Case in point

Marketing assignments invariably involve number crunching in case studies. After discussing cases in marketing all I see is statements need to be backed by data. Intuition is rarely part of the game. Anyone can make a decision but how can you prove it or at least back your judgment by sound numbers. It seems like a formal process to decision making.

Most decisions aired in cases are challenged. The "How?" makes a vital part of the discussion than the "What?". I believe the converse is true in some cases. Every now and then a "So?" is asked as though each member was totally unaffected by the decision labouriously made by another member. It helps in weighing alternatives. It also helps in another way - if you haven't been listening and feel a sudden urge to get involved just say the magic words to get a playback of the previous point. Fortunately my group has whole participation and such comments get spotted.

The fun part of such discussion is to proxy the real life situation. One member went to the extent of suggesting the phone number of the CEO whose company's case was being discussed. But sometimes the fun in these discussions outbalances the economic benefit of the case. Assuming 10 hours go into a 20 marks assignment ideally the benefit in terms of marks/hour should be around 2. That way you know if your group is over-engineering (a borrowed phrase) stuff. Each group may have its good estimate of their average value, which may improve over time and know when discussions lead nowhere.

The case has, in some respects, been not entirely devoid of interest - from A Case of Identity Sherlock Homes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle