Anyone familiar with college management class..intro to business...doing case studies?

i'm confused on how to do the case study.





Mark Juarez Case


What to Make of a New Product





In March 1991 Mark Juarez, an American, was living in Berlin, Germany, where he worked under contract as a masseur. He had invented a product that he found helpful in his work and was considering what to do with it. The product consisted of five wooden balls, four small ones approximately one inch in diameter that were connected to a larger one, about two inches in diameter, with wooden dowels that angled out about one inch each form the bottom of the large ball, as can be seen in the sketch of Exhibit 1.





In use, the product was gripped by a masseur as an aid in transmitting pressure to the client, reducing the strain on the masseur’s hand while applying the pressure more firmly at the same time. It had been well-received by a few of Mark’s colleagues, to whom he had given copies, and by their customers.





How, he wondered, should he apply his time and very limited personal financial resources? Should he pursue licensing, manufacturing, patenting or investigating whether there were already other such products on the market, and if so with what sequence of specific actions? Or should he simply stick to his massage work and let his simple product find its own way into whatever market might or might not exist? What would be involved in creating a company to produce and sell it, and how might such things best be done, if that were the chosen path?





Background


Mark had held a number of different jobs prior to his present occupation. In the mid-1970s he studied marketing at Chabot Community College in California while working nine months for a wine company followed by seven months with ARA Services, a national company providing laundry services for institutions and restaurants.


In early 1977 he began working in sales for a company that marketed energy efficient air conditioning systems for the home. Although successful, Mark felt by 1978 that his life was unrewarding and his lifestyle incompatible with his ideas. He took an unexpected leave for two weeks and just drove up and down the West Coast. He then decided to quit his job and flew to Europe to travel and explore. Ten of the next 15 years, he spent in Europe working odd jobs in his travels. Whenever he ran out of money, he would go back to America and work to save enough to go back to Europe. During these return visits to the United States, he started a landscaping company, sold for a company that made “environmentally correct” living/work spaces, and participated in other small ventures.


In Berlin during 1987 Mark became interested in massage. At first, he thought it would be difficult to learn locally, since he did not speak German and did not have much money to pay for massage classes. But a massage teacher who encouraged him to learn more about massage explained that massage could be learned regardless the language barrier, because massage was about touch and the body, both universal subjects. To further encourage Mark, the massage teacher offered him a job at the massage school.





By year end Mark was a certified massage therapist. Eventually, he too became a massage teacher. He also learned that traditional techniques of massage were very tiring to the hands. Many massage therapists developed carpal tunnel syndrome, a painful illness of the hands and forearms.





One February morning in 1991, through a vision in a dream, Mark conceived of a device that might help with his work. He envisaged a wooden ball with four wooden legs and little wooden balls on the ends of each leg. He also envisioned having a smiley face on the big wooden ball. He told a friend of his idea and she encouraged him to go to a “wood dollar,” a person who carves wood on a lathe, who could make the pieces for his design.





With the help of a wood dollar, some prototypes were completed, and Mark tried them on his students. The students said they loved the device and the following week requested more copies of it for their friends. Mark built more, and enthusiasm and demand for the new massage tool increased.





Because of this student interest Mark began to think about protecting his design idea by seeking a patent. He visited an American patent attorney in Berlin. The patent attorney quoted a cost of $4000 for “researching” the patent. This task was not to be confused with actually filing to receive a patent on the new device. It would simply look through the records of prior American patents to ascertain whether the same product features had been patented in the U.S. before. If it had not, then Mark could try to obtain a patent, which would cost considerably more. Should he, as a result, be granted a patent, he would then have the right to sue anyone who imitated the product in the country where the patent was issued and claim that they were violating his patent. If the patent court then agreed, he could prevent further such imitationAnyone familiar with college management class..intro to business...doing case studies?
A case study is just a big SWOT analysis. Those questions that you are supposed to respond to are just overly lengthy descriptions of SWOT analysis, which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. The Strengths and Weaknesses are the internal components, which means they are within the company and should be under the company's control. Opportunities and Threats are the external components which the company must recognize so that they can exploit the opportunities and minimize the effects of the threats (relating to the marketplace, industry, economy, laws and other such ';external'; factors).





Whenever you do a case study you're first thought should be SWOT analysis - make a page for each letter and start listing out the items that fit each category for that company. Strengths should always be core competencies (things the company does well that most other companies have trouble doing) and the competitive advantage (something unique to the company that no other company can do or has). These can be based on people, procedure or products.





Once you have your SWOT outlined, go back and find proof to substantiate your claims that those really are strengths, weaknesses, etc. Once you have that outlined and everything clearly defined and explained then add your input and recommendations for the company. Bring in what the company already has and what the company could easily obtain in your recommendations. Also try to add one thing that is very creative as a solution/recommendation that those in the company may not be aware of because of their limited focus. For example, Dove (the body lotion company) could have been so focused on making beauty products that they could have spent money on improving their formula, but they launched an ad campaign to promote self-esteem and set their products apart as being used for hygienic reason instead of beauty reasons. This was an opportunity that most lotion companies would not see.





This technique can be used for all case studies. Good luck.