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How to Write a Case Study: Bookmarkable Guide & Template

Published: November 30, 2023

Earning the trust of prospective customers can be a struggle. Before you can even begin to expect to earn their business, you need to demonstrate your ability to deliver on what your product or service promises.

Sure, you could say that you're great at X or that you're way ahead of the competition when it comes to Y. But at the end of the day, what you really need to win new business is cold, hard proof.

One of the best ways to prove your worth is through a compelling case study. In fact, HubSpot’s 2020 State of Marketing report found that case studies are so compelling that they are the fifth most commonly used type of content used by marketers.

Below, I'll walk you through what a case study is, how to prepare for writing one, what you need to include in it, and how it can be an effective tactic. To jump to different areas of this post, click on the links below to automatically scroll.

Case Study Definition

Case study templates, how to write a case study.

• How to Format a Case Study

Business Case Study Examples

A case study is a specific challenge a business has faced, and the solution they've chosen to solve it. Case studies can vary greatly in length and focus on several details related to the initial challenge and applied solution, and can be presented in various forms like a video, white paper, blog post, etc.

In professional settings, it's common for a case study to tell the story of a successful business partnership between a vendor and a client. Perhaps the success you're highlighting is in the number of leads your client generated, customers closed, or revenue gained. Any one of these key performance indicators (KPIs) are examples of your company's services in action.

When done correctly, these examples of your work can chronicle the positive impact your business has on existing or previous customers and help you attract new clients.

Free Case Study Templates

Showcase your company's success using these three free case study templates.

• Data-Driven Case Study Template
• Product-Specific Case Study Template
• General Case Study Template

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Why write a case study? 

I know, you’re thinking “ Okay, but why do I need to write one of these? ” The truth is that while case studies are a huge undertaking, they are powerful marketing tools that allow you to demonstrate the value of your product to potential customers using real-world examples. Here are a few reasons why you should write case studies. 

1. Explain Complex Topics or Concepts

Case studies give you the space to break down complex concepts, ideas, and strategies and show how they can be applied in a practical way. You can use real-world examples, like an existing client, and use their story to create a compelling narrative that shows how your product solved their issue and how those strategies can be repeated to help other customers get similar successful results.  

2. Show Expertise

Case studies are a great way to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise on a given topic or industry. This is where you get the opportunity to show off your problem-solving skills and how you’ve generated successful outcomes for clients you’ve worked with. 

3. Build Trust and Credibility

In addition to showing off the attributes above, case studies are an excellent way to build credibility. They’re often filled with data and thoroughly researched, which shows readers you’ve done your homework. They can have confidence in the solutions you’ve presented because they’ve read through as you’ve explained the problem and outlined step-by-step what it took to solve it. All of these elements working together enable you to build trust with potential customers.

4. Create Social Proof

Using existing clients that have seen success working with your brand builds social proof . People are more likely to choose your brand if they know that others have found success working with you. Case studies do just that — putting your success on display for potential customers to see. 

All of these attributes work together to help you gain more clients. Plus you can even use quotes from customers featured in these studies and repurpose them in other marketing content. Now that you know more about the benefits of producing a case study, let’s check out how long these documents should be. 

How long should a case study be?

The length of a case study will vary depending on the complexity of the project or topic discussed. However, as a general guideline, case studies typically range from 500 to 1,500 words. 

Whatever length you choose, it should provide a clear understanding of the challenge, the solution you implemented, and the results achieved. This may be easier said than done, but it's important to strike a balance between providing enough detail to make the case study informative and concise enough to keep the reader's interest.

The primary goal here is to effectively communicate the key points and takeaways of the case study. It’s worth noting that this shouldn’t be a wall of text. Use headings, subheadings, bullet points, charts, and other graphics to break up the content and make it more scannable for readers. We’ve also seen brands incorporate video elements into case studies listed on their site for a more engaging experience. 

Ultimately, the length of your case study should be determined by the amount of information necessary to convey the story and its impact without becoming too long. Next, let’s look at some templates to take the guesswork out of creating one. 

To help you arm your prospects with information they can trust, we've put together a step-by-step guide on how to create effective case studies for your business with free case study templates for creating your own.

Tell us a little about yourself below to gain access today:

And to give you more options, we’ll highlight some useful templates that serve different needs. But remember, there are endless possibilities when it comes to demonstrating the work your business has done.

1. General Case Study Template

Do you have a specific product or service that you’re trying to sell, but not enough reviews or success stories? This Product Specific case study template will help.

This template relies less on metrics, and more on highlighting the customer’s experience and satisfaction. As you follow the template instructions, you’ll be prompted to speak more about the benefits of the specific product, rather than your team’s process for working with the customer.

4. Bold Social Media Business Case Study Template

You can find templates that represent different niches, industries, or strategies that your business has found success in — like a bold social media business case study template.

In this template, you can tell the story of how your social media marketing strategy has helped you or your client through collaboration or sale of your service. Customize it to reflect the different marketing channels used in your business and show off how well your business has been able to boost traffic, engagement, follows, and more.

5. Lead Generation Business Case Study Template

It’s important to note that not every case study has to be the product of a sale or customer story, sometimes they can be informative lessons that your own business has experienced. A great example of this is the Lead Generation Business case study template.

If you’re looking to share operational successes regarding how your team has improved processes or content, you should include the stories of different team members involved, how the solution was found, and how it has made a difference in the work your business does.

Now that we’ve discussed different templates and ideas for how to use them, let’s break down how to create your own case study with one.

• Get started with case study templates.
• Determine the case study's objective.
• Establish a case study medium.
• Find the right case study candidate.
• Contact your candidate for permission to write about them.
• Ensure you have all the resources you need to proceed once you get a response.
• Download a case study email template.
• Define the process you want to follow with the client.
• Ensure you're asking the right questions.
• Layout your case study format.
• Publish and promote your case study.

1. Get started with case study templates.

Telling your customer's story is a delicate process — you need to highlight their success while naturally incorporating your business into their story.

If you're just getting started with case studies, we recommend you download HubSpot's Case Study Templates we mentioned before to kickstart the process.

2. Determine the case study's objective.

All business case studies are designed to demonstrate the value of your services, but they can focus on several different client objectives.

Your first step when writing a case study is to determine the objective or goal of the subject you're featuring. In other words, what will the client have succeeded in doing by the end of the piece?

The client objective you focus on will depend on what you want to prove to your future customers as a result of publishing this case study.

Your case study can focus on one of the following client objectives:

• Complying with government regulation
• Lowering business costs
• Becoming profitable
• Generating more leads
• Closing on more customers
• Generating more revenue
• Expanding into a new market
• Becoming more sustainable or energy-efficient

3. Establish a case study medium.

Next, you'll determine the medium in which you'll create the case study. In other words, how will you tell this story?

Case studies don't have to be simple, written one-pagers. Using different media in your case study can allow you to promote your final piece on different channels. For example, while a written case study might just live on your website and get featured in a Facebook post, you can post an infographic case study on Pinterest and a video case study on your YouTube channel.

Here are some different case study mediums to consider:

Written Case Study

Consider writing this case study in the form of an ebook and converting it to a downloadable PDF. Then, gate the PDF behind a landing page and form for readers to fill out before downloading the piece, allowing this case study to generate leads for your business.

Video Case Study

Plan on meeting with the client and shooting an interview. Seeing the subject, in person, talk about the service you provided them can go a long way in the eyes of your potential customers.

Infographic Case Study

Use the long, vertical format of an infographic to tell your success story from top to bottom. As you progress down the infographic, emphasize major KPIs using bigger text and charts that show the successes your client has had since working with you.

Podcast Case Study

Podcasts are a platform for you to have a candid conversation with your client. This type of case study can sound more real and human to your audience — they'll know the partnership between you and your client was a genuine success.

4. Find the right case study candidate.

Writing about your previous projects requires more than picking a client and telling a story. You need permission, quotes, and a plan. To start, here are a few things to look for in potential candidates.

Product Knowledge

It helps to select a customer who's well-versed in the logistics of your product or service. That way, he or she can better speak to the value of what you offer in a way that makes sense for future customers.

Remarkable Results

Clients that have seen the best results are going to make the strongest case studies. If their own businesses have seen an exemplary ROI from your product or service, they're more likely to convey the enthusiasm that you want prospects to feel, too.

One part of this step is to choose clients who have experienced unexpected success from your product or service. When you've provided non-traditional customers — in industries that you don't usually work with, for example — with positive results, it can help to remove doubts from prospects.

Recognizable Names

While small companies can have powerful stories, bigger or more notable brands tend to lend credibility to your own. In fact, 89% of consumers say they'll buy from a brand they already recognize over a competitor, especially if they already follow them on social media.

Customers that came to you after working with a competitor help highlight your competitive advantage and might even sway decisions in your favor.

5. Contact your candidate for permission to write about them.

To get the case study candidate involved, you have to set the stage for clear and open communication. That means outlining expectations and a timeline right away — not having those is one of the biggest culprits in delayed case study creation.

Most importantly at this point, however, is getting your subject's approval. When first reaching out to your case study candidate, provide them with the case study's objective and format — both of which you will have come up with in the first two steps above.

To get this initial permission from your subject, put yourself in their shoes — what would they want out of this case study? Although you're writing this for your own company's benefit, your subject is far more interested in the benefit it has for them.

Benefits to Offer Your Case Study Candidate

Here are four potential benefits you can promise your case study candidate to gain their approval.

Brand Exposure

Explain to your subject to whom this case study will be exposed, and how this exposure can help increase their brand awareness both in and beyond their own industry. In the B2B sector, brand awareness can be hard to collect outside one's own market, making case studies particularly useful to a client looking to expand their name's reach.

Employee Exposure

Allow your subject to provide quotes with credits back to specific employees. When this is an option for them, their brand isn't the only thing expanding its reach — their employees can get their name out there, too. This presents your subject with networking and career development opportunities they might not have otherwise.

Product Discount

This is a more tangible incentive you can offer your case study candidate, especially if they're a current customer of yours. If they agree to be your subject, offer them a product discount — or a free trial of another product — as a thank-you for their help creating your case study.

Backlinks and Website Traffic

Here's a benefit that is sure to resonate with your subject's marketing team: If you publish your case study on your website, and your study links back to your subject's website — known as a "backlink" — this small gesture can give them website traffic from visitors who click through to your subject's website.

Additionally, a backlink from you increases your subject's page authority in the eyes of Google. This helps them rank more highly in search engine results and collect traffic from readers who are already looking for information about their industry.

6. Ensure you have all the resources you need to proceed once you get a response.

So you know what you’re going to offer your candidate, it’s time that you prepare the resources needed for if and when they agree to participate, like a case study release form and success story letter.

