Your personal case paper should describe an organizational event or experience that was significant or challenging for you. The personal case should be a description, not an analysis or interpretation, of the events. In the final paper of the course, you will have the opportunity to analyze and interpret your case.

Case writing is very much like telling a good story. When writing about a case in which you were involved, it usually works best to write in the first person. Describe what happened as you saw it, including your own thoughts and feelings (but make sure that your thoughts and feelings are labeled as such).

It is usually best to focus the paper around a particular experience or series of experiences, rather than trying to cover many months or years. A single critical event (or sequence of events) usually works best. Examples include the early stages of a challenging project, a critical meeting, a tough decision, or a major conflict. Like a good drama, a good case rarely arises from a situation in which everything was smooth and easy. Obstacles, conflict, or dilemmas are likely to be the ingredients that make a case interesting.

Organization of the Paper

The following are suggestions that have often been helpful to students in the past. You should feel free to organize the paper differently if you feel that another format enables you to develop your case and tell your story more effectively.

1. Set the stage with a relatively brief description of the organizational setting and your role in it. Provide information that you think will help the reader understand the most important elements in the situation. (This will require selectivity: part of the art of case writing is separating the essential facts from the mass of information that might be included.)

2. Focus on direct description of events. If there was a significant meeting, provide a description of what people actually said and did in it. (A script representing part of the conversation is very helpful in such cases.)

3. Think about the following as possible elements:

a. Structural issues (for example, structure, goals, technology, size).

b. “People” issues (for example, issues of management style, group process, interpersonal relations).

c. Politics (Was there conflict? About what? Between whom?)

d. Symbols (Think about organizational culture, symbols, myths, and rituals; were there questions about what really happened or about what it really meant?)

4. A good case often ends with a question or unsolved problem. (For example, What should I do now? How could I solve this problem?)

5. You may choose to disguise the identity of the organization and the individuals. Use fictitious names wherever you feel that it is appropriate. If you are concerned about confidentiality, put the word CONFIDENTIAL in capital letters on the first page. All such requests will be honored strictly. The purpose of the case is to facilitate your learning.

6. Your instructor will provide feedback on your written case, and you are free to amend or rewrite it before you use it for your case analysis paper. Unless there are major changes that need to be made, this feedback might be limited.