Queensland University of Technology Assoc. Prof. Gavin Nicholson
QUT Business School S1, 2019
BSB111: Business Law and Ethics
Case Study Workbook
One of the core challenges most people will face in moving into the University environment is learning how to construct a logical, well-researched and thoughtful piece of written work with limited feedback.
This document aims to provide you with a ten-step process for developing your written case study for BSB111. It should allow you to write an excellent piece and you should be able to adapt the approach for most writing tasks you will need to do while studying (and, hopefully, in the real world).
Most often these kinds of documents concentrate on details or on what (should be) obvious points. Things like:
· Don’t cheat (i.e. pass off someone else’s work as your own – see the QUT guidelines on plagiarism)
· How to format and cite things for our systems.
· How many words you have (it’s 1250 words plus 10%)
· When you need to submit the work (due date is 1 April)
· How you will submit the work (via Turn-it-in); and
· What will happen if you don’t do these things.
While these details are necessary, it should be obvious that a well-written assignment requires more than this.
And that is where this document aims to be different. Instead of concentrating on the detail, it is designed to help you develop your written piece such that it has the best chance of doing well against the criteria set for the assignment.
If you follow the approach in this workbook, you should produce a good (or better) piece of work. Perhaps more importantly you will have begun developing (or perhaps further developed) an essential life skill – clearly communicating complex ideas to someone in written format.
To begin, go to the next page, Preparing to Start.
Preparing to Start
What is a case study?
The Oxford English Dictionary defines a case study as “[a] particular instance of something used or analysed in order to illustrate a thesis or principle.” Most times the lecturer will provide you with a case study and you need to analyse it using the course’s content.
This assignment is different, because you get to choose your own case. Why? Because to choose a good case, you must show that you know what an ethical dilemma is. Also, it allows you to demonstrate novelty/innovative thought. Choosing a good case is critical to doing well in the assignment.
If you can choose a good case and analyse it well, it shows you have mastered a complex task – recognizing ethically difficult issues.
Why bother writing an analysis of a case?
Given this is a first-year subject, most students undertaking BSB111 have only written assignments as part of their formal schooling. For most of the cohort, you will never have written anything of much substance outside an educational setting. Therefore, you are likely to think that the primary reason for writing this assessment piece is to demonstrate your knowledge of ethics to the markers.
This emphasis is misplaced.
The point of undertaking a case analysis is to allow you to develop the skills to apply your knowledge in (relatively) realistic situations. It allows you the chance to really consider the materials we cover and formulate your own views on what is a complex topic that is foundational to a well-lived life.
Not only that, but you get the chance to develop the skills of organizing and communicating your insights on a very sophisticated and complex topic. Writing is actually a formal form of thinking. Writing exposes what you know and don’t know, where your thinking is incomplete, sloppy or just plain wrong. If you can’t write well, it’s far less likely you will make the most out of opportunities that life provides you. Almost certainly you will be less likely to influence others, will be presented with fewer opportunities and will, in general, be substantially less successful than you could be.
Writing helps you remember things while simultaneously teaching you how to think logically and coherently. It develops your understanding of the world in a powerful way.
You might be able to “scrape through” with a less extensive approach than presented here. You might even be able to luck out and do “well” (after all, there is no criteria in the assignment for “effort”). But in the end, you will only be cheating yourself.
The University ‘system’ (or game) is only one form of game in the world. Just because you can “win” here with minimum effort does not mean you will can transfer your approach to the outside world. Instead, if you practice the skills outlined in this workbook you should be able to do better than a pass in the assignment and have developed a suite of skills that ARE transferable.
This is one of those times in life when a great opportunity may not be self-evident. Don’t waste this opportunity. Put in the effort.
Getting down to work
Perhaps the biggest struggle for the majority of students is making the most of the time you have to hand in a work worthy of your ability. If you are a procrastinator, your own form of “monkey mind” will constantly find things to do. Scrolling “Fit yogi’s” for three hours on Pintrest or seeing how the latest trend in questionable dog grooming are playing out on Instagram will not help you complete this assignment. Neither will re-arranging your socks drawers, cleaning the fridge nor visiting Aunt Maud.
Don’t let the monkey control your life.
Try to get into the habit of doing some work on the assignment every day. The perfect time will never arrive. Instead, start now and chip away. Preferably in the morning when you are fresh and before the rest of life interrupts. Spend 30 minutes on the assignment – or 15 if you can’t make 30 minutes at the moment. Don’t read your twitter/facebook/what’sapp/Instagram/snapchat/email/[insertlatestdigitaldistractionhere]. Turn your phone (and any other devices) onto airplane mode. Work – and you will be amazed at how, over time, you become better at resisting temptations. If you struggle to concentrate, think about using the pomodora technique.