Let's break those two down.

Case Study Release Form

This document can vary, depending on factors like the size of your business, the nature of your work, and what you intend to do with the case studies once they are completed. That said, you should typically aim to include the following in the Case Study Release Form:

• A clear explanation of why you are creating this case study and how it will be used.
• A statement defining the information and potentially trademarked information you expect to include about the company — things like names, logos, job titles, and pictures.
• An explanation of what you expect from the participant, beyond the completion of the case study. For example, is this customer willing to act as a reference or share feedback, and do you have permission to pass contact information along for these purposes?
• A note about compensation.

Success Story Letter

As noted in the sample email, this document serves as an outline for the entire case study process. Other than a brief explanation of how the customer will benefit from case study participation, you'll want to be sure to define the following steps in the Success Story Letter.

7. Download a case study email template.

While you gathered your resources, your candidate has gotten time to read over the proposal. When your candidate approves of your case study, it's time to send them a release form.

A case study release form tells you what you'll need from your chosen subject, like permission to use any brand names and share the project information publicly. Kick-off this process with an email that runs through exactly what they can expect from you, as well as what you need from them. To give you an idea of what that might look like, check out this sample email:

8. Define the process you want to follow with the client.

Before you can begin the case study, you have to have a clear outline of the case study process with your client. An example of an effective outline would include the following information.

The Acceptance

First, you'll need to receive internal approval from the company's marketing team. Once approved, the Release Form should be signed and returned to you. It's also a good time to determine a timeline that meets the needs and capabilities of both teams.

The Questionnaire

To ensure that you have a productive interview — which is one of the best ways to collect information for the case study — you'll want to ask the participant to complete a questionnaire before this conversation. That will provide your team with the necessary foundation to organize the interview, and get the most out of it.

The Interview

Once the questionnaire is completed, someone on your team should reach out to the participant to schedule a 30- to 60-minute interview, which should include a series of custom questions related to the customer's experience with your product or service.

The Draft Review

After the case study is composed, you'll want to send a draft to the customer, allowing an opportunity to give you feedback and edits.

The Final Approval

Once any necessary edits are completed, send a revised copy of the case study to the customer for final approval.

Once the case study goes live — on your website or elsewhere — it's best to contact the customer with a link to the page where the case study lives. Don't be afraid to ask your participants to share these links with their own networks, as it not only demonstrates your ability to deliver positive results and impressive growth, as well.

9. Ensure you're asking the right questions.

Before you execute the questionnaire and actual interview, make sure you're setting yourself up for success. A strong case study results from being prepared to ask the right questions. What do those look like? Here are a few examples to get you started:

• What are your goals?
• What challenges were you experiencing before purchasing our product or service?
• What made our product or service stand out against our competitors?
• What did your decision-making process look like?
• How have you benefited from using our product or service? (Where applicable, always ask for data.)

Keep in mind that the questionnaire is designed to help you gain insights into what sort of strong, success-focused questions to ask during the actual interview. And once you get to that stage, we recommend that you follow the "Golden Rule of Interviewing." Sounds fancy, right? It's actually quite simple — ask open-ended questions.

If you're looking to craft a compelling story, "yes" or "no" answers won't provide the details you need. Focus on questions that invite elaboration, such as, "Can you describe ...?" or, "Tell me about ..."

In terms of the interview structure, we recommend categorizing the questions and flowing them into six specific sections that will mirror a successful case study format. Combined, they'll allow you to gather enough information to put together a rich, comprehensive study.

Open with the customer's business.

The goal of this section is to generate a better understanding of the company's current challenges and goals, and how they fit into the landscape of their industry. Sample questions might include:

• How long have you been in business?
• How many employees do you have?
• What are some of the objectives of your department at this time?

Cite a problem or pain point.

To tell a compelling story, you need context. That helps match the customer's need with your solution. Sample questions might include:

• What challenges and objectives led you to look for a solution?
• What might have happened if you did not identify a solution?
• Did you explore other solutions before this that did not work out? If so, what happened?

Discuss the decision process.

Exploring how the customer decided to work with you helps to guide potential customers through their own decision-making processes. Sample questions might include:

• How did you hear about our product or service?
• Who was involved in the selection process?
• What was most important to you when evaluating your options?

Explain how a solution was implemented.

The focus here should be placed on the customer's experience during the onboarding process. Sample questions might include:

• How long did it take to get up and running?
• Did that meet your expectations?
• Who was involved in the process?

Explain how the solution works.

The goal of this section is to better understand how the customer is using your product or service. Sample questions might include:

• Is there a particular aspect of the product or service that you rely on most?
• Who is using the product or service?

End with the results.

In this section, you want to uncover impressive measurable outcomes — the more numbers, the better. Sample questions might include:

• How is the product or service helping you save time and increase productivity?
• In what ways does that enhance your competitive advantage?
• How much have you increased metrics X, Y, and Z?

10. Lay out your case study format.

When it comes time to take all of the information you've collected and actually turn it into something, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Where should you start? What should you include? What's the best way to structure it?

To help you get a handle on this step, it's important to first understand that there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to the ways you can present a case study. They can be very visual, which you'll see in some of the examples we've included below, and can sometimes be communicated mostly through video or photos, with a bit of accompanying text.

Here are the sections we suggest, which we'll cover in more detail down below:

• Title: Keep it short. Develop a succinct but interesting project name you can give the work you did with your subject.
• Subtitle: Use this copy to briefly elaborate on the accomplishment. What was done? The case study itself will explain how you got there.
• Executive Summary : A 2-4 sentence summary of the entire story. You'll want to follow it with 2-3 bullet points that display metrics showcasing success.
• About the Subject: An introduction to the person or company you served, which can be pulled from a LinkedIn Business profile or client website.
• Challenges and Objectives: A 2-3 paragraph description of the customer's challenges, before using your product or service. This section should also include the goals or objectives the customer set out to achieve.
• How Product/Service Helped: A 2-3 paragraph section that describes how your product or service provided a solution to their problem.
• Results: A 2-3 paragraph testimonial that proves how your product or service specifically benefited the person or company and helped achieve its goals. Include numbers to quantify your contributions.
• Supporting Visuals or Quotes: Pick one or two powerful quotes that you would feature at the bottom of the sections above, as well as a visual that supports the story you are telling.
• Future Plans: Everyone likes an epilogue. Comment on what's ahead for your case study subject, whether or not those plans involve you.
• Call to Action (CTA): Not every case study needs a CTA, but putting a passive one at the end of your case study can encourage your readers to take an action on your website after learning about the work you've done.

When laying out your case study, focus on conveying the information you've gathered in the most clear and concise way possible. Make it easy to scan and comprehend, and be sure to provide an attractive call-to-action at the bottom — that should provide readers an opportunity to learn more about your product or service.

11. Publish and promote your case study.

Once you've completed your case study, it's time to publish and promote it. Some case study formats have pretty obvious promotional outlets — a video case study can go on YouTube, just as an infographic case study can go on Pinterest.

But there are still other ways to publish and promote your case study. Here are a couple of ideas:

Lead Gen in a Blog Post

As stated earlier in this article, written case studies make terrific lead-generators if you convert them into a downloadable format, like a PDF. To generate leads from your case study, consider writing a blog post that tells an abbreviated story of your client's success and asking readers to fill out a form with their name and email address if they'd like to read the rest in your PDF.

Then, promote this blog post on social media, through a Facebook post or a tweet.

Published as a Page on Your Website

As a growing business, you might need to display your case study out in the open to gain the trust of your target audience.

Rather than gating it behind a landing page, publish your case study to its own page on your website, and direct people here from your homepage with a "Case Studies" or "Testimonials" button along your homepage's top navigation bar.

Format for a Case Study

The traditional case study format includes the following parts: a title and subtitle, a client profile, a summary of the customer’s challenges and objectives, an account of how your solution helped, and a description of the results. You might also want to include supporting visuals and quotes, future plans, and calls-to-action.

Image Source

The title is one of the most important parts of your case study. It should draw readers in while succinctly describing the potential benefits of working with your company. To that end, your title should:

• State the name of your custome r. Right away, the reader must learn which company used your products and services. This is especially important if your customer has a recognizable brand. If you work with individuals and not companies, you may omit the name and go with professional titles: “A Marketer…”, “A CFO…”, and so forth.
• State which product your customer used . Even if you only offer one product or service, or if your company name is the same as your product name, you should still include the name of your solution. That way, readers who are not familiar with your business can become aware of what you sell.
• Allude to the results achieved . You don’t necessarily need to provide hard numbers, but the title needs to represent the benefits, quickly. That way, if a reader doesn’t stay to read, they can walk away with the most essential information: Your product works.

The example above, “Crunch Fitness Increases Leads and Signups With HubSpot,” achieves all three — without being wordy. Keeping your title short and sweet is also essential.

2. Subtitle

Your subtitle is another essential part of your case study — don’t skip it, even if you think you’ve done the work with the title. In this section, include a brief summary of the challenges your customer was facing before they began to use your products and services. Then, drive the point home by reiterating the benefits your customer experienced by working with you.

The above example reads:

“Crunch Fitness was franchising rapidly when COVID-19 forced fitness clubs around the world to close their doors. But the company stayed agile by using HubSpot to increase leads and free trial signups.”

We like that the case study team expressed the urgency of the problem — opening more locations in the midst of a pandemic — and placed the focus on the customer’s ability to stay agile.

3. Executive Summary

The executive summary should provide a snapshot of your customer, their challenges, and the benefits they enjoyed from working with you. Think it’s too much? Think again — the purpose of the case study is to emphasize, again and again, how well your product works.

The good news is that depending on your design, the executive summary can be mixed with the subtitle or with the “About the Company” section. Many times, this section doesn’t need an explicit “Executive Summary” subheading. You do need, however, to provide a convenient snapshot for readers to scan.

In the above example, ADP included information about its customer in a scannable bullet-point format, then provided two sections: “Business Challenge” and “How ADP Helped.” We love how simple and easy the format is to follow for those who are unfamiliar with ADP or its typical customer.

4. About the Company

Readers need to know and understand who your customer is. This is important for several reasons: It helps your reader potentially relate to your customer, it defines your ideal client profile (which is essential to deter poor-fit prospects who might have reached out without knowing they were a poor fit), and it gives your customer an indirect boon by subtly promoting their products and services.

Feel free to keep this section as simple as possible. You can simply copy and paste information from the company’s LinkedIn, use a quote directly from your customer, or take a more creative storytelling approach.

In the above example, HubSpot included one paragraph of description for Crunch Fitness and a few bullet points. Below, ADP tells the story of its customer using an engaging, personable technique that effectively draws readers in.

