Dear Tutor MJ

I’m new to the whole business case scenario and case study exams.

What’s the best way to start digesting a business case study?

Yours,
Ryan

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Good day Ryan

I always advise students that the first step to any case study analysis is to SWOT it up.

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. A SWOT analysis is a framework used to analyse where your organisation stands at this very moment – the good things that contributes to its success, the challenges it faces and the issues/possibilities that lie ahead.It’s a simple enough analysis that reveals so much about what surrounds your pre-seen company. It also provides you food for thought. Knowing what makes you successful; what pains you; what your stumbling blocks will be and what you have to look forward to, will allow you to strategise on your next steps.

Internally, we look at strengths and weaknesses. Externally, we look at opportunities and threats. As for strategies, here are some tips:

Focus on your strengths. Some types of strengths are like having a good, established, well-known brand; having an experienced and talented workforce, etc.

Work on your weaknesses. Some types of weaknesses are like having a high staff turnover, having too much debt in the books, etc.

Maximise opportunities. Some types of opportunities are like having access to technology that could advance the products/services we offer, having the ability to enter an untapped market, etc. Mostly these deal with anything that will give our organisation a competitive advantage.

Reduce threats. Some types of threats are like having too many aggressive competitors in the market, being affected or restricted by upcoming regulations, etc.

There are, of course, many other analysis tools to use but SWOT is a great first step towards understanding your pre-seen company. It places you right in the moment. I hope you SWOT your pre-seen out with gusto.

Good luck with the rest of your preparation!

Your tutor,
MJ