Surething Insurance: The Disempowered CIO

Case Study 1

This is a problem solving assignment and a chance to apply both what you have learned about problem solving and also the case is about information technology. Thus you can blend both skills in this case.

Length: 1 to 1-1/2 pages single-spaced page with reasonable font and margins.

Sometimes in cases since you only know the information you need to state any assumptions you are making. Don’t assume I will make the same assumption and thus I will not agree with your answer. If I understand the assumption you made and it is reasonable (not you assumed away the difficult part of the issue) then I will follow your logic. So be sure to clearly state the assumptions you are making. STATE THE ASSUMPTIONS WHERE YOU ARE USING THEM. DO NOT MAKE A GENERAL LIST OF ASSUMPTIONS WITH NO REFERENCE TO WHERE THEY ARE USED. They need to be stated however it should be done at the proper time.

NOTE: I am supplying a general rubric that applies to all cases. Not every example/question (right hand column) in the rubric may be applicable in every case but it is worth going through them and deciding if they apply to the case or not.

First there must be an objective. What is the organization/company hoping for in resolving this problem (and it must be measurable)?  How will they know if they solved the problem successfully? Have they achieved this objective? How will you measure it? It should be the first thing on the page and be formatted as:

OBJECTIVE: a short couple of line statement(s) of the objective of the company and how you will measure it.

Paragraph 1

The first sentence of the actual case study beings: THE ROOT PROBLEM IN THIS CASE IS (don’t need to capitalize it is for emphasis that it MUST be the first statement). Go on to describe the root problem.  Any solution must directly address this problem.

The rest of the paragraph explains how you determined this is the root problem. What symptoms suggest this is the root problem etc. Use the facts of the case throughout to support your point of view as to why this is the root problem.

Paragraph 2

Case Study 1

This is a problem solving assignment and a chance to apply both what you have learned about problem solving and also the case is about information technology. Thus you can blend both skills in this case.

Length: 1 to 1-1/2 pages single-spaced page with reasonable font and margins.

Sometimes in cases since you only know the information you need to state any assumptions you are making. Don’t assume I will make the same assumption and thus I will not agree with your answer. If I understand the assumption you made and it is reasonable (not you assumed away the difficult part of the issue) then I will follow your logic. So be sure to clearly state the assumptions you are making. STATE THE ASSUMPTIONS WHERE YOU ARE USING THEM. DO NOT MAKE A GENERAL LIST OF ASSUMPTIONS WITH NO REFERENCE TO WHERE THEY ARE USED. They need to be stated however it should be done at the proper time.

NOTE: I am supplying a general rubric that applies to all cases. Not every example/question (right hand column) in the rubric may be applicable in every case but it is worth going through them and deciding if they apply to the case or not.

First there must be an objective. What is the organization/company hoping for in resolving this problem (and it must be measurable)?  How will they know if they solved the problem successfully? Have they achieved this objective? How will you measure it? It should be the first thing on the page and be formatted as:

OBJECTIVE: a short couple of line statement(s) of the objective of the company and how you will measure it.

Paragraph 1

The first sentence of the actual case study beings: THE ROOT PROBLEM IN THIS CASE IS (don’t need to capitalize it is for emphasis that it MUST be the first statement). Go on to describe the root problem.  Any solution must directly address this problem.

The rest of the paragraph explains how you determined this is the root problem. What symptoms suggest this is the root problem etc. Use the facts of the case throughout to support your point of view as to why this is the root problem.

Paragraph 2