5. Challenges and Objectives

The challenges and objectives section of your case study is the place to lay out, in detail, the difficulties your customer faced prior to working with you — and what they hoped to achieve when they enlisted your help.

In this section, you can be as brief or as descriptive as you’d like, but remember: Stress the urgency of the situation. Don’t understate how much your customer needed your solution (but don’t exaggerate and lie, either). Provide contextual information as necessary. For instance, the pandemic and societal factors may have contributed to the urgency of the need.

Take the above example from design consultancy IDEO:

“Educational opportunities for adults have become difficult to access in the United States, just when they’re needed most. To counter this trend, IDEO helped the city of South Bend and the Drucker Institute launch Bendable, a community-powered platform that connects people with opportunities to learn with and from each other.”

We love how IDEO mentions the difficulties the United States faces at large, the efforts its customer is taking to address these issues, and the steps IDEO took to help.

6. How Product/Service Helped

This is where you get your product or service to shine. Cover the specific benefits that your customer enjoyed and the features they gleaned the most use out of. You can also go into detail about how you worked with and for your customer. Maybe you met several times before choosing the right solution, or you consulted with external agencies to create the best package for them.

Whatever the case may be, try to illustrate how easy and pain-free it is to work with the representatives at your company. After all, potential customers aren’t looking to just purchase a product. They’re looking for a dependable provider that will strive to exceed their expectations.

In the above example, IDEO describes how it partnered with research institutes and spoke with learners to create Bendable, a free educational platform. We love how it shows its proactivity and thoroughness. It makes potential customers feel that IDEO might do something similar for them.

The results are essential, and the best part is that you don’t need to write the entirety of the case study before sharing them. Like HubSpot, IDEO, and ADP, you can include the results right below the subtitle or executive summary. Use data and numbers to substantiate the success of your efforts, but if you don’t have numbers, you can provide quotes from your customers.

We can’t overstate the importance of the results. In fact, if you wanted to create a short case study, you could include your title, challenge, solution (how your product helped), and result.

8. Supporting Visuals or Quotes

Let your customer speak for themselves by including quotes from the representatives who directly interfaced with your company.

Visuals can also help, even if they’re stock images. On one side, they can help you convey your customer’s industry, and on the other, they can indirectly convey your successes. For instance, a picture of a happy professional — even if they’re not your customer — will communicate that your product can lead to a happy client.

In this example from IDEO, we see a man standing in a boat. IDEO’s customer is neither the man pictured nor the manufacturer of the boat, but rather Conservation International, an environmental organization. This imagery provides a visually pleasing pattern interrupt to the page, while still conveying what the case study is about.

9. Future Plans

This is optional, but including future plans can help you close on a more positive, personable note than if you were to simply include a quote or the results. In this space, you can show that your product will remain in your customer’s tech stack for years to come, or that your services will continue to be instrumental to your customer’s success.

Alternatively, if you work only on time-bound projects, you can allude to the positive impact your customer will continue to see, even after years of the end of the contract.

10. Call to Action (CTA)

Not every case study needs a CTA, but we’d still encourage it. Putting one at the end of your case study will encourage your readers to take an action on your website after learning about the work you've done.

It will also make it easier for them to reach out, if they’re ready to start immediately. You don’t want to lose business just because they have to scroll all the way back up to reach out to your team.

To help you visualize this case study outline, check out the case study template below, which can also be downloaded here .

You drove the results, made the connection, set the expectations, used the questionnaire to conduct a successful interview, and boiled down your findings into a compelling story. And after all of that, you're left with a little piece of sales enabling gold — a case study.

To show you what a well-executed final product looks like, have a look at some of these marketing case study examples.

1. "Shopify Uses HubSpot CRM to Transform High Volume Sales Organization," by HubSpot

What's interesting about this case study is the way it leads with the customer. This reflects a major HubSpot value, which is to always solve for the customer first. The copy leads with a brief description of why Shopify uses HubSpot and is accompanied by a short video and some basic statistics on the company.

Notice that this case study uses mixed media. Yes, there is a short video, but it's elaborated upon in the additional text on the page. So, while case studies can use one or the other, don't be afraid to combine written copy with visuals to emphasize the project's success.

2. "New England Journal of Medicine," by Corey McPherson Nash

When branding and design studio Corey McPherson Nash showcases its work, it makes sense for it to be visual — after all, that's what they do. So in building the case study for the studio's work on the New England Journal of Medicine's integrated advertising campaign — a project that included the goal of promoting the client's digital presence — Corey McPherson Nash showed its audience what it did, rather than purely telling it.

Notice that the case study does include some light written copy — which includes the major points we've suggested — but lets the visuals do the talking, allowing users to really absorb the studio's services.

3. "Designing the Future of Urban Farming," by IDEO

Here's a design company that knows how to lead with simplicity in its case studies. As soon as the visitor arrives at the page, he or she is greeted with a big, bold photo, and two very simple columns of text — "The Challenge" and "The Outcome."

Immediately, IDEO has communicated two of the case study's major pillars. And while that's great — the company created a solution for vertical farming startup INFARM's challenge — it doesn't stop there. As the user scrolls down, those pillars are elaborated upon with comprehensive (but not overwhelming) copy that outlines what that process looked like, replete with quotes and additional visuals.

4. "Secure Wi-Fi Wins Big for Tournament," by WatchGuard

Then, there are the cases when visuals can tell almost the entire story — when executed correctly. Network security provider WatchGuard can do that through this video, which tells the story of how its services enhanced the attendee and vendor experience at the Windmill Ultimate Frisbee tournament.

5. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Boosts Social Media Engagement and Brand Awareness with HubSpot

In the case study above , HubSpot uses photos, videos, screenshots, and helpful stats to tell the story of how the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame used the bot, CRM, and social media tools to gain brand awareness.

6. Small Desk Plant Business Ups Sales by 30% With Trello

This case study from Trello is straightforward and easy to understand. It begins by explaining the background of the company that decided to use it, what its goals were, and how it planned to use Trello to help them.

It then goes on to discuss how the software was implemented and what tasks and teams benefited from it. Towards the end, it explains the sales results that came from implementing the software and includes quotes from decision-makers at the company that implemented it.

7. Facebook's Mercedes Benz Success Story

Facebook's Success Stories page hosts a number of well-designed and easy-to-understand case studies that visually and editorially get to the bottom line quickly.

Each study begins with key stats that draw the reader in. Then it's organized by highlighting a problem or goal in the introduction, the process the company took to reach its goals, and the results. Then, in the end, Facebook notes the tools used in the case study.

Showcasing Your Work

You work hard at what you do. Now, it's time to show it to the world — and, perhaps more important, to potential customers. Before you show off the projects that make you the proudest, we hope you follow these important steps that will help you effectively communicate that work and leave all parties feeling good about it.

Editor's Note: This blog post was originally published in February 2017 but was updated for comprehensiveness and freshness in July 2021.

Don't forget to share this post!

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Partner Center

5 inspiring web design case studies

A good case study makes for a top calling card; check out these examples.

The reality of web design is that once you've finished a project, you hopefully move straight onto the next one. However, every site you deliver is an essential portfolio piece that demonstrates your skills and abilities, and while you'll usually want to link to your recent work on your site, it pays to do the job properly.

Rather than simply grabbing a screenshot of a landing page and a link and adding it to your online portfolio, writing up an engaging case study on your work can be a lot more worthwhile. Case studies don't need to be lengthy essays; they just need to give readers a taste of your process and provide some insight into the challenges you've faced over the course of a web build and how you solved them. 

They're a great way to let potential clients know how you work, and they can also provide inspiration for other designers and developers; here are five of our favourite recent examples. Make sure you also check out our top web design tips .

• How to write engaging case studies for your portfolio

01. Museum of Science and Industry of Chicago

For a really inspiring case study, it's hard to beat DogStudio's extensive piece chronicling its work for the Museum of Science and Industry of Chicago. The museum is a vast and highly respected American institution, and you can't help but get the impression that DogStudio was punching well above its weight when it won the commission to rethink and revamp its web platform, but as this case study reveals, it carried the job off with aplomb.

Packed with revealing wireframes, imagery and animations, it's a fascinating insight into a massive and challenging build that had to cater for more than five million online visitors wanting to do everything from buy tickets through to figuring out where to park and finding information about individual exhibits. 

02. National Geographic: A Bear's-Eye View of Yellowstone

Sometimes it's better to show rather than tell. For this captivating look at Yellowstone National Park as seen by four bears fitted with camera collars and GPS, Hello Monday had a wealth of footage, data and expert analysis to work with. And rather than go into dry details of how it fitted everything together, it keeps things brief in its case study , providing a short outline of the project and deliverables before moving on to an entirely visual essay that demonstrates just how much work went into creating this digital feature.

As well as a good helping of footage and screenshots showcasing what the site's all about, what we really love about this study is a section dedicated to how Hello Monday stamped its own personality on the project, breathing extra life into the feature with animation, watercolour illustrations and pencil-drawn portraits of each bear.

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03. Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood

Currently doing big business at the box office, Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood is a love letter to 1960's cinema that recreates its era with Tarantino's typical attention to detail. And to create an online presence that captured the feel of 1969 Hollywood as well as the film, LA agency Watson went the extra mile to create a digital magazine that feels like it could have come off a newsstand 50 years ago.

In this case study the Watson team explain not only the thinking behind the magazine and its pitch-perfect adverts, but also how they create a physical print run of the mag that got handed out at the premiere and first-night screenings, creating a whole other social buzz as movie fans posted shots of their magazine to prove that they were there. If you're looking for ideas on how to run a strong social campaign, there's some great material here. 

04. British Red Cross

Kota's case study on its recent work with the British Red Cross is a clear and concise piece that provides valuable insight on the challenges – and opportunities – of working on a campaign with an institution with clear-cut brand guidelines that need to be adhered to. In the case of the British Red Cross's OneKindThing campaign, Kota had to create a platform that stood out from previous campaigns while staying within the society's pretty epic brand guidelines.

With a handful of images and a couple of paragraphs, Kota outlines how it managed just that, and also covers some of the technical hurdles that had to be overcome to deliver the finished site. The end result was well worth the effort, as the British Red Cross testimonial at the end of the case study reveals.

05. Stonewall Forever

To mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, an event that helped bring about the Pride movement, Stink Digital partnered with The LGBT Community Center to create Stonewall Forever, an immersive digital experience that features key narratives and previously unheard stories from LGBTQ+ history. 

Stink Digital's case study explains how it built a living monument to 50 years of Pride, based in Christopher Park, New York, but accessible anywhere through a website or AR app, and goes into some detail of the challenges of creating a WebGL monument that consists of over 10,000 individual shards with post-processing effects, but still runs at 60fps, even on low-end devices. 

