize the
major characteristics of the above market form in the telecom industry.
 Describe and analyze the economic and pricing policies that you would expect to find in this
industry.
 Explain the profit maximization strategy of this market form with the help of a suitable Graph.
 Also, write your policy recommendations for the healthy growth of the industry keeping customer
interests and innovation in mind.