Also, don’t try to do too much in one go. It’s really unlikely you can work for more than 2-3 hours in a concentrated manner. If you try, you will end up distracted and largely wasting your time. You might as well be at the beach, going to a rave or otherwise enjoying yourself. Do your work first – then go enjoy life. There’s plenty of time if you’re disciplined.
Writing Well
There are hundreds of books on writing well. You should read and apply some of them. But given you have to start this assignment now, here are some tips.
The first, is that your assignment should present a coherent holistic answer to the question/task that has been set. This requires you to work at multiple levels of analysis when you write. You need to make sure:
(1) The entire piece is coherent and answers the question(s) asked;
(2) Each paragraph of the piece contains a single, core idea and is placed in the right spot to advance your argument;
(3) Each sentence contributes to the central idea in the paragraph and is ordered in a way to communicate that idea quickly and clearly; and
(4) Each word has been selected and ordered to ensure it communicates exactly what you mean.
First, you must present your argument in the right order. This is why virtually all writing advice begins by advising the author to construct an outline. An outline provides the “pathway” that the writer (and hence the reader) will follow. That pathway should lead clearly and convincingly to your conclusion. It should answer to the question posed or provide an overarching insight into the topic you have explored.
When you’re organizing the whole, you also mustn’t forget that really great essays, cases and documents provide novel and creative insights for the reader – they have value. This is much easier in academic writing – we have provided you with the question (what we are interested in) and even CRA (i.e. how to make sure you have given us what we want). But you can go further – make your points and examples novel. Answer the question in a way that shows you have a deep understanding. Surprise us.
As well as an overarching logical progression, you need to explain each of the key points in your outline. This is generally done at the paragraph level. Each paragraph should contain one core idea. It should begin with a topic sentence – a statement that broadly outlines or summarizes the paragraph. So here’s an editing tip: When you finish your assignment, I should be able to read the first sentence of each paragraph and understand your key argument. If I can’t, you likely have poor topic sentences and/or your sequence of paragraphs is wrong (i.e. the outline is wrong). Your ideas need to “link” together. There is an exercise to help you with this later in the workbook.
Each paragraph should be made up of a number of sentences that relate to one key idea summarised in the topic sentence. When you’re dealing with complex topics there can be a tendency to write paragraphs that contain more than one idea. Battle this tendency, because it makes your work harder to understand. A good rule of thumb is that a paragraph should contain about 100 words. Any more and it’s likely you have more than one idea in the paragraph. If you have far fewer, you might not have much of a point. “Chunk” your ideas.
Of course, these rules can be broken. But be careful – in general, rules are there because they work most of time. Be sure this is the time to break them. (See what I did there?)
Within each paragraph you need to construct a series of sentences. Each sentence should contain a clearly identifiable point that adds to the readers understanding of the over-arching idea in the paragraph. Thus, the key point of each sentence should be different, but related to the other sentences in the paragraph. The sentences also need to be in the right sequence. They need to be grammatically correct with the right words in the right order. Errors of sequencing, grammar and word order will change the meaning of your writing.
Finally, at the lowest level you must select the correct word that best reflects what you mean. Do not underestimate the profound changes in meaning that can be conveyed with a subtle change of word.
An essay/case presentation that works across these levels simultaneously will be outstanding.
Step 1: Choose your case
Read the newspapers. I know they are on-line, but you can also get them in the library in hard copy and the advantage of hard copy is that you will run across articles that might not come up in your newsfeed. If you do read on-line, make sure you dig into the content more than you ordinarily would to overcome this problem.
Pay particular attention to the business pages – are there issues there where people are doing the “wrong” thing? Are there topics where people have quite different perspectives or views (e.g. lots of people commenting or disagreeing with the author). These two issues (particularly disparate views on the conduct) are good indications there is a dilemma behind the issue.
Now you need to make sure you identify something that is an ethical DILEMMA. That means if there is a clear, ethical course of action with which everyone agrees you have not isolated a dilemma. Someone doing something wrong either generally (e.g. assault or murder) or in business (e.g. cheating others) is rarely an ethical dilemma – it’s often just someone doing the wrong thing.
If you have just identified an unethical act, you are unlikely to do well in this assessment piece, because (a) you have failed to identify a dilemma and (b) you are less likely to be able provide a compelling analysis to demonstrate your knowledge.
Write your possible Topics/Issues for the Analysis here:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Again: make sure you can explain why each of these is an ethical dilemma and not something else.