Beyond the technical challenges, though, this is an absorbing and insightful piece on a project that explores life before, during and after the Stonewall Riots.

Related articles:

• The hottest web design trends of 2019
• How to refine your design portfolio
• Get the perfect website layout in 27 steps

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Jim McCauley is a writer, performer and cat-wrangler who started writing professionally way back in 1995 on PC Format magazine, and has been covering technology-related subjects ever since, whether it's hardware, software or videogames. A chance call in 2005 led to Jim taking charge of Computer Arts' website and developing an interest in the world of graphic design, and eventually led to a move over to the freshly-launched Creative Bloq in 2012. Jim now works as a freelance writer for sites including Creative Bloq, T3 and PetsRadar, specialising in design, technology, wellness and cats, while doing the occasional pantomime and street performance in Bath and designing posters for a local drama group on the side.

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Case studies

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Free Online Case Study Generator

Captivate your clients by highlighting your company's solutions, and get valuable insights to improve your business strategy with Venngage's case study templates.

Create a case study report that looks compelling and converts leads without any design experience. Showcase real success stories and challenges that your products and services helped to solve. Join over 40,000 businesses in using Venngage as a marketing solution.

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Create your own case studies to share compelling success stories. Showcase products, strategies, and tactics that had made your clients grow. You don't need any design experience! All of our case study template designs are created in-house by professional designers.

You don't need to be a designer to create a professional-looking case study infographic, or in-depth, multi-page reports. Pick from our library of easy-to-edit case study templates.

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What's an example of a case study?

Case studies, in business and marketing, are stories of success achieved through a product or service. The product can even be a strategy or framework that was pioneered by an industry thought leader. Many brands publish case studies on their website to share how their clients see tremendous value in using their products. The case study essentially chronicles the entire client journey from having a problem, to finding the solution, and the outcome of that solution.

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A Space for Creative Growth

6 Web Design Case Studies We Can Learn From

Convey your thought processes and skills - and show future clients who you are as a designer

• Apr 11, 2019

We all know the importance of having a good online design portfolio. It’s your opportunity to show off your masterpieces to the world, while having full control over all aspects, from the layout, to animations, navigation and more. This way, you can have an impact on the way your work is perceived and experienced by potential clients or employers.

That’s all very well, but when it comes to web design projects, why not simply add a link to the website itself and let your visitors browse freely over there? Sure – you should link to any websites you’ve designed, but there are many ways to effectively showcase your web design projects on your portfolio.

Creating a case study that explains your work process and final results can elevate your projects to a whole other level. It can help your site visitors gain a better understanding of who you are, the way you work, your decision-making processes and more. Just like any other design project, a case study should tell a story. It should take your site visitors on a journey through your process, from color palette choices, to icons created specifically for the project, ‘before and after’ pics and more.

We’ve gathered six designers who have chosen diverse ways to expertly showcase their web design projects on their Wix portfolios. Dive in for some inspiration:

1. Brown Owl Creative for Creative House Group

> Showcasing custom-made icons and full-length screenshots

Multidisciplinary design company, Brown Owl Creative, chose to place a fullscreen gif on the top fold of this project page, instantly setting the tone. Directly beneath, a brief sentence introduces the client they were working with, plus the discipline involved and a link to the final result: the website itself. A generous use of white space helps put the focus on the text.

Scrolling down, you’ll find full-length screenshots of their website design, with a simple non-obtrusive gray border. They’ve also chosen to display a section of the client’s website on a laptop, offering an alternative perspective. Another nice touch is the emphasis they’ve put on three animated icons that are featured on the final site. And let’s not forget some basic UX principles they’ve taken care of: a ‘Back to top’ button and a ‘Next project’ button to ensure fluid navigation.

2. Miki Twersky for Nosta Fragrances

> Merging video screenshots with atmospheric photos

There are many subtle additions to NYC-based designer Miki Twersky’s portfolio that make it such a success. The comic footer, delightfully honest ‘ About ’ page and spacious layout make for a browsing experience that is both smooth and entertaining.

It comes as no surprise that her inner project pages are crafted with just as much care and attention to detail. This web design case study starts with a mood-setting image, followed by a brief explanation of the brand and some additional basic details, such as the date, her roles within the project and any other contributors. A slider invites you to scroll through to view the various stages involved in the logo design process.

Further down, Miki has seamlessly integrated video screenshots of the website, enabling her to choose which aspects of her design to put a spotlight on. The page ends with a few product photos that help strengthen the look-and-feel and tie everything together, while presenting more of her branding work.

3. Adelaide Wang for Humm.ly

> Thorough case study incorporating texts, images and videos

San Francisco-based product designer, Adelaide Wang, definitely knows the ins and outs of creating an intriguing and comprehensive case study. Having worked on many aspects of this project for Humm.ly , a music healthcare platform and app, she was able to share her and her team’s full work process.

The long-scrolling page takes you on a journey through some of the major stages of any design project. It starts by presenting their search for a defined visual identity. It then moves on to the details of the app’s various screens and navigation, putting an emphasis on the accessibility of the website’s design . Lastly, Adelaide presents the website itself on various devices, including a video screenshot of the website on mobile.

A consistent layout is used throughout the page, with titles, subtitles and paragraph text all retaining the same style. Two alternating shades of gray make up the website’s background, creating a clear, but subtle, separation between folds, and ultimately contributing to a successful user experience.

Learn more about how to nail your website’s UX design with these professional examples.

4. Studio&more for Din7

> Presenting color choices, logo design and more

Here’s another example of a detailed web design case study, by graphic design studio, Studio&more. In this project for industrial design company, Din7, they worked on both branding and UX. As a result, they had the material necessary to cover everything from color palette and typography choices, to the development of the company’s logo design, illustration style, website and various applications of the visual identity.

Each section of the case study is numbered and presented with a succinct selection of images. They’ve also used the visual language they came up with for the brand in the background, creating a strong and clearly defined tone of voice. Lastly, the studio has picked out a few of their website design’s screens to showcase separately, drawing attention to them.

5. Ariel Sun for her wedding website

> Telling a story through text and images

NYC-based artist and designer, Ariel Sun, created this web design case study for her own wedding website. There are many ways to write copy for your design portfolio – and here, Ariel’s gone for a friendly and personal tone of voice to provide site visitors with an inviting summary of the project. She also clearly explained what she and her partner’s different roles were in the process, giving everyone the credit they deserve.

Two simple, static screenshots of the website design follow, presenting the most prominent pages of the site. These are accompanied by an illustration of the couple and an image of the wedding invitation, helping us get a feel for the vibe they were going for. All of this is presented in a highly aesthetic way, using a clean grid, plus a fixed menu at the top for comfortable navigation.

6. Liron Ashkenazi for The-Artery

> Including mobile and tablet view, process, and more

Multidisciplinary design director, Liron Ashkenazi, worked with a team of 3D artists, designers and developers to come up with the award-winning design for The-Artery ’s website. Liron’s case study of the project is made up of a selection of beautifully designed screenshot videos, short explanatory titles, the 3D model design process and accompanying text. The layout is concise, while including all the relevant details.

A thin column on the left provides us with background information on the client, The-Artery, as well as a breakdown of the various roles and the people involved. It also includes a list of links where the website has been featured.

Scrolling down the page, you see the development of the 3D animated models that appear on the final website. There’s also an image that showcases the website on three different devices. Incorporating elements from the design outside of the screenshots, makes for an intriguing visual representation of the overall project. The text above and on each image clarifies which page you’re looking at and who’s responsible for which elements, while not distracting from the design itself. Finally, Liron has included the design for a 404 page – a welcome addition, especially when it looks this good.

MORE POSTS LIKE THIS:

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May 13, 2024

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Business Case Studies

• Getting Started
• Case Analysis
• Finding Case Studies in the Library

Free Case Studies

• Buying Cases
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Many academic and business institutions develop and publish case studies. Some of these organizations provide free access to their case studies:

• Acadia Institute of Case Studies Focuses on entrepreneurship and small business operations.
• Business Case Studies by Company
• Business Ethics Case Analyses
• Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety: Workplace Health Case Studies
• Case Centre Available for a fee.
• Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Case Studies
• Give to Get Marketing. Marketing and Advertising Case Studies
• HR Open Source Case Studies
• MarketingSherpa Choose "Case Studies" as the content type in the filters.
• MaRS Search for "case study" in the top right search box.
• MERLOT Business Cases
• MIT LearningEdge Case Studies Free case studies by MIT Sloan School of Management.
• Penske. Logistics Case Studies
• Society of Human Resources Management.
• Open Case Studies Project by UBC The Open Case Studies project at UBC brings together faculty and students from different disciplines to write, edit, and learn with case studies that are free and open.
• World's Best Case Studies Short video case studies covering topics including consumer goods, services, and technology.
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Top 40 Most Popular Case Studies of 2021

Two cases about Hertz claimed top spots in 2021's Top 40 Most Popular Case Studies

Two cases on the uses of debt and equity at Hertz claimed top spots in the CRDT’s (Case Research and Development Team) 2021 top 40 review of cases.

Hertz (A) took the top spot. The case details the financial structure of the rental car company through the end of 2019. Hertz (B), which ranked third in CRDT’s list, describes the company’s struggles during the early part of the COVID pandemic and its eventual need to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 

The success of the Hertz cases was unprecedented for the top 40 list. Usually, cases take a number of years to gain popularity, but the Hertz cases claimed top spots in their first year of release. Hertz (A) also became the first ‘cooked’ case to top the annual review, as all of the other winners had been web-based ‘raw’ cases.

Besides introducing students to the complicated financing required to maintain an enormous fleet of cars, the Hertz cases also expanded the diversity of case protagonists. Kathyrn Marinello was the CEO of Hertz during this period and the CFO, Jamere Jackson is black.

Sandwiched between the two Hertz cases, Coffee 2016, a perennial best seller, finished second. “Glory, Glory, Man United!” a case about an English football team’s IPO made a surprise move to number four.  Cases on search fund boards, the future of malls,  Norway’s Sovereign Wealth fund, Prodigy Finance, the Mayo Clinic, and Cadbury rounded out the top ten.

Other year-end data for 2021 showed:

• Online “raw” case usage remained steady as compared to 2020 with over 35K users from 170 countries and all 50 U.S. states interacting with 196 cases.
• Fifty four percent of raw case users came from outside the U.S..
• The Yale School of Management (SOM) case study directory pages received over 160K page views from 177 countries with approximately a third originating in India followed by the U.S. and the Philippines.
• Twenty-six of the cases in the list are raw cases.
• A third of the cases feature a woman protagonist.
• Orders for Yale SOM case studies increased by almost 50% compared to 2020.
• The top 40 cases were supervised by 19 different Yale SOM faculty members, several supervising multiple cases.

