Case Study Format: Structure and Examples

TL;DR: Philippine schools use a few distinct case study formats depending on the discipline. Business and management courses commonly use a nine-part structure covering viewpoint, time context, problem statement, objectives, areas of consideration (often SWOT), assumptions, alternative courses of action, recommendation, and a plan of action. Nursing and allied health case studies instead follow the nursing process: patient profile, assessment, diagnosis, planning, intervention, and evaluation. Both share a core academic skeleton of background, problem, analysis, and recommendation. This guide breaks down both formats, what markers check at each section, and a full worked example.

"Case study format" covers more than one thing in Philippine classrooms, and mixing them up is a common way students lose marks before the analysis even starts. A business strategy course, a nursing clinical rotation, and a social work practicum each expect a differently structured case study, even though they share the same underlying academic skeleton: establish the situation, state the problem, analyze it, weigh options, and recommend a course of action. This guide covers the standard academic structure, the Philippine business-school ACA format specifically, how nursing case studies differ, what markers check at each section, and a full worked example. It sits alongside the thesis chapters guide and the qualitative vs. quantitative research guide if you're deciding how a case study fits into a larger research project.

The Core Academic Case Study Structure

Strip away discipline-specific labels and most academic case studies share the same underlying shape:

1. Background/Introduction — context on the situation, organization, or patient being examined.
2. Statement of the Problem — the specific issue the case study exists to resolve, stated precisely rather than restated from the case narrative.
3. Analysis — the evidence, factors, or data that explain why the problem exists and how serious it is.
4. Alternative Solutions — realistic options for addressing the problem, each considered on its own merits.
5. Recommendation — the chosen course of action, justified by the analysis, not asserted on its own.
6. Conclusion — a short closing statement tying the recommendation back to the original problem.

This skeleton holds across disciplines, but the discipline-specific formats below add or rename steps to fit how that field actually makes decisions.

Disclaimer: your school or professor's prescribed case study format takes priority over any general structure, including this one. Confirm the exact required sections and formatting rules from your syllabus before writing.

The Philippine Business Case Study Format (ACA / "PLM-Style")

Philippine business, management, and strategic management courses widely teach a nine-part structure, sometimes called the ACA format after its Alternative Courses of Action section. Students often nickname it the "PLM format" since versions of it circulate widely from Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila coursework, though equivalent nine-part case-analysis outlines, decision-maker viewpoint, problem statement, alternatives, and a justified recommendation, are taught under different names at business programs across the country. The University of Southern California's writing guide for case analysis papers lays out the same underlying logic: identify the core problem, weigh alternative solutions, and build to a recommended course of action backed by the evidence.

Markers using this format check specifically that the ACAs are genuinely distinct options (not the same idea worded three ways), that each ACA is evaluated on both advantages and disadvantages rather than only in favor of the eventual recommendation, and that the final recommendation is traceable back to the areas of consideration rather than appearing as a preference with no analytical support behind it. The SWOT framework itself, sorting internal strengths and weaknesses from external opportunities and threats, is standard strategic-planning material covered in university research guides such as Rutgers University Libraries' SWOT analysis guide.

The Nursing and Allied Health Case Study Format

Nursing, midwifery, and other clinical programs use a structurally different format because the underlying task is clinical reasoning about a patient, not a business decision. It follows the nursing process, the assessment-diagnosis-planning-implementation-evaluation cycle documented in nursing references such as the NCBI/NIH StatPearls overview of the nursing process:

• Patient Profile / History — demographic details, chief complaint, and relevant medical, family, and social history.
• Assessment — subjective data (what the patient reports) and objective data (vital signs, physical findings, diagnostic results).
• Nursing Diagnosis — typically formatted using the NANDA-I three-part structure: problem, related factors ("related to"), and defining evidence ("as evidenced by").
• Planning — specific, measurable goals derived from each diagnosis.
• Intervention — the nursing actions taken or planned, with rationale for each.
• Evaluation — whether the goals were met, and what that means for ongoing care.

