Case Study on Managing Business Growth

The goal of the case study assignment is to critically analyze a small to medium-sized business,
identifying challenges faced by the founding team/decision-maker(s) as they built their venture
and how they addressed (or plan to address) challenges encountered. The data collection
should include interviews with the members of the founding team and/or research from
published sources that you must reference, and follow the following format:
Business Introduction describe in detail the firms business model including
key product/service offerings, how they differentiate themselves and the target
market. Check out https://hbr.org/2002/05/why-business-models-matter and
https://hbr.org/2015/01/what-is-a-business-model for several business models
and how they came about, and https://www.inc.com/martin-zwilling/10-mostcommon-business-models-to-make-a-profit.html for prospective structure.
Owner/manager(s) whose experience you will be investigating and the role they
play. Be sure to touch on the key team members and their respective
responsibilities, whose skills should ideally complement their own skills Consult
https://hbr.org/2019/03/what-makes-a-successful-startup-team for some tips.
Identification of challenges through your research as well as communication
with the ventures leadership, identify two or more challenges the firm
encountered (eg. financial, physical plant, cultural, political) in growing the
venture. Seehttps://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/04/06/16-tech-leaders-share-their-biggest-challenges-in-2021/ and
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/362771 for some examples, including those
specific to COVID-19 economic recovery.
Case Analysis specify and measure the direct and indirect impacts to the firm
from these challenges and how/why they came about, such as changes in
operating procedures or what the business offers. Did they change/reduce
staffing or variety of products/services offered? See
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/06/01/why-operations-matter-more-in-small-business/ for detail.
Action plan recommend specific and realistic actions that the business could
take to address adverse conditions, including steps involved, prospective
timeframe and resources needed to achieve the end goal. Alternatively, if the firm
and individual(s) you are analyzing overcame specific challenges as the venture
grew, you can lay out the implementation plan they followed. See
https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/trends-andinsights/articles/the-short-and-long-term-plans-to-scale-back-up/ for some ideas.
For the case analysis I would recommend you either select a business you are familiar with (eg.
where you worked or from your neighborhood) or one you are interested in. Otherwise, see
https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2019/04/30/forbes-small-giants-the-best-small-companies-of-2019/ for samples.
The assignment should be between 3-5 pages.

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