CRDT compiled the Top 40 list by combining data from its case store, Google Analytics, and other measures of interest and adoption.

All of this year’s Top 40 cases are available for purchase from the Yale Management Media store .

And the Top 40 cases studies of 2021 are:

1.   Hertz Global Holdings (A): Uses of Debt and Equity

2.   Coffee 2016

3.   Hertz Global Holdings (B): Uses of Debt and Equity 2020

4.   Glory, Glory Man United!

5.   Search Fund Company Boards: How CEOs Can Build Boards to Help Them Thrive

6.   The Future of Malls: Was Decline Inevitable?

7.   Strategy for Norway's Pension Fund Global

8.   Prodigy Finance

9.   Design at Mayo

10. Cadbury

11. City Hospital Emergency Room

13. Volkswagen

14. Marina Bay Sands

15. Shake Shack IPO

16. Mastercard

17. Netflix

18. Ant Financial

19. AXA: Creating the New CR Metrics

20. IBM Corporate Service Corps

21. Business Leadership in South Africa's 1994 Reforms

22. Alternative Meat Industry

23. Children's Premier

24. Khalil Tawil and Umi (A)

25. Palm Oil 2016

26. Teach For All: Designing a Global Network

27. What's Next? Search Fund Entrepreneurs Reflect on Life After Exit

28. Searching for a Search Fund Structure: A Student Takes a Tour of Various Options

30. Project Sammaan

31. Commonfund ESG

32. Polaroid

33. Connecticut Green Bank 2018: After the Raid

34. FieldFresh Foods

35. The Alibaba Group

36. 360 State Street: Real Options

37. Herman Miller

38. AgBiome

39. Nathan Cummings Foundation

40. Toyota 2010

New Case Study

One simple way Apple could improve your sleep habits

Case studies

Apple sleep notification

How to avoid (and repair) these 3 critical design blunders

Design Blunders

Social Proof: Why people's behaviors affect our actions

Social Proof

Adobe: The growing issue with “Free” trials UX

Adobe Trial UX

Letterboxd: How to nail product market fit with clear Jobs‑To‑Be‑Done

Jobs-To-Be-Done

Spotify Wrapped: 6 psychology principles that make it go viral every year

Spotify Wrapped

The psychology of Temu’s casino‑like shopping UX

Temu Onboarding

GoDaddy: How to improve checkout flows ethically

GoDaddy Checkout UX

Framing Effect: Why context affects decisions

Framing effect

The psychology behind highly effective landing pages

Landing page conversion

Apple vs Meta Threads: The Illusion of Privacy

Apple privacy policy

Beehiiv subscription: 5 small UX mistakes that make a BIG difference

Newsletter subscription

The Search War: Bing AI Chat vs. Google

The Psychology Behind Loom's Explosive Growth

Loom onboarding

Episode 1: Can Bing's new AI search challenge Google? 

Bing onboarding

Typeform: How to offboard users the right way

Typeform offboarding

How to increase signup confirmation rates with Sniper Links

Email confirmation UX

Labor Perception Bias: Why faster isn't always better

Labor perception bias

Tech ethics: If cookie consent prompts were honest…

Cookie consent

Amber Alert Redesign: 5 UX Improvements That Could Save Lives

Amber alerts UX

Google: How to increase feature adoption the right way

Google feature adoption

How Linkedin Increased Notification Opt-in Rates by 500%

Linkedin notifications

The Psychology of Advertising: Why this ad made me stop scrolling

Advertising psychology

The Ugly Truth About Net Promoter Score Surveys

Net promoter surveys

The Psychology Behind Amazon's Purchase Experience

Amazon purchase UX

One Simple Psychology Framework To Improve Your Onboarding

Blinkist onboarding

How Blinkist Increased Trial Conversions by 23% (Ethically)

Trial paywall optimization

YouTube’s Attempt To Solve The Paradox of Choice

Youtube retention

Adobe: The Psychology of User Offboarding

Adobe offboarding

Signal: How To Ethically Boost Your Revenues

Signal monetization

Chrome vs Brave: How To Use Ethical Design To Win Customers

Brave onboarding

The Psychology of Clubhouse’s User Retention (...and churn)

Clubhouse retention

The Scary Future Of Instagram

Instagram monetization

The Psychology of Misinformation on Facebook

Facebook misinformation

The Psychology Behind TikTok's Addictive Feed

Tiktok feed psychology

How To Properly Apply Jobs-To-Be-Done To User Onboarding

Headspace onboarding

How To Notify Users Without Being Spammy

Lifecycle emails

User Onboarding: Is HEY Email Worth It?

Hey onboarding

7 Product Team Pitfalls You Should Avoid

Product team pitfalls

How Tinder Converts 8% Of Singles Into Customers In Less Than 15min.

Tinder monetization

Coronavirus Dashboard UX: How Design Impacts Your Perception

COVID dashboard UX

How Morning Brew Grew To 1.5 Million Subs In 5 Years

Morning Brew retention

Uber Eats: How To Ethically Use Scarcity To Increase Sales

Uber Eats retention

Airbnb: How To Reduce Churn With Personalization

Airbnb personalization

6 Ways Mario Kart Tour Triggers You Into Gambling Your Money

Mario Kart monetization

Strava: 7 Strategies To Convert More Freemium Users

Strava monetization

Tesla: How To Grow Through Word-of-Mouth

Tesla charging UX

How Hopper Perfectly Nails Permission Requests UX

Hopper onboarding

9 Ways To Boost SaaS Revenues With A Better Upgrade UX

Zapier monetization

Superhuman's Secret 1-on-1 Onboarding Revealed

Superhuman onboarding

Trello User Onboarding: 7 Tactics To Inspire You

Trello onboarding

5 Deadly Onboarding Mistakes You Should Avoid

Sleepzy onboarding

Duolingo's User Retention: 8 Tactics Tested On 300 Million Users

Duolingo retention

Calm Referral Strategy: Drive Viral Growth With Simple Rewards

Calm referrals

Spotify vs Apple: How Spotify is betting $230M on podcasts to win over Apple users (Ep. 2)

Spotify onboarding

Spotify vs Apple: How Spotify is betting $230M on podcasts to win over Apple users (Ep. 1)

Spotify vs Apple

One Page Case Study Websites

A curated collection of 47 case study websites for inspiration and references. Each review includes a full screenshot of the website design along with noteworthy features. These One Pagers are a great to show users your work in a beautiful long Single Page website, normally pitching your services and social links at the bottom.

Reject Pile

Variable fonts support in Figma

Vertigo Typeface

Pudding Studio

Green Reconstruction of Ukraine

The Steve Jobs Archive

Webflow — Build and style your site exactly how you want ✨

Meh! We’ve run out One Pagers...

There are no more pages to load

• Library Catalogue

Finding case studies

On this page, introduction, finding cases, sample cases, developing and analysing cases.

"Case studies" can mean examples from organizations provided simply to illustrate a point or descriptions of organizational situations designed to be interpreted and analyzed by a learner. The resources below provide a mix of all types of case studies.

This guide also includes some resources that will be of more use to students (e.g., the tips on finding case studies in databases) and other resources that instructors will find useful (e.g., the links to case clearinghouses).

If you don't find what you need here, don't hesitate to ask for help .

  New!  We've recently added another 600+ new cases to our Sage Business Cases resource! 

Try searching the SFU Library catalogue  and include ( case study OR case studies OR cases ) as part of your search. Check out these sample searches:

("case study" OR "case studies" OR cases) AND "organizational behavior"

("case study" OR "case studies" OR cases) AND "strategic management"

("case study" OR "case studies" OR cases) AND "project management"

Also try an Advanced Search  in which you look for case studies in the Subject field, combined with your specific need (entrepreneurship? strategy?) as a Keyword. Add case* in the Title field as well to increase your chance of getting books that contain large numbers of cases. You can also start by  searching for books that have cases in the title AND " case studies" in the subject .

In the SFU Library catalogue, try searching for theses & graduating projects by SFU Business students. Such publications often involve specific case studies. Try searching the catalogue  again, but this time combine the word theses (plural) with your topic. See these sample searches for example theses AND "electronic commerce"  // theses AND "electronic arts" .  Also, try Dissertations and Theses Abstracts and Index  for theses completed elsewhere. See our guide to Finding University Theses and Projects from Simon Fraser and Other Universities for more suggestions.

• In Business Source Complete enter your search terms, then either check off the Document Type Case study or include the Subject Case studies as part of your search.
• CBCA Fulltext Business offers similar ways of finding case studies: either choose the Document Type (click on More Search Options) Case study or include the Subject Case studies as part of your search.
• See the Sample cases area below for some specific journals focusing on business cases.

Websites & databases

Most cases sold by places such as Harvard or the Richard Ivey School of Business are not available via the library. You usually need to pay for the cases if you are not a faculty member, or if you are a faculty member and you want to assign cases in your class. If you are a student and a case has been assigned as a reading in your class, double check with your instructor to see if the case might have been pre-purchased for all members of your class.

Sage Business Cases A global and diverse collection of case studies designed to help students see theoretical business concepts put into practice. This collection is available to all SFU students, instructors, and alumni. See this blog post for further details.

Harvard Business School Cases Harvard's cases are available for direct purchase from the HBR Store .  Qualified and registered instructors  can access Harvard's Educator site to preview cases and access Teaching Notes and other supporting materials. Also see below for a discussion on how to find a small number of HBS cases in the Harvard Business Review.

The Case Centre (formerly the European Case Clearing House) "[T]he largest single source . . . of management case studies in the world. We hold and distribute all cases produced by the world's best-known management teaching establishments, as well as case studies in many languages produced by individual authors from almost every corner of the globe." Search for a case, then click on the link for an "inspection copy" (if available) and follow the links to register as a faculty member.

Richard Ivey School of Business - Cases Faculty can register to preview cases. Note that we have several books in the Ivey Casebook Series .

Cases online via the Harvard Business Review 

Try searching for Harvard Business Review in the Publication Name field in Business Source Complete, then checking the box to limit your search to the Document Type " case study."  Add in other terms to focus your search. 

Note that only a very small subset of all Harvard Business School (HBS) cases are published in the HBR.  The majority of Harvard's business cases are sold only to individuals and classes, not to libraries for use by the entire institution.