Where a business case study argues toward one recommended course of action, a nursing case study documents a full clinical reasoning cycle for a real or realistic patient scenario, and markers check that each diagnosis is properly evidenced and that interventions logically match the stated diagnosis and goals, not just general "good practice."

Social work case studies borrow elements of both: a background and problem framing similar to the academic core structure, but with an assessment section closer to the nursing model (client history, presenting issue, psychosocial factors) and a plan section built around specific, achievable interventions rather than a business recommendation.

Worked Example: Business Case Study (Condensed)

Case: A small provincial bakery is losing repeat customers to a newly opened bakery chain branch two blocks away.

Viewpoint: The owner-manager of the independent bakery, who has authority to change pricing, product offerings, and store operations.

Time Context: Three months after the competing chain branch opened, based on the point at which the bakery's daily sales data shows a sustained decline.

Statement of the Problem: How can the bakery retain its existing customer base and stabilize daily sales in the face of new direct competition from a lower-priced chain outlet?

Statement of Objectives: Any solution should (1) be achievable within the bakery's current budget and staffing, (2) address the specific reasons customers are switching, and (3) be measurable in sales data within two to three months.

Areas of Consideration: Exit interviews with former regular customers point to price and product variety as the main reasons for switching, not quality. The bakery's strength remains personal service and made-to-order items the chain branch does not offer.

Assumptions: Customer price sensitivity is assumed to be moderate, not absolute, since some customers cited convenience and variety alongside price.

Alternative Courses of Action:

1. Match the chain's pricing on core items. Advantage: directly addresses the most-cited reason for switching. Disadvantage: may not be sustainable given the bakery's smaller production volume and thinner margins.
2. Expand made-to-order and specialty items the chain doesn't offer. Advantage: leverages an area the chain can't easily match. Disadvantage: slower to show sales impact and requires marketing to rebuild awareness.
3. Introduce a simple loyalty card for repeat purchases. Advantage: low-cost, directly rewards the exact customers being lost. Disadvantage: alone, does not address the underlying price or variety complaints.

Conclusion/Recommendation: A combination of ACA 2 and ACA 3, prioritizing specialty items and a loyalty card, addresses the underlying competitive gap without requiring unsustainable price cuts.

Plan of Action: Introduce two new made-to-order product lines within one month, launch a stamp-card loyalty promotion at the same time, and track weekly sales against the pre-decline baseline for three months.

Use this structure as a model and build your own case study from your actual assigned scenario; a real analysis grounded in your case's specific facts will always score better than a copied framework with different details swapped in.

What Markers Actually Check, Section by Section

• Problem statement: Is it specific and analytical, or just a restatement of the case's opening paragraph?
• Areas of consideration / assessment: Does the analysis draw directly from facts given in the case (or patient data), rather than outside assumptions not supported by the material?
• Alternatives: Are there genuinely distinct options, each fairly weighed, rather than one clearly "correct" answer padded with two weak straw-man alternatives?
• Recommendation: Does it follow logically from the stated objectives and analysis, or does it appear to be the student's preference stated without support?
• Plan of action / interventions: Are the steps concrete and specific enough to actually implement, not vague statements like "improve marketing" or "monitor the patient closely"?

Does Your School Use a Different Format?

Some Philippine departments issue their own prescribed case study template, complete with required headers, page limits, and even specific analytical frameworks (PESTLE alongside SWOT, for instance, or a specific care-plan template for nursing). When a syllabus or department handbook specifies its own format, follow that exactly over any general guide, this one included. If no format is specified, the structures above reflect what is most commonly taught and expected across Philippine business and health-sciences programs.

Ready to find the right school? Browse schools or compare programs and reviews across hundreds of Philippine schools on SchoolFinderPH.

Sources

• University of Southern California Libraries — Writing a Case Analysis Paper
• NANDA International — NANDA-I Nursing Diagnoses
• NCBI/NIH StatPearls — The Nursing Process
• CARE Case Report Guidelines
• Rutgers University Libraries — SWOT Analysis Research Guide
• SchoolFinderPH — Thesis Chapters Guide
• SchoolFinderPH — Background of the Study Guide