Step 2: Decide on the ethical frameworks you will use
We cover many different frameworks for analysing an ethical dilemma. You need to choose three frameworks from across two weeks (we would suggest weeks 2 and 3) and undertake an analysis of the dilemma. To help you decide, here is a table for you to think about in terms of the theories.
Week
Framework
Type
Level of analysis
Difficulty
2
Ethical egoism
Normative
Individual
Simple
2
Utilitarian
Normative
Individual
Medium
2
Kant
Normative
Individual
Complex
2
Moral rights
Normative
Individual
Simple
3
Virtue ethics
Normative
Individual
Complex
3
Kohlberg
Descriptive
Individual
Medium
4
Utilitarian justice
Normative
System
Medium
4
Nozick
Normative
System
Medium
4
Rawls
Normative
System
Complex
Have a look at your problem. Is the ethical dilemma about something confronting an individual or a system? Have a think about the grade that you are looking for. Now have a look at the CRA. What does it say you need to do to meet that grade? Which frameworks will give you the best chance of meeting the criteria? For instance, if you are after a high grade, using a framework with a “Complex” level of difficulty will make it more likely you can demonstrate high level critical insight and thinking.
Write down your dilemma and the frameworks you plan to use:
My dilemma is:
The frameworks I plan to use are:
1.
2.
3.
Double check there is a match between the dilemma, the level of analysis, your grade expectations and the CRA.
Step 3: Undertake analysis
I would recommend you think about the application of each framework to each dilemma you have identified. Yes, that’s right – I would undertake 18 quick analyses (6 topics x 3 frameworks). You don’t need detailed or extensive writing here, just a quick series of dot points and insights. If you know each of the 3 frameworks you are using, this should take about 2-3 min each framework. So that’s a total of 35 – 50 min. At worst, make sure you apply the frameworks to 2 or 3 dilemmas. If you don’t do that, you may miss the opportunity to select a better topic for the assessment piece.
There are three reasons to undertake this step. First, it will help you learn the content. Second, and perhaps more importantly, it will also radically improve the chances that you identify a DILEMMA and that you can apply the frameworks correctly. If your rough analysis for a dilemma does not provide conflicting answers (i.e. the answers from all frameworks suggest the same action) then I would suggest you revisit step 1 – because it looks like you haven’t got a dilemma.
Third, this step should help you identify flaws in your analysis. The best way to do this is to discuss your approach with someone else, so you should feel free to discuss your analysis (remember: this isn’t the end assignment yet) with a colleague, and you do the same for them. That way you get feedback on the core of the assignment – undertaking the analysis. Have them review your application of the framework against the criteria and, hopefully, identify what you have done or not done well enough (yet).
Step 4: Deepen your analysis and ensure your case meets the criteria
By now, you should have your final dilemma and the three frameworks you are going to use. Go ahead and analyse the dilemma with each framework – it should take 30 – 60 min for each one.
My dilemma is: ___________________________________________
Framework 1:
Notes:
Framework 2:
Notes:
Framework 3:
Notes:
After you’ve finished, find a colleague. Outline your analysis to them. Did you do it correctly? What is missing? Do you have the insights required by the CRA for the grade you are after? If not, what’s missing?
Don’t be afraid to re-think your dilemma and a framework or two at this point.
Step 5: Consider the case, and draw your conclusions
Ok, so you have a correctly analysed ethical dilemma. The final step prior to writing is to draw your conclusion. Have a good look at the CRA here. It’s more than saying “I would recommend doing X”. Yes, you need to do that (provide a clear conclusion). But your final position and/or recommendations need to be persuasive and logically derived from the analysis that comes before. That tight linkage is what separates the Credits (5) from the High Distinctions (7).
My clear conclusion is: ___________________________________________ and I would recommend that ______________________________________do the following _____________________________________
because __________________________________________________________________________________________
[this because bit is critical – it is your justification].
Step 6: Outline your paper
If you’ve selected your dilemma, undertaken three analyses and considered what you are going to recommend, you are ready to begin drafting your case study. A rough rule of thumb is that you should write around 25-50% more in the first draft than you do in the final draft. In the final stage (refining your paper) you’re going to edit – which means throwing away the stuff that is bad or doesn’t make sense. That means it is easier if you begin with more than you need.
For this piece, you have 1,250 words (around 4-5 pages) so you should plan on writing 1,500 – 1,800 words in your first rough draft (around 6-8 pages).
The first draft involves the most difficult part of writing – organizing your work to date into an overall structure or outline. To keep this under control, you should have an outline of around 10-12 points. Any more and it is likely you are working at the wrong level of analysis here.
