Welcome to the case study webinar follow-up page

Q&A with Dr Farzana

After the session, Dr Farzana provided detailed responses to the questions that couldn't be addressed during the webinar. You can explore them below.

---

Can a group of people or a society be the protagonist, and the problem is a societal problem?

Dr Farzana: A group of people or a society, on the whole, can be the focus of the case problem. But the protagonist is supposed to be a person who belongs to that group/society and is responsible for solving that particular problem. For example, if XYZ a digital bank is facing a problem in getting customers to fully online which is affecting the sales/existence of that bank, there must be someone who is responsible for solving this issue such as the regional manager, the CEO, etc.
 

Can you please share some insights on the research case using interviews as a data collection method?

Dr Farzana: You can refer to Yin (2018) to learn about case research. Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods, Sixth Edition. There are plenty of journal articles that used case study while doing qualitative research.
 

Do case studies also have a rating like research articles in terms of quartiles or some other rating?

Dr Farzana: All journals that are indexed in Scopus or WOS have quartile ranking whether the focus of the journal is publishing cases or research papers. For instance, based on SJR, EMCS is Q4 in Scopus: However, many reputed case journals/collection hubs are not enlisted in Scopus or WOS indexing.
 

When do we have to provide an ethical approval?

Dr Farzana: To my knowledge, EMCS does not require you to submit any ethical approval form. However, you do need to submit the consent letter along with the case narrative and the TN.
 

Do we always need consent from the company for making/publishing cases related to their company? Can we write the case only based on secondary data available e.g. from the internet? - which one gets more opportunities for publishing; and regarding TN, do we have to have one exact solution, or we can give a brief theory highlight where the solution can vary? Many thanks for your kind answer

Dr Farzana: If the case is written based on an interview, then providing the consent letter is a must component. However, if the case is written based on the information available in the public domain (secondary data/published information), it is okay not to provide the consent letter. There is no guarantee that cases written based on primary data will be accepted. It depends on many factors such as, whether the case problem is appealing, whether the case has a significant teaching value, whether teaching notes are rigorous enough, whether sufficient and relevant information is provided in the case narrative related to the case problem, the character of the protagonist is well developed, etc. Sometimes, the cases written based on published materials do not provide sufficient information to take care of all these aspects. Regarding the solution, we do not provide any solution in the case narrative. Case narrative usually ends with the dilemma creating puzzles for the readers. In the TN, the suggested solutions are outlined. However, the solution can be a few or one. If the authors already know what happened at the end, they can write it down under the section called 'epilogue'.
 

Can we develop the case study in stages unfolding the dilemma?

Dr Farzana: Yes, you can do that. Different author has different writing styles. However, kindly see some of the published cases beforehand where you want to submit. This is because different journals/platforms might have different expectations. For EMCS, it is always advisable to highlight the main case problem in the introductory section. Then you can explain it in detail later, other parts of the narrative.
 

There are many cases of entrepreneurship in Emerald. The case that I am writing seems to be very similar. Dr Farzana, any tips for me to position my case to be "different" from the cases out there, and hopefully editor can accept my case?

Dr Farzana: Writing a case on a similar topic/subject/theory is completely alright. What makes it different is the case problem and how it is presented. There are many cases of entrepreneurship, marketing, and management... and there will be always. But the decision-making dilemma, the urgency and the context will not be the same.
 

I want to write a case study on mergers and acquisitions. Do you think it is an appropriate topic for a good case study?

Dr Farzana: To me, anything is good as long the case study follows the case writing guidelines. Some of the key aspects I look for while reviewing a case as a reviewer: whether there is a dilemma, whether there is a strong urgency to solve the problem, the character of the protagonist is properly developed, all key dates are mentioned, the case has its teaching value, the assignment questions are thought-provoking, etc.
 

Could you please elaborate a bit more on writing taget autdience in the teaching note?

Dr Farzana: Target audiences can vary based on the level of the complexities of the case. If the complexity is less and less effort is required to find the solution and to address the assignment questions, then the target audience can be undergraduate students, whereas, if the complexity is rigorous enough and reaching to the solution is not that easy, assignment questions are thought-provoking, the target audience can be postgrad students, practitioners, etc.
 

How to ensure that the data collected from the employee/other individuals is accurate and not made-up, (due to reasons like company policy, employee not willing to divulge details - even when the identity is kept hidden, etc.)

Dr Farzana: In general, when we see the consent letter is submitted, we trust the author's ethical integrity.
 

When we start writing a case what structure do we need to follow? should we start introducing the company or should we start with the focus of our case problem?

Dr Farzana: Writing style varies from author to author. What matters most is whether the key information is provided in the introductory paragraph properly – such as the nature of the company, introducing the protagonist, highlighting the case problem/dilemma, providing the key dates, etc.
 

When few concepts or theories are foundational that are still relevant and applicable practically, should we include them in the case? Sometimes we get feedback to include contemporary theory that is difficult to find. In that case, what shall we do?

Dr Farzana: It is not compulsory to consider any theory, it can be any academic concept, strategy etc. For instance, in writing entrepreneurial cases, the concept of the business canvas is widely used, whereas, for marketing cases, Marketing mix strategies, and Ansof's product-market matrix (growth strategies) are widely used. In other words, having academic concepts/strategies are must, but having theory is optional. Use whatever is suitable for your case.