What is a case study?

The SACC case study is essentially a story, and a teaching vehicle which aims at presenting participants with a critical management, leadership and/or related issues in which a dilemma of some given level of urgency is presented for analysis. The case study helps bring in a practical, applied, and lively classroom debate as participants analyse and discuss the case. A typical case could range anywhere from 3 pages to 15 pages, depending on the content and the matter under focus. Attached to the case study are tables, exhibits and/or annexures to reinforce the content. The common case types are:

• “Armchair” cases written by faculty especially based on their general knowledge and experience over years – for instance, something like “Ratios Tell A Story”.
• Desktop cases where data are gathered from publicly available sources.
• Field cases based on field research, data gathering and collation of evidence, interviews etc.
• Multimedia cases which combine print, audio, video, animation and other multimedia applications to deliver the story interactively.

Case research and writing

Cases could be written by anyone interested in engaging in the process. We encourage staff, our corporate stakeholders, and others to collaborate in case writing. Usually, the case writer is assigned a mentor from SBS to help follow through the case writing process to completion. The case writing exercise also helps our faculty link with the corporate world and learn the experiences so far gained for the betterment of their participant/student engagement in class with relatable examples.

Field cases are common and usually dynamic in nature, in this case, the SBS faculty members collaborate with an identified business and/or leaders in both private as well as public sectors to write the case. We have guidelines to writing cases which are shared with the case developers once the case writing begins. Case leads who could double as case mentors from SBS are identified based on the purpose of the case. In this process, utmost confidentiality is assured. In some cases, the organisation name and the protagonists’ names could be concealed to protect identity. A consent is always sought from the collaborating organisation before publication of the case.

Field cases could typically take approximately two months to complete – right from getting the organisation’s approval to proceed with the case, to gathering data and evidence (interviews, secondary data etc), to drafting the case that portrays the managerial and/or leadership issue under focus and the real-life uncertainty, complexity, volatility, ambiguity that are inherent as a decision is being made. The case needs to present the dilemma clearly even though some information could be omitted to help participants piece things together. In some cases, “alternatives” could be provided to help enrich the debate and make it even more exciting as participants decide on which alternative to go with. In other cases, data and all relevant evidence could be obtained, a case drafted and of it is long and has a mix of issues, then these could be “split” into parts, say Case A, Case B and so on, featuring the same organisation.

Partnerships

As the SACC develops, we envisage partnerships with other case platforms to help create visibility and dissemination of our cases, hopefully increasing the reach of our cases. We note that this is an important strategy employed by leading case repositories, and as such, the quality of the cases written is critical. We will also seek to partner and have agreements or memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with other universities in the region to expand the pool of case studies from the region and other developing regions.

Case areas of focus

The SACC will be open to case studies drawn from the following broad fields:

• Economics, and public policy; General business management and strategy; Health care management; Hospitality and tourism management; Information systems, technology, engineering and management; Law and social sciences; Leadership and organizational behaviour; Management science; Mathematical sciences and their applications; Supply chain, operations, and logistics; Sustainability
• and any related or cross-cutting areas.

Case types

• “Armchair” cases written by faculty especially based on their general knowledge and experience over years – for instance, something like “Ratios Tell A Story”.
• Desktop cases where data are gathered from publicly available sources.
• Field cases based on field research, data gathering and collation of evidence, interviews etc.
• Multimedia cases which combine print, audio, video, animation and other multimedia applications to deliver the story interactively.

Case Structuring Guidelines

Step	Matters to consider
Step 1: Writing and structuring the case	The case needs to be written in preferably an active tense, if not past. Identify and establish the dilemma which you want to resolve There should be an aspect of urgency in getting the dilemma resolved Protagonists/main actors should be clearly identified
Step 2: Opening paragraph	Identify the main protagonist Clearly identify the key decision maker Describe the nature of the problem or issue Provide specifics as to the timelines when major events are taking place/happening Highlight where the case took place, if possible, provide a map with the location Describe why the issue arose and what led to the urgency in resolving it
Step 3: The body of the case	Narrate the entire story, as it unfolded Provide some contextual background – the business environment, the company background, some background on the protagonists and actors Provide detail on the specific matters faced by the organization Provide competing alternatives to vary the discussions; highlight various angles of the same story to enrich the conversations/debates
Step 4: Concluding paragraph	Provide a brief synthesis of the story and quickly bring together the main issues You may want to raise fresh dilemma or a connected one Leave the issue open to discussion: you can end with a question or a statement to elicit debates
Appendices	Be sure to reference and provide all supporting appendices and/or exhibits

