Guidelines

Economics of Organizations 2011 Group Case Study Guidelines

Each student should join a group to write a case study and present it in class. Group size should not exceed three students. Each group will choose a topic from a menu of 6-7 possible cases. The menu of possible cases will be a compilation of cases proposed by the groups and me. The time-line for the case study will be as follows. 1.Group formation. Each student has to join a group of a total of 2-3 students and choose a name for the group. The deadline for submitting the composition of the groups is March 4 (but try to form your group as soon as possible!) If you are not able to form a group yet want to conduct the case study, you must contact me no later than March 4. I will form groups by allocating unassigned students togroups randomly. 2. Proposal of case study topics. Groups must propose at least one potential topic for a case study. The deadline for submitting proposals is March 4. Each proposal should consist of a very brief (no more than five lines) description of the potential case study. The proposals must meet the following requirements: a. Proposals must be specific, i.e., they must relate to specificfirms or events. For example, "the analysis of mergers in the energy sector" is not a valid topic, but "the analysis of the merger between natural gas company A and electric utility company B" is potentially valid. b. Proposals must refer to current events. The events analyzed must have taken place after March 2010. Borderline cases may be ok, but you should discuss them with me first. c. The casemust be clearly related to the topics covered in the course and it must be possible to conduct an interesting analysis using the tools developed in the course. If you have doubts about the fit of your proposal, you can ask me before submitting it. 3. Final list of cases. I will select 6-7 cases among the ones proposed by you and other cases that I may find especially interesting. I will announcethe final list of cases on March 11. Each group should choose two cases from this list (indicating which case is the preferred one) no later than March 18. I will use the following rules to allocate cases to groups: a. If a group has proposed one of the cases on the final list of cases, this group will have the highest priority for the proposed case. b. In all other cases, I will follow afirst-come-firs-served rule. 4. Submission of the written assignment. You should turn in the written case study no later than April 22.

5. Class presentation. Presentations will take place in the last three weeks of the course (April 25-May 18).

The case study The case study will have three components: 1. A one page summary of the information on which the study is based a. This is just a summary ofthe relevant background information. It should not contain any analysis of that information. When writing it, focus on providing the most relevant facts to understand the case in a single page. b. This summary should fit in one page (single spacing, font size of at least 10pt). c. Tables and/or figures that summarize the information are often useful. 2. A written case study Each case study will beanalyzed by two different groups. In general, I will ask each group to defend a different position in relation to the case study. For example, if the case study is about a merger, one group will be asked to find sound arguments in favor of the merger, while the other group will have to come up with sound arguments against the merger. Importantly, having an agenda does not mean ignoring ormanipulating information or making unfounded arguments. Most cases will be sufficiently open to allow for good arguments supporting different conclusions. a. The written assignment should i. be clearly organized (with an introductory section, a presentation of the relevant information, a well-structured analysis, and some conclusions) ii. clearly state what questions it poses and why they are relevant...