Case Study Analysis practice questions.

The case study document describes an organisation that the candidate has never worked with. What is the main reason for releasing it months before the examination?

• So that the candidate can research the technologies it introduces and learn their vocabulary.
• So that the candidate can memorise the figures printed in the tables of the document.
• So that the candidate can work out which exact questions the paper is going to ask.
• So that the candidate can prepare a complete written answer in advance and reproduce it in the examination.

Answer: So that the candidate can research the technologies it introduces and learn their vocabulary.

The document deliberately introduces technology that sits beyond the ordinary syllabus, and the paper expects it to be discussed in the right terminology. Memorised figures and pre-written answers fail because the questions apply the case to situations the document itself never describes.

A question is worded 'with reference to the case study'. A candidate answers with correct general theory and never mentions the organisation. What happens to the marks?

• They are awarded in full, provided that the theory itself is accurate.
• They are awarded in full, but the whole answer is then capped at the middle markband.
• Most are lost, because the marks depend on applying the theory to the case.
• They are awarded only for the final paragraph of the answer.

Answer: Most are lost, because the marks depend on applying the theory to the case.

'With reference to' makes the case part of the question, so the marks sit on the link between the theory and the organisation's own constraints. Naming the system, its users and its limits in each paragraph is what earns them.

While preparing, a candidate meets a technology that the case study names but never explains. Which preparation is most useful?

• Learning the supplier's marketing description of the named product by heart.
• Learning how it works, what it is good at and where it falls down.
• Ignoring it, because only syllabus content can ever be examined.
• Learning the name of the company that supplies the technology.

Answer: Learning how it works, what it is good at and where it falls down.

Questions on the case study ask for a technology to be weighed against alternatives in the organisation's own situation, which needs both its strengths and its limitations. Product names and vendor detail can never be the subject of a mark.

A case study describes a firm whose warehouse loses its network link for a few minutes several times a day. When a question asks for a recommendation, which part of the document decides the answer?

• Only the paragraph in which the recommended technology is named.
• Only the table of figures, because numbers are the one thing that cannot be misread.
• The general syllabus knowledge only, since the case is nothing more than background colour.
• The stated constraints of the firm, such as the unreliable link and the budget.

Answer: The stated constraints of the firm, such as the unreliable link and the budget.

A recommendation is judged on whether it survives the organisation's own constraints, so the unreliable link and the money available decide which option is defensible. Proposing a technically superior option that the firm cannot run is the standard way to lose these marks.

Which way of taking notes prepares a candidate best for the case study questions?

• A glossary of the terms the case introduces, with each one linked to a syllabus topic.
• A copy of the whole case study with every technical noun highlighted in a different colour.
• A summary of the case study written out in the candidate's own words.
• A list of the people named in the case study together with their job titles.

Answer: A glossary of the terms the case introduces, with each one linked to a syllabus topic.

Every question maps a piece of the case onto a syllabus topic, so a link table turns the reading into something that can be revised and retrieved under pressure. A summary or a colour-coded copy reproduces the document without adding the connection the marks depend on.

Ten minutes are left and one case study question worth 6 marks remains, asking for two differences between the two systems the document describes. What is the best use of the time?

• Writing an introduction that summarises the whole case study first.
• Writing down everything remembered about both systems in one long paragraph.
• Writing two clearly separated differences, each named and then explained.
• Writing one difference in great depth and leaving the second one out.

Answer: Writing two clearly separated differences, each named and then explained.

Six marks for two differences signals three marks each, so the shape of the answer should mirror the shape of the question. An unsorted paragraph makes the examiner hunt for the points and usually loses the credit for the second one.