Journals that feature case studies

• Journal of Information Technology Teaching Cases : provides "suitable, contemporary case materials for teaching topics in the organisation and management of information systems and on the social consequences of information technology." Note that this is a spin-off journal from the Journal of Information Technology which used to publish such cases. 
• International Journal of Case Studies in Management : Cases from 2003-2012 available via our CBCA database.
• International Journal of Management Cases : The IJMC is the official journal of the CIRCLE Research Centre. CIRCLE (Centre for International Research Consumers, Locations and their Environments) is a virtual research group in over 70 universities.
• Allied Academies International Conference: Proceedings of the International Academy for Case Studies (IACS)
• Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies : Presents classroom teaching cases, with instructor's notes, on any subject which might be taught in a Business School.
• Business Case Journal , Journal of Critical Incidents , and Journal of Case Studies : All from the Society for Case Research
• Asian Case Research Journal : Cases on Asian companies & MNCs operating in Asia-Pacific. No access to the most recent 12 months.
• Journal of Case Research in Business & Economics

Other online sources for cases

• CaseBase & CaseBase2: Case Studies in Global Business : Covers business case studies focused on issues in emerging markets and emerging industries across the globe.
• Business Ethics Case Studies : A few cases from Business Ethics Canada - St. Mary's University
• The Case Centre (formerly the European Case Clearinghouse) offers a selection of free cases .
• Business Gateway : Case studies from Scotland on starting and running a small business.
• The Times 100 : Free business case studies on real life companies. 
• Acadia Institute of Case Studies (Acadia University): Most studies are focused on small business and entrepreneurship and include teaching notes. Some of them even include short videos. Permission is granted for educational use. Note that the AICS site appears to be currently inaccessible, so we've linked to the Web Archive version of their site as of late 2019.
• Company-specific case studies: Intended as examples of how customers have used or could use their products: IBM , Intel , and LANSA .
• Advertising Educational Foundation: Case histories : "Case histories give you an inside look at the steps advertising agencies and advertisers take to create a campaign and how effective it can be. Case histories show the preceding issue/problem, the response and the outcome. Creative is included."
• MarketLine cases in Business Source : Mostly strategic analysis cases featuring large, global companies.
• Open Case Studies : An interdisciplinary collection of cases from UBC that are licensed to allow others to revise and reuse them. Very few of the cases are explicitly categorized as "business," but many of the cases on topics such as Conservation may be useful in a business context.

  An example of case analysis that might give you a sense of what's expected/possible: 

In 1989, the journal Interfaces published an HBS case and asked its readers to submit their analyses. Those analyses were then compiled into two subsequent articles, providing a useful example of the many ways business issues could be viewed and resolved.

Initial case : Porteus, E. L. (1989). The Case Analysis Section: National Cranberry Cooperative . Interfaces, 19 (6), 29–39. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/10.1287/inte.19.6.29 (Note: this case has been revised multiple times. If it is assigned in your class, make sure you are using the most current revision, mostly likely only available via HBS.)

Analyses:  #1: Porteus, E. L. (1993). Case Analysis: Analyses of the National Cranberry Cooperative -- 1. Tactical Options . Interfaces, 23 (4), 21–39. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/10.1287/inte.23.4.21

#2: Porteus, E. L. (1993). Case Analysis: Analyses of the National Cranberry Cooperative -- 2. Environmental Changes and Implementation . Interfaces, 23 (6), 81–92. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/10.1287/inte.23.6.81

• Rotterdam School of Management: CDC Case Writing Training Material Valuable advice to aspiring case writers via a 4-part series in our Sage Business Cases database.
• Why teach with cases? : reflections on philosophy and practice (2022 ebook)
• The ultimate guide to compact cases : case research, writing, and teaching   (2022 ebook)
• Writing, Teaching, and Using Cases : A January 2014 presentation by Leyland Pitt and Michael Parent (both of SFU). Michael and Leyland led a full-day workshop with a focus on case teaching.
• The case writing workbook : a guide for faculty and students : "Designed as an individualized workshop to assist case authors to structure their writing..."
• Guide for Contributors: Tips for Writing Cases : From the publishers of our SAGE Business Cases (SBC) database. Also see the SBC's  Author Guidelines .
• Learning Effectively with Case Studies: A Conversation between a Professor and a Former MBA Student
• The case study companion : teaching, learning and writing business case studies : All angles in one recent (2021) ebook!
• The Case Writer's Toolkit :  "... to help writers visualise concepts, signpost ideas, break down complex information and apply techniques in a practical manner."
• A Brief Guide to Case Teaching : A free guide from The Case Centre
• Teaching with Cases : A Practical Guide : "... focuses on practical advice for instructors that can be easily implemented. It covers how to plan a course, how to teach it, and how to evaluate it."
• Teaching & Authoring Tools : Part of the Ivey Cases site, this page offers documents and videos to help you create your own cases, as well as lists of additional resources.
• Application of a Case Study Methodology by Winston Tellis: (The Qualitative Report, Volume 3, Number 3, September, 1997). This academic article covers the social science methodologies involved in designing, conducting and analysing a case study. It also features a detailed bibliography.
• The Art and Craft of Case Writing (3rd ed. 2012): "[A] practical, comprehensive, and multidisciplinary guide that blends an informal, workshop-style with solid theory and practice." Includes a section on video, multimedia, and Internet cases.
• Basics of Developing Case Studies : Part of the Free Management Library , this site has some basic information on how to develop a case study, as well as links to some sample cases.
• A Guide to Case Analysis : Focus is on how to analyse company cases when learning strategic management techniques. (Depending on your browser settings, you may need to right click this link and open it in a new tab or download it.)
• Case Studies: Overview  (from Cengage): Covers both analysing and writing a case study from the perspective of a business student. From the same publisher: A student's guide to analysing case studies .
• Case Analysis Guide : Developed by a publisher to support students using a Strategic Management text, but applicable in many other situations.
• Short videos on how to approach a case study by the author of the Case Study Handbook: A Student's Guide
• Videos: What is the Case Method? : from The Case Centre

Also, try the subject heading " Case method " in the SFU Library catalogue for books on using the case method in your classes. Suggested sample case method books:

• Encyclopedia of case study research ( print )
• Case study research: design and methods (4th edition, 2009; print )
• Case study research: principles and practices ( online or  print )
• Case writing for executive education: a survival guide ( print )

You might also want to try checking an index of education articles such as ERIC : start with the subject heading (or Descriptor) Case Method (Teaching Technique) .  Alternatively, try our Education Source database using Case method (Teaching) as your subject search term. 

Case Studies

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Featured Case Studies

WeightWatchers Completely Revamped their Enterprise Sales Process with HubSpot

• Consumer Services
• Increased Productivity

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• Marketing Hub
• Improve Contact Management

Boyd Switches from Pardot and Captures 82% More High Quality Leads

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Business Case Studies

• Article Databases for Case Studies
• Case Study Database

Commercial sites to purchase cases

Free case study websites.

• For Faculty: Teaching with Cases
• For Students: Writing a Case Analysis

Business & Management Librarian

Commercial cases, like those from Harvard Business School, Ivey and others:

• a copy of the case is to be purchased by/for each student in a class
• like workbooks and other consumables, may not be copied under copyright "fair use"
• the library cannot purchase or get copies on interlibrary loan (ILL)
• Webster University faculty wishing to use commercial cases should check with their College or School on the home campus or with staff at their extended campus about the procedures for student purchasing.  

Case studies used in the classroom, which we at the library call the "case study method" of educational pedagogy, usually present the case facts and, rather than provide the solution, provide alternative solutions and/or questions to lead discussion or challenge students to apply theories learned in their course. Commercial publishers often provide faculty with teaching notes and other resources to facilitate student learning.  Faculty may be required to register for an account that allows them to access the publisher's website to identify and purchase cases for classroom use.

• The Case Centre Established by European higher education institutions as a "reliable facility for sharing case materials among business teachers."
• Darden Business Publishing University of Virginia
• Harvard Business Publishing: Education Harvard also partners with business schools and universities, such as Ivey, Kellogg, Standford, Thunderbird and more, to streamline searching and distribution of their cases.
• Ivey Publishing - Ivey Business School Provides "business case studies with a global perspective."
• Stanford Graduate School of Business: Case Studies:

Some organizations offer "free" case studies and materials for idea generation. These sites provide varying degrees of teaching support. Faculty may need to register for access to teaching notes and materials.

• Case Studies | Teaching Resources Library | MIT Sloan Free case studies from MIT Sloan School of Management in categories such as accounting and finance, leadership, operations management, strategy and more.
• Ethics Cases | Markkula Center for Applied Ethics This site from Santa Clara University provides ethics cases in business, government, leadership, ESG topics, etc.
• Ethics Unwrapped Case studies, curated resources, and videos from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas, Austin.
• Knowledge at Wharton Offers free access to over 10,000 articles and podcasts and videos highlighting Wharton faculty research and analysis of current business trends.
• Merlot OER Case Studies Merlot collects Open Educational Resources. This link is a search for business case materials that may be used for free.
• SHRM Teaching Resources "SHRM is committed to empowering HR faculty with the proper tools and resources needed to create better-prepared entry level HR candidates. These case studies and learning modules are available for faculty and educator use only."
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Case Study Research Method in Psychology

Saul Mcleod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

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Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

On This Page:

Case studies are in-depth investigations of a person, group, event, or community. Typically, data is gathered from various sources using several methods (e.g., observations & interviews).

The case study research method originated in clinical medicine (the case history, i.e., the patient’s personal history). In psychology, case studies are often confined to the study of a particular individual.

The information is mainly biographical and relates to events in the individual’s past (i.e., retrospective), as well as to significant events that are currently occurring in his or her everyday life.

The case study is not a research method, but researchers select methods of data collection and analysis that will generate material suitable for case studies.

Freud (1909a, 1909b) conducted very detailed investigations into the private lives of his patients in an attempt to both understand and help them overcome their illnesses.

This makes it clear that the case study is a method that should only be used by a psychologist, therapist, or psychiatrist, i.e., someone with a professional qualification.

There is an ethical issue of competence. Only someone qualified to diagnose and treat a person can conduct a formal case study relating to atypical (i.e., abnormal) behavior or atypical development.

 Famous Case Studies

• Anna O – One of the most famous case studies, documenting psychoanalyst Josef Breuer’s treatment of “Anna O” (real name Bertha Pappenheim) for hysteria in the late 1800s using early psychoanalytic theory.
• Little Hans – A child psychoanalysis case study published by Sigmund Freud in 1909 analyzing his five-year-old patient Herbert Graf’s house phobia as related to the Oedipus complex.
• Bruce/Brenda – Gender identity case of the boy (Bruce) whose botched circumcision led psychologist John Money to advise gender reassignment and raise him as a girl (Brenda) in the 1960s.
• Genie Wiley – Linguistics/psychological development case of the victim of extreme isolation abuse who was studied in 1970s California for effects of early language deprivation on acquiring speech later in life.
• Phineas Gage – One of the most famous neuropsychology case studies analyzes personality changes in railroad worker Phineas Gage after an 1848 brain injury involving a tamping iron piercing his skull.

