Training course (EN)

A case study is a written or recorded example of good practice in terms of the support given by you or another Business Adviser, an example of how a particular learning objective was met by an entrepreneur or indeed, simply a success story.   It can be made of a simple written narrative, voice recording or even a short film.

To begin with, case studies can be organized according to each chapter or training module, but you should begin to see themes emerging while collecting your cases. You may ask your colleagues to share with you their notes, how they handled a specific entrepreneur and use this example as a case study. You will realise that there are a handful of common cases that exist. Once you start seeing commonalities, you might want to create a summary of your group of cases that includes the theme, potential case lines, arguments and other clients likely to have that theme, thus creating a casebook within a theme.

Developing a set of case studies (a casebook) as a Business Adviser (coach) is time consuming but can be of great help and can fulfill your need to keep track of your daily work,  support your Business Advice sessions and help to inspire entrepreneurs or help them overcome problems. As Myron Moskovitz - Professor Of Law, Golden Gate University, SF- says, “Write a casebook to fill a need: your own. This will produce your best work, as you will put your heart into it”. 

Your own casebook, just like this Casebook, can become a tool to support your self-learning and training programs (as an evolution of your career), can be shared with your colleagues and animate.

 

1. The case method

The case method is used primarily to develop the skills of self-learning, critical thinking, problem identification, and decision-making. Your casebook will become a pool of knowledge including not only the issues solved or encountered but also information about different businesses and commercial sectors and entrepreneurs from different marginalized groups. You can also write observations about different aspects of Business Development and common issues related to particular marginalized groups.

2. Case study production

Case studies in the field of business support for disadvantaged groups provide the personal history of an individual and information about one or more problems to be solved.  The case studies must be kept short (no more than two pages) and include those descriptive background details that are relevant to the issue. Cases may be grouped in different chapters based on the country or on the main issue(s) arising from the guidance sessions and may be associated to a colour. Some of the main topics could be, for instance, type of business, marketing, or overcoming specific issues such as personal and social issues, including personal circumstances, cultural issues, and health.

3. Writing your case studies

The case study template and the success story questionnaire proposed are useful tools to keep in mind from the beginning of your enterprise sessions with your new entrepreneurs or to collect information about meaningful cases encountered. Writing a case involves the following steps

STEP 1: use and integration (according to your needs) of a case prospectus, generally conforms to the following outline:

o   Subject/topic/dimensions
o   Case content:
-      Setting: where, when, why
-      /main actor/other actors
-      Issues/problems/interests
-      Constraints/opportunities
-      Decision/action.

Something to always keep in mind:

The presentation of a case should be as simple as possible and be presented as a story in a narrative form. Below we suggest a template for creating your own case study, in drafting this template, we were inspired by “Writing a case study: a Manual” produced by the international records Management Trust and we adapted it for Access Enterprise.

When used for teaching, the case study is often accompanied by a set of teaching notes, intended to help the trainer to facilitate the discussion, the questions that might arise from the case and the professional or theoretical points that might be raised in discussion.

4. Case study Template

ELEMENT	DESCRIPTION
Title	Name of the client
Key issues	This section will be made of keywords in order to be able to immediately identify the issues contained in the case
Learning Objectives	This section could contain the lessons learnt from the case in order to easily identify the tools/solutions/decisions implemented
Introduction	The introduction establishes the problem and provides the boundaries of the situation.   You should be able to answer some or all the following questions: -          When and where has this situation happened? -          Who are the main actors in this situation?
Overview/Analysis	The overview/analysis provides a scenario of the situation and offers more details. The narrative is presented in chronological order, with no foreshadowing. As the case studies will be used as training tools for both Business Advisers and entrepreneurs the problem is not intended to be straightforward, the narrative may include additional information, including ‘red herrings’ that the trainee must consider as they search for the key issues.  It is important not to use language that might bias the presentation in any way, such as “unfortunately” or “he made the mistake of doing y”. The trainee must be left free to evaluate all aspects of the situation independently. The overview should bring the case up to the present, without necessarily providing information about the actual decisions made or action taken.  That information is usually included in the status report.   You should be able to answer some or all the following questions: -          What is the background of the situation? -          In which country/countries the situation is set? -          Who are the people involved in this scenario? -          What are the framework policies relating to this issue? -          Is it possible to identify which professional, cultural or theoretical issues arise from the situation? -          Can you add any graphic or visual aid such as budget, organisational chart or technical specifications? Can you add any diversion topics in order to lead learners to develop their skills in identifying key aspects in a case?
Status report	The status report describes the involved peoples’ actions, on the matter. The status report presents the situation to date but does not offer the ‘solution’ to the problem.  The students will be asked to determine the options available as part of their analysis of the case study.   You should be able to answer some or all  the following questions: -          What the involved people have acted to date? -          Are there any constraints of time or of place so far?  Which options the people involved see?
Notes and reflections