Here’s an example of a first draft outline from an entirely different field. Imagine I had been asked to use two Strategic Analysis tools to analyse a business. There is a 1,000 word limit for the piece and the CRA for this topic provides 60 marks divided as follows
· 10 marks for explaining and justifying the choice of business;
· 15 marks for each framework (total 30 marks);
· 20 marks for identification of actions and conclusions.
I’ve decided on my case (Circ de Solei) and my frameworks (Porter’s five forces; the Resource Based View of the Firm). Here is my first cut of the outline, where I’m aiming to get an outline point for each 200 words of the essay. :
Case Analysis: Application of two strategic analysis tools to Cirque du Soleil.
· What is Cirque du Soleil?
· Why did I choose it?
· Framework 1: What is Porter’s five forces?
· What insights does Porter’s five forces provide to CdS
· Framework 2: What is the Resource Based View (RBV) of the firm?
· What insights does the RBV provide to CdS?
· Synthesis of analysis – key insights put together
· Resulting actions for CdS.
· Conclusion – what Circ de Solei should do based on analysis
In the next stage, I’m going to decide how much space I have for each section and begin to flesh out the outline. To do that, I need to understand the CRA – so look at the emphasis in the application of the marks outlined above. Most of the marks (20) are about the conclusions and actions. There aren’t many marks (10) for explaining and justifying the case. Also, the CRA will emphasize that more marks in any area are given for deeper or more novel analysis compared with regurgitation. That means the CRA will likely say that. I get more marks for justifying the choice of case rather than describing it.
So now my second outline becomes:
· The case
· What is Cirque du Soleil (4 marks)
· Why did I choose it? (6 marks)
· Framework 1:
· What is Porter’s five forces? (5 marks)
· What insights does Porter’s five forces provide to CdS (10 marks)
· Application of framework
· Implications for CdS
· Framework 2:
· What is the Resource Based View (RBV) of the firm? (5 marks)
· What insights does the RBV provide to CdS? (10 marks)
· Application of framework
· Implications for CdS
· Implications
· Synthesis of analysis – key insights put together (8 marks)
· Similar insights
· Different insights
· Overall synthesis
· Resulting actions for CdS. (8 marks)
· Actions arising from insight 1
· Actions arising from insight 2
· Etc.
· Conclusion (4 marks)
Changing this to words so that I can get the balance of the assignment right, the outline becomes (assuming around 100 words per paragraph):
· The case (200 words)
· What is Cirque du Soleil (1 paragraph)
· Why did I choose it? (1 paragraph)
· Framework 1 (350 words):
· What is Porter’s five forces? (1 paragraph)
· What insights does Porter’s five forces provide to CdS (3 paragraphs)
· Application of framework
· Implications for CdS
· Framework 2 (350 words):
· What is the Resource Based View (RBV) of the firm? (1 paragraph)
· What insights does the RBV provide to CdS? (3 paragraphs)
· Application of framework
· Implications for CdS
· Implications (400 words)
· Synthesis of analysis – key insights put together (2 paragraphs)
· Similar insights
· Different insights
· Overall synthesis
· Resulting actions for CdS. (200 words)
· Actions arising from insight 1
· Actions arising from insight 2
· Etc.
· Conclusion (1 paragraph)
Note: I understand that this is 1,300 words – but that is around 25% over the word limit which was my aim.
Ok, so now it’s your turn. Write around 10-12 topic sentences for your outline.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Step 7: Drafting
7(a) First draft
If you’ve selected your topic, done your analysis, considered the implications and developed an outline, you’re now in a position to begin writing.
You are beginning with a series of topic sentences that you can develop into paragraphs. As you commence writing, you might decide that you need to add to or re-arrange topics from the outline. You might also find it useful to add more subdivisions or dot points to outline what you are going to say in each paragraph. But just start writing.
If you’ve done the hard work of analysis and planning, this should be relatively easy. Don’t worry too much about formatting, spelling or grammar at this stage. For most people, its best just to get a first rough draft down. You might even find it easier if you set yourself a goal – writing 250 words in 30 mins, say. If you get stuck on a point, move on and circle back later. Within about 3 hours of solid work you should have the first rough cut of the assessment.
7(b) Second Draft
Now, the real work begins – editing and refining your ideas. Here is a technique that, although it sounds laborious, works. Copy your first paragraph here:
I’m going to play along, so you can see the technique. Here’s a paragraph from a website on critical thinking (http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/critical-thinking-identifying-the-targets/486) :
The goal of this chapter is to set out clearly what critical thinking is in general and how it plays itself out in a variety of domains: in reading, in writing, in studying academic subjects, and on the job. Richard Paul and Jane Willsen provide down-to-earth examples that enable the reader to appreciate both the most general characteristics of critical thinking and their specific manifestations on the concrete level. It is essential, of course, that the reader becomes clear about the concept, including its translation into cases, for otherwise she is apt to mis-translate the concept or fail to see its relevance in a wide variety of circumstances.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now put carriage return between each sentence. Here is the technique applied to my paragraph.
The goal of this chapter is to set out clearly what critical thinking is in general and how it plays itself out in a variety of domains: in reading, in writing, in studying academic subjects, and on the job.
Richard Paul and Jane Willsen provide down-to-earth examples that enable the reader to appreciate both the most general characteristics of critical thinking and their specific manifestations on the concrete level.
It is essential, of course, that the reader becomes clear about the concept, including its translation into cases, for otherwise she is apt to mis-translate the concept or fail to see its relevance in a wide variety of circumstances.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now, write another version of your sentence underneath each sentence.
The goal of this chapter is to set out clearly what critical thinking is in general and how it plays itself out in a variety of domains: in reading, in writing, in studying academic subjects, and on the job.
This chapter aims to define what we mean by critical thinking and how it applies across a variety of domains, namely reading, writing, academic study and at work.
Richard Paul and Jane Willsen provide down-to-earth examples that enable the reader to appreciate both the most general characteristics of critical thinking and their specific manifestations on the concrete level.
The authors provide practical examples that allow the reader to understand both the general characteristics of critical thinking and how it is applied in real life.
It is essential, of course, that the reader becomes clear about the concept, including its translation into cases, for otherwise she is apt to mis-translate the concept or fail to see its relevance in a wide variety of circumstances.
Clarity around the concept of critical thinking and its application ensures the reader is less likely to misunderstand the concept and/or underappreciate the variety of possible applications.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now compare:
The goal of this chapter is to set out clearly what critical thinking is in general and how it plays itself out in a variety of domains: in reading, in writing, in studying academic subjects, and on the job. Richard Paul and Jane Willsen provide down-to-earth examples that enable the reader to appreciate both the most general characteristics of critical thinking and their specific manifestations on the concrete level. It is essential, of course, that the reader becomes clear about the concept, including its translation into cases, for otherwise she is apt to mis-translate the concept or fail to see its relevance in a wide variety of circumstances.
108 words.
This chapter aims to define what we mean by critical thinking and how it applies across a variety of domains, namely reading, writing, academic study and at work. The authors provide practical examples that allow the reader to understand both the general characteristics of critical thinking and how it is applied in real life. Clarity around the concept of critical thinking and its application ensures the reader is less likely to misunderstand the concept and/or underappreciate the variety of possible applications.
81 words
Notice how much shorter and clearer the second paragraph is? It’s reduced by around 25%. Notice how each word is trying to be more precise and target what the writer was saying. It is far harder to use simple language to clearly convey your meaning than to use a thesaurus to try and impress the reader.
So the overall aim of this exercise is to make your sentences (and so paragraphs):
· Shorter
· Simpler
· More precise
If in doubt, read your writing aloud. If it doesn’t sound correct, it probably isn’t. Re-write it.
If you are dedicated, undertake this process one or two more times.
7(c) Revise the structure
Ok, so you’re on your third or fourth draft and things are looking good. Now, look at the order of the paragraphs you have. Given the editing, things might be out of kilter. Re-order to make sure that your argument makes sense.
Step 8: Refine your paper
So, you take a deep breath and think “I’m finished”. But there’s one more step you could take.
Without looking at your paper, draft down a new outline – the 10-12 points setting out your key argument. Insert them here:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Can you cut and paste your essay into this structure? What’s missing? What’s superfluous? Make the changes necessary and go back to step 7 with the latest version to tidy up any disconnects.
You should be looking pretty good here.
Step 9: Re-boot
If you really want to refine your essay: Repeat Step 8, preferably after a few days.
Step 10: Proof read and citations
Use spellcheck. Read the paper aloud. Have someone else (not another student) proof read it. Use the cite-write guidance to construct your reference list.
You’re done.
Congratulations.
References:
Oxford English Dictionary, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/case_study
Acknowledgements: This workbook is based on several different ideas on writing I’ve come across over the years – there’s nothing really original here. It’s particularly indebted to this 90 min video (for the idea of clarity, novelty and audience), this document (for structure and chunky-ness and linky-ness) and the overall idea/approach (particularly motivation and the process of editing) from this document. You should also read The Elements of Style and the APA style guide (or similar).
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