Clinical Case Studies

• Studying the effectiveness of psychotherapy approaches with an individual patient
• Assessing and treating mental illnesses like depression, anxiety disorders, PTSD
• Neuropsychological cases investigating brain injuries or disorders

Child Psychology Case Studies

• Studying psychological development from birth through adolescence
• Cases of learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, ADHD
• Effects of trauma, abuse, deprivation on development

Types of Case Studies

• Explanatory case studies : Used to explore causation in order to find underlying principles. Helpful for doing qualitative analysis to explain presumed causal links.
• Exploratory case studies : Used to explore situations where an intervention being evaluated has no clear set of outcomes. It helps define questions and hypotheses for future research.
• Descriptive case studies : Describe an intervention or phenomenon and the real-life context in which it occurred. It is helpful for illustrating certain topics within an evaluation.
• Multiple-case studies : Used to explore differences between cases and replicate findings across cases. Helpful for comparing and contrasting specific cases.
• Intrinsic : Used to gain a better understanding of a particular case. Helpful for capturing the complexity of a single case.
• Collective : Used to explore a general phenomenon using multiple case studies. Helpful for jointly studying a group of cases in order to inquire into the phenomenon.

Where Do You Find Data for a Case Study?

There are several places to find data for a case study. The key is to gather data from multiple sources to get a complete picture of the case and corroborate facts or findings through triangulation of evidence. Most of this information is likely qualitative (i.e., verbal description rather than measurement), but the psychologist might also collect numerical data.

1. Primary sources

• Interviews – Interviewing key people related to the case to get their perspectives and insights. The interview is an extremely effective procedure for obtaining information about an individual, and it may be used to collect comments from the person’s friends, parents, employer, workmates, and others who have a good knowledge of the person, as well as to obtain facts from the person him or herself.
• Observations – Observing behaviors, interactions, processes, etc., related to the case as they unfold in real-time.
• Documents & Records – Reviewing private documents, diaries, public records, correspondence, meeting minutes, etc., relevant to the case.

2. Secondary sources

• News/Media – News coverage of events related to the case study.
• Academic articles – Journal articles, dissertations etc. that discuss the case.
• Government reports – Official data and records related to the case context.
• Books/films – Books, documentaries or films discussing the case.

3. Archival records

Searching historical archives, museum collections and databases to find relevant documents, visual/audio records related to the case history and context.

Public archives like newspapers, organizational records, photographic collections could all include potentially relevant pieces of information to shed light on attitudes, cultural perspectives, common practices and historical contexts related to psychology.

4. Organizational records

Organizational records offer the advantage of often having large datasets collected over time that can reveal or confirm psychological insights.

Of course, privacy and ethical concerns regarding confidential data must be navigated carefully.

However, with proper protocols, organizational records can provide invaluable context and empirical depth to qualitative case studies exploring the intersection of psychology and organizations.

• Organizational/industrial psychology research : Organizational records like employee surveys, turnover/retention data, policies, incident reports etc. may provide insight into topics like job satisfaction, workplace culture and dynamics, leadership issues, employee behaviors etc.
• Clinical psychology : Therapists/hospitals may grant access to anonymized medical records to study aspects like assessments, diagnoses, treatment plans etc. This could shed light on clinical practices.
• School psychology : Studies could utilize anonymized student records like test scores, grades, disciplinary issues, and counseling referrals to study child development, learning barriers, effectiveness of support programs, and more.

How do I Write a Case Study in Psychology?

Follow specified case study guidelines provided by a journal or your psychology tutor. General components of clinical case studies include: background, symptoms, assessments, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes. Interpreting the information means the researcher decides what to include or leave out. A good case study should always clarify which information is the factual description and which is an inference or the researcher’s opinion.

1. Introduction

• Provide background on the case context and why it is of interest, presenting background information like demographics, relevant history, and presenting problem.
• Compare briefly to similar published cases if applicable. Clearly state the focus/importance of the case.

2. Case Presentation

• Describe the presenting problem in detail, including symptoms, duration,and impact on daily life.
• Include client demographics like age and gender, information about social relationships, and mental health history.
• Describe all physical, emotional, and/or sensory symptoms reported by the client.
• Use patient quotes to describe the initial complaint verbatim. Follow with full-sentence summaries of relevant history details gathered, including key components that led to a working diagnosis.
• Summarize clinical exam results, namely orthopedic/neurological tests, imaging, lab tests, etc. Note actual results rather than subjective conclusions. Provide images if clearly reproducible/anonymized.
• Clearly state the working diagnosis or clinical impression before transitioning to management.

3. Management and Outcome

• Indicate the total duration of care and number of treatments given over what timeframe. Use specific names/descriptions for any therapies/interventions applied.
• Present the results of the intervention,including any quantitative or qualitative data collected.
• For outcomes, utilize visual analog scales for pain, medication usage logs, etc., if possible. Include patient self-reports of improvement/worsening of symptoms. Note the reason for discharge/end of care.

4. Discussion

• Analyze the case, exploring contributing factors, limitations of the study, and connections to existing research.
• Analyze the effectiveness of the intervention,considering factors like participant adherence, limitations of the study, and potential alternative explanations for the results.
• Identify any questions raised in the case analysis and relate insights to established theories and current research if applicable. Avoid definitive claims about physiological explanations.
• Offer clinical implications, and suggest future research directions.

5. Additional Items

• Thank specific assistants for writing support only. No patient acknowledgments.
• References should directly support any key claims or quotes included.
• Use tables/figures/images only if substantially informative. Include permissions and legends/explanatory notes.
• Provides detailed (rich qualitative) information.
• Provides insight for further research.
• Permitting investigation of otherwise impractical (or unethical) situations.

Case studies allow a researcher to investigate a topic in far more detail than might be possible if they were trying to deal with a large number of research participants (nomothetic approach) with the aim of ‘averaging’.

Because of their in-depth, multi-sided approach, case studies often shed light on aspects of human thinking and behavior that would be unethical or impractical to study in other ways.

Research that only looks into the measurable aspects of human behavior is not likely to give us insights into the subjective dimension of experience, which is important to psychoanalytic and humanistic psychologists.

Case studies are often used in exploratory research. They can help us generate new ideas (that might be tested by other methods). They are an important way of illustrating theories and can help show how different aspects of a person’s life are related to each other.

The method is, therefore, important for psychologists who adopt a holistic point of view (i.e., humanistic psychologists ).

Limitations

• Lacking scientific rigor and providing little basis for generalization of results to the wider population.
• Researchers’ own subjective feelings may influence the case study (researcher bias).
• Difficult to replicate.
• Time-consuming and expensive.
• The volume of data, together with the time restrictions in place, impacted the depth of analysis that was possible within the available resources.

Because a case study deals with only one person/event/group, we can never be sure if the case study investigated is representative of the wider body of “similar” instances. This means the conclusions drawn from a particular case may not be transferable to other settings.

Because case studies are based on the analysis of qualitative (i.e., descriptive) data , a lot depends on the psychologist’s interpretation of the information she has acquired.

This means that there is a lot of scope for Anna O , and it could be that the subjective opinions of the psychologist intrude in the assessment of what the data means.

For example, Freud has been criticized for producing case studies in which the information was sometimes distorted to fit particular behavioral theories (e.g., Little Hans ).

This is also true of Money’s interpretation of the Bruce/Brenda case study (Diamond, 1997) when he ignored evidence that went against his theory.

Breuer, J., & Freud, S. (1895).  Studies on hysteria . Standard Edition 2: London.

Curtiss, S. (1981). Genie: The case of a modern wild child .

Diamond, M., & Sigmundson, K. (1997). Sex Reassignment at Birth: Long-term Review and Clinical Implications. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine , 151(3), 298-304

Freud, S. (1909a). Analysis of a phobia of a five year old boy. In The Pelican Freud Library (1977), Vol 8, Case Histories 1, pages 169-306

Freud, S. (1909b). Bemerkungen über einen Fall von Zwangsneurose (Der “Rattenmann”). Jb. psychoanal. psychopathol. Forsch ., I, p. 357-421; GW, VII, p. 379-463; Notes upon a case of obsessional neurosis, SE , 10: 151-318.

Harlow J. M. (1848). Passage of an iron rod through the head.  Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, 39 , 389–393.

Harlow, J. M. (1868).  Recovery from the Passage of an Iron Bar through the Head .  Publications of the Massachusetts Medical Society. 2  (3), 327-347.

Money, J., & Ehrhardt, A. A. (1972).  Man & Woman, Boy & Girl : The Differentiation and Dimorphism of Gender Identity from Conception to Maturity. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Money, J., & Tucker, P. (1975). Sexual signatures: On being a man or a woman.

Further Information

• Case Study Approach
• Case Study Method
• Enhancing the Quality of Case Studies in Health Services Research
• “We do things together” A case study of “couplehood” in dementia
• Using mixed methods for evaluating an integrative approach to cancer care: a case study

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Business school teaching case study: Unilever chief signals rethink on ESG

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Gabriela Salinas and Jeeva Somasundaram

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

In April this year, Hein Schumacher, chief executive of Unilever, announced that the company was entering a “new era for sustainability leadership”, and signalled a shift from the central priority promoted under his predecessor , Alan Jope.

While Jope saw lack of social purpose or environmental sustainability as the way to prune brands from the portfolio, Schumacher has adopted a more balanced approach between purpose and profit. He stresses that Unilever should deliver on both sustainability commitments and financial goals. This approach, which we dub “realistic sustainability”, aims to balance long- and short-term environmental goals, ambition, and delivery.

As a result, Unilever’s refreshed sustainability agenda focuses harder on fewer commitments that the company says remain “very stretching”. In practice, this entails extending deadlines for taking action as well as reducing the scale of its targets for environmental, social and governance measures.

Such backpedalling is becoming widespread — with many companies retracting their commitments to climate targets , for example. According to FactSet, a US financial data and software provider, the number of US companies in the S&P 500 index mentioning “ESG” on their earnings calls has declined sharply : from a peak of 155 in the fourth quarter 2021 to just 29 two years later. This trend towards playing down a company’s ESG efforts, from fear of greater scrutiny or of accusations of empty claims, even has a name: “greenhushing”.

Test yourself

This is the fourth in a series of monthly business school-style teaching case studies devoted to the responsible business dilemmas faced by organisations. Read the piece and FT articles suggested at the end before considering the questions raised.

About the authors: Gabriela Salinas is an adjunct professor of marketing at IE University; Jeeva Somasundaram is an assistant professor of decision sciences in operations and technology at IE University.