Contents of a Good and Effective Teaching Note

Aspect	Description
(i) Case synopsis	In this section, provide a highly summarized description of the case setting, its features, and key issues to be dealt with.
(ii) Target audience	Specify the target group or level of participants for the case: Undergraduate, graduate, executive education, PhD etc. Provide an indication as to the anticipated level of difficulty Indicate the applicable pre-requisites necessary before participants engage in the case discussion Discuss the different teaching strategy/ies to be used – role play? Simulation? Debate?
(iii) Learning outcomes	These should be very clear and can range from 1-4 for longer cases They should be very specific Show the link between the outcomes and the course being taught Take care to use the right verbs in describing the outcomes. Usually, the higher order verbs in the Bloom’s taxonomy (e.g. analyze, appraise etc.) are preferrable
(iv) Teaching plan	This could be a diagrammatic representation of the board layout and what will be discussed, where and when, for how long Break the plan into topics/themes Indicate the suggested participant assignment/case discussion questions Provide a brief description of the opening for 10-15 minutes Challenge case questions by bringing in variation in thought Check out for any controversial questions – generate more discussion Ask the right questions intelligently Provide real answers – where possible connect with some known reality A case need not have the correct answer -actually, it does not need to have one. BUT you could have incorrect answers, marginal answers and outstanding answers. Provide a brief closing for 10-15 minutes. Here, take care to reinforce the objectives set out earlier Where applicable, provide an update of what happened/transpired
(v) Supporting material, exhibits, appendices	Provide these: videos, appendices, workings, readings, additional reference material
(vi) Mistakes to avoid	Do not write a case study like a research article; be real; be practical; connect with the actual happening Avoid superficial TNs. Provide as much detail as possible A 90-minute session cannot be supported by a 1 page TN Ensure TN matches the case as far as possible. Restrict yourself to the content in the case; not what else you know beyond the case Do not create a dilemma with an obvious answer The model to be applied needs to be backed with a purpose, Do not submit a case that has never been tried in a class. It prevents you from obtaining a variety of perspectives.

Case Support

The SACC provides a vast array of support including mentorship, trainings, guidelines to help case writers successfully complete the case. The published case becomes a property of Strathmore University and could be updated after a number of years. The collaborating organisation will get a copy of the final case for their in-house trainings or purposes. The final approved case will become intellectual property for Strathmore University.

Author responsibilities

The aim of SACC is to ensure that the author is appropriately guided on the case handling, review and publication process. We strive to provide you with a professional and courteous support and experience as your manuscript goes through our due processes. As such, we expect you, as an author to:

• Take responsibility over your submission and ensure that it accurately and correctly reflects the true state of affairs of the unit of analysis under focus.
• Respond timely to any queries regarding your submission.
• Be accountable for all aspects of your submission. This involved addressing any questions regarding the credibility and the integrity of the facts contained in your submitted work.
• Uphold confidentiality in your dealings and communication with the journal editorial board and secretariat, until a decision is arrived at.
• Treat with respect the decision arrived at after the due review process.
• Familiarise yourself about our ethics for authorship. As a minimum, we expect that you:
  • Include anyone who made substantial and meaningful contribution to the work as an author. Anyone else who made some contribution can be included in the acknowledgement.
  • Exclude anyone not involved in the work, or requests to be removed from the work.
  • Comply with the COPEs guidelines on ethics. SACC strives to be compliant with COPE’s expectations on publication ethics.
  • Acknowledge the use of any specific generative artificial intelligence (IA) tools, with a clear description of the content created or modified using the AI tools. You are also expected to appropriately cite and reference any works sought from generative AI and related tools. SACC reserves the right to determine whether the use of AI tools is permissible.
  • All submissions should be accompanied by a Consent Form that is signed by an authorised representative of the participating organisation. Upon provisional acceptance of the work, the author(s) should sign off a copyright transfer agreement.

Research and publishing ethics

SACC strives to adhere to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE’s) guidelines. We expect all authors to adhere to the necessary ethical requirements, including declaration of any conflicts in the works submitted. The editors and secretariat work to perform desk reviews and screening of submitted manuscripts and ensure that the content published is ethically sound. To help us achieve that goal, we closely follow the advice laid out in the guidelines and flowcharts on the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) website. SACC has its own ethics guidelines that guide the processing of all submitted case studies. Among the requirements include:

• All submitted work should be original and should not have been published or submitted for publication elsewhere.
• All material sourced from elsewhere should be appropriately cited within the works. As part of our desk screening processes, we run similarity checks to ensure that the similarity index is within acceptable threshold.
• Any conflicts of interests regarding the work should be declared upfront. This allows the Editor to decide on how to proceed.
• Ensure that the submitted work is not in conflict with an existing copyright.
• Before submitting your work, ensure that you have written permission to use or reproduce works from third parties. We cannot publish the work until these permissions are granted.

Open access submissions and information

At SACC, we offer an open access possibility for the submitted works. There is an article processing fee charged for open access, which is US$ 3,080. The fee is subject to change from time to time.

All our journals currently offer two open access (OA) publishing paths; gold open access and green open access. SACC endeavours to have the open access work published by Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 user license, which lays out how readers can access and reuse the published work.

Other than open access, SACC has pay per use case studies. The fee charged for the cases varies from case to case and from time to time. Any royalties or remuneration to authors is determined by SACC’s administration, and this varies from time to time based on SACC’s policies on authorship incentives.

Copyright and Permissions

• Copyright Ownership: Authors retain copyright of their case studies published by SACC. SACC typically acquires non-exclusive publication rights for distribution and promotion of published cases.
• Third-Party Permissions: Authors are responsible for obtaining any necessary permissions to use copyrighted material (e.g., text, images, figures) within their case study.