Case study
For this assignment you will perform a case study that examines a small business in Denver. The recent economic recession has affected most business in our country. In this case study, your goal will be to determine how small business has been affected by the economic downturn.
The case study will involve in-depth description of the business you are evaluating, the circumstances under which this business provides its service, the characteristics of the customers and employees, and the nature of the community or part of town in which the business is located.
The format of your paper should either be a well organized essay or it should resemble a lab report with five clear sections:
1) Theoretical Perspective
2) Methods of Research
3) Results
4) Data Analysis
5) Conclusion
Theoretical Perspective
In this study, you will develop some theories of your own in which you make assumptions about the effects of the recessionary period on the business you are studying. These theories will lead to the questions that will guide your study.
The answers to these questions will provide you with data that you can then analyze.
For example:
Based on my hypothesis that online communities provide a means of communication that unites the world community, these were the questions I asked:
· What kind of people are on Second Life and where are they from?
· How multicultural is Second Life. How many languages are spoken on Second Life?
· Is there much business being conducted internationally via this online community?
· Do Second Life’s real life towns and cities mimic the real towns and cities in an instructive and culturally informative way?
My results question consisted of the answers to these questions.
Results
This section should consist solely of the data you collect. You should not analyze the data in this section. Instead, you should note everything that happened during your research so that you may go on to analyze it the next section.
There are several methods used to collect data:
1. Documents (e.g. Business policies or employee training manuals)
2. Records (e.g. Sales records)
3. Interviews (with customers, employees, or managers)
4. First hand observation (This entails going to the business for a period of time and noting observations you make about how business is conducted. Also, you should try to
5. Artifacts (What does the business provide? How is the quality of its service? Do the business’ services attract or deter customers during the economic decline? What are prices like?)
Interview
Participants:
Identify who you will interview. You do not need to have a large number of participants, but you should try to find a range of people.
In my experiment, I chose to interview both men and women of varying ages. I attempted to find people of various ethnicities because it related to my hypothesis.
Questions to consider asking:
Customer:
· Are you a frequent customer? How frequent?
· What do you like about this business? Why do you shop here?
· Have you noticed any changes since the economic downturn?
· Is this location convenient from where you live?
· Do you know people who come here? How often?
Employee:
· How long have you worked here?
· About how many hours do you work per week?
· How often does your manager ask you to work overtime?
· Do you work any other jobs?
· Are you usually able to provide your customer with what they need or want?
Manager:
· Does the business make its revenue goals? By how much?
· Have you had any need to change your products or prices since the economic downturn?
· What are the peak seasons?
· What is the customer demographic?
· How does this location’s revenue compare to the location of other businesses (If the business is a franchise).
· Do you ever find yourself short-staffed?
In the research I did on Second Life, I discovered virtual foreign cities, but nobody went to the cities. Most people socialized in a circle of communities. Everyone I met was friendly and eager to help, but I heard close to no instructive conversations regarding cultural norms or values. I did find businesses that held meetings with people internationally. I also found businesses started on Second Life that sold to people internationally.
Data Analysis
Identify patterns in your data, and identify how they are relevant to your study. How does your data explain what the effects of the recession are on the small business you chose?
Identify incidents that support/challenge established beliefs, practices or values? Did you expect these results? The focus of this section should be on what your research signifies about the overall state of this small business and perhaps other small businesses. You should also include analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of your case study as an indicator or model of how the economic downturn has affected small businesses in general.
In my example, I analyzed the data I collected in order to develop an argument about online communities. My argument was that online communities are less effective in encouraging global interaction on a social level and more effective in facilitating businesses to be conducted internationally. I suggested that over time, online communities will create cultural integration, but it will be a result of international business rather than of communication for social purposes.
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