The series forms part of a wider collection of FT ‘instant teaching case studies ’, featured across our Business Education publications, that explore management challenges.

The change in approach is not limited to regulatory compliance and corporate reporting; it also affects consumer communications. While Jope believed that brands sold more when “guided by a purpose”, Schumacher argues that “we don’t want to force fit [purpose] on brands unnecessarily”.

His more nuanced view aligns with evidence that consumers’ responses to the sustainability and purpose communication attached to brand names depend on two key variables: the type of industry in which the brand operates; and the specific aspect of sustainability being communicated.

In terms of the sustainability message, research in the Journal of Business Ethics found consumers can be less interested when product functionality is key. Furthermore, a UK survey in 2022 found that about 15 per cent of consumers believed brands should support social causes, but nearly 60 per cent said they would rather see brand owners pay taxes and treat people fairly.

Among investors, too, “anti-purpose” and “anti-ESG” sentiment is growing. One (unnamed) leading bond fund manager even suggested to the FT that “ESG will be dead in five years”.

Media reports on the adverse impact of ESG controversies on investment are certainly now more frequent. For example, while Jope was still at the helm, the FT reported criticism of Unilever by influential fund manager Terry Smith for displaying sustainability credentials at the expense of managing the business.

Yet some executives feel under pressure to take a stand on environmental and social issues — in many cases believing they are morally obliged to do so or through a desire to improve their own reputations. This pressure may lead to a conflict with shareholders if sustainability becomes a promotional tool for managers, or for their personal social responsibility agenda, rather than creating business value .

Such opportunistic behaviours may lead to a perception that corporate sustainability policies are pursued only because of public image concerns.

Alison Taylor, at NYU Stern School of Business, recently described Unilever’s old materiality map — a visual representation of how companies assess which social and environmental factors matter most to them — to Sustainability magazine. She depicted it as an example of “baggy, vague, overambitious goals and self-aggrandising commitments that make little sense and falsely suggest a mayonnaise and soap company can solve intractable societal problems”.

In contrast, the “realism” approach of Schumacher is being promulgated as both more honest and more feasible. Former investment banker Alex Edmans, at London Business School, has coined the term “rational sustainability” to describe an approach that integrates financial principles into decision-making, and avoids using sustainability primarily for enhancing social image and reputation.

Such “rational sustainability” encompasses any business activity that creates long-term value — including product innovation, productivity enhancements, or corporate culture initiatives, regardless of whether they fall under the traditional ESG framework.

Similarly, Schumacher’s approach aims for fewer targets with greater impact, all while keeping financial objectives in sight.

Complex objectives, such as having a positive impact on the world, may be best achieved indirectly, as expounded by economist John Kay in his book, Obliquity . Schumacher’s “realistic sustainability” approach means focusing on long-term value creation, placing customers and investors to the fore. Saving the planet begins with meaningfully helping a company’s consumers and investors. Without their support, broader sustainability efforts risk failure.

Questions for discussion

Read: Unilever has ‘lost the plot’ by fixating on sustainability, says Terry Smith

Companies take step back from making climate target promises

The real impact of the ESG backlash

Unilever’s new chief says corporate purpose can be ‘unwelcome distraction ’

Unilever says new laxer environmental targets aim for ‘realism’

How should business executives incorporate ESG criteria in their commercial, investor, internal, and external communications? How can they strike a balance between purpose and profits?

How does purpose affect business and brand value? Under what circumstances or conditions can the impact of purpose be positive, neutral, or negative?

Are brands vehicles by which to drive social or environmental change? Is this the primary role of brands in the 21st century or do profits and clients’ needs come first?

Which categories or sectors might benefit most from strongly articulating and communicating a corporate purpose? Are there instances in which it might backfire?

In your opinion, is it necessary for brands to take a stance on social issues? Why or why not, and when?

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Are you curious about the FT’s environmental sustainability commitments? Find out more about our science-based targets here

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International Edition

Case Study: Monitoring with Zabbix and AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) and data monitoring are working together to digitally transform relationships, businesses, and people. In telecommunications, predictive analysis based on data collection plays a crucial role in development. Starting with version 6.0 of Zabbix, users have benefited from updates in predictive functions and machine learning, which make it possible for them to study the data monitored by Zabbix and integrate it with AI modules.

Danilo Barros, co-founder of Lunio (a Zabbix Certified Partner in Brazil), presented the results of using Zabbix combined with telecom data monitoring through AI and machine learning at Zabbix Conference Brazil in 2022. Keep reading to get the whole story!

Table of Contents

The scenario

With over 600 OLTs (Optical Line Terminals – the fiberoptic infrastructure used by internet providers) as well as 400,000 customers across more than 800 cities and 20 states in Brazil, Lunio’s client manages a staggering amount of data. This monitoring is essential for smooth operations and to guarantee that there are no negative impacts on users and no overload for customer service agents in the event of accidents.

A primary challenge for telecom clients is the overload of calls to customer service in the event of massive network incidents. With so many customers, every precaution must be taken to avoid clogging phone lines during outages or service failures.

“You can’t achieve customer satisfaction under such circumstances, and the Net Promoter Score (NPS) drops drastically.”   Danilo Barros, co-founder of Lunio

Mapping needs

Considering the client’s operational structure, a series of customer needs were identified, focusing on six main points:

1. Automation: With notifications via digital channels for each event 2. Speed: Aiming for improved customer service 3. Operational costs: Budget optimization 4. Root cause analysis: Quick identification of the cause of events 5. Predictability: The ability to analyze problems and identify trends 6. Reporting: Identifying incidents and following regulations from ANATEL (National Telecommunications Agency)

With these interests in mind, it was possible to reassess the use of tools previously employed by the telecom client, which at the time served unique functions in the process. Each tool had its usage and information verification time, which could impact hundreds of users in a massive-scale incident. The key challenges identified by the Lunio team included:

• Integrations: Systems needed to be interconnected
• Integrity: Constant data updates
• Topology: With system mapping through specific programs
• Business rules: Respecting the development of local processes
• Performance: The monitoring and automation of 600,000 assets
• High availability: Dozens of data centers catering to local demand

Once the needs and challenges were identified, it was time to promote change within the client. By integrating systems and using Zabbix to monitor over 600,000 items, understand incidents, and predict potential future errors, the technical teams at Lunio created LunioAI, a “super attendant” with analytical and predictive capabilities as well as the ability to continuously learn.

“This guy (LunioIA) learns from each event, understanding each topology that occurs in the client’s network.”   Danilo Barros, co-founder of Lunio

In the initial response tests, LunioAI was able to analyze and evaluate massive events in a minute and a half. Over time, this was reduced to 30 seconds, making the return to the technical team increasingly swift and positively impacting incident resolution.

The results

Throughout the development and improvement of LunioIA, the operations chain was involved in predictive analyses of potential events on the network, providing technical professionals with the information needed to perform preventive maintenance on monitored items.

LunioIA considers data from integrated systems, FTTH (fiber to the home) environments, data centers, and items, all as part of the Zabbix monitoring environment. It can then diagnose events, understand the severity of an event, and find resolution points – without the need for human resources in the process.

As a result, when physical attendants were contacted by customers experiencing difficulties with the service, instead of going through the entire process to understand what happened, the attendant could perform a search using the customer’s CPF (Individual Taxpayer Registry Identification) and then access a summary of the events, causes, and solutions identified by artificial intelligence combined with data monitoring through Zabbix.

In conclusion

This example happens to come from the telecommunications industry, but it’s not difficult to see how the ability of Zabbix to integrate the data monitored by Zabbix with AI modules can benefit companies in almost any industry.

You can find out more about what we can do across a variety of industries by visiting our website or requesting a demo.

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What to watch for in Trump trial’s closing arguments, from a law school professor who teaches and studies them

Professor of Law and Director of Advocacy Programs, Temple University

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After more than four weeks of often sordid testimony , accusations of lying and even a warning from Judge Juan M. Merchan to a witness to stop giving him the side-eye , lawyers in the hush-money case involving former President Donald Trump are expected to make their closing arguments on May 28, 2024.

In a jury trial, opening statements are meant to provide jurors a narrative framework to organize all the bits and pieces of evidence and testimony.

Closing arguments are not meant to simply regurgitate the testimonies of all 22 witnesses or review the roughly 200 exhibits. For both prosecutors and defense attorneys, the closing arguments serve to tell the jury why the evidence is believable or not, why and how the facts are linked or not and, most importantly, why their decision to either acquit or convict is moral and just.

Keep it simple

As a I teach law school students and practitioners , that moral message in closing arguments should link back to themes already woven into the trial.

In this criminal case, one of four filed against Trump , Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged the former president with 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels as part of an effort to influence voters’ knowledge about him before the 2016 presidential election.

Trump entered a plea of not guilty and did not testify .

For the prosecution, that moral message, as prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said earlier in the trial, is this: “It was election fraud, pure and simple.”

For the defense, its closing argument should include an equally direct statement, much like what Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche has said: “President Trump is innocent. President Trump did not commit any crimes. The Manhattan district attorney’s office should never have brought this case.”

There is at least one more purpose in closing arguments. It is to arm jurors with the arguments they need – either to shut down naysayers or gently persuade those in doubt – for when the real battle occurs, inside the jury room during deliberations. One way to do that is to find language from the instructions the judge will give to the jury, restate them in plain English and, in effect, make it look as if they are aligned with the judge and the law.

Less is more

A major goal of both prosecutors and defense attorneys is to untangle all of the evidence and testimony. They must cut through the distracting details and tell jurors, in effect, “Now you know why this witness was important” or “the document doesn’t lie – it shows you …”

Prosecutors in this case must focus on why Trump was involved in the alleged conspiracy and what he knew about the alleged payments.

In my experience over 45 years, the wise path is to start the closing argument with the big picture of “What did we have to prove?” and then answering in a series of bullet points that explain how they proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

To this end, a limited and focused use of exhibits is best – not each and every bit of evidence. Less is more also regarding salacious details, the adultery and Trump’s own vulgar words . The jury just needs the reminder – they’ll recall the details.

With star witness Michael Cohen , an attorney and Trump’s former fixer, it may be different. The prosecution can’t hide from his lies and flaws, which Trump’s defense attorneys hammered home to the jury, so it’s up to the prosecution to embrace Cohen’s failures .

Put simply, prosecutors must show that it doesn’t matter how big a liar Cohen has been in his past if, in this case, he has the receipts to back up his testimony.

A reasonable doubt?

For defense attorneys, their goal is to reassert Trump’s innocence and argue that there is plenty of reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case.

That means pounding away at Cohen’s lack of credibility and denying that any crime was committed. If anything, they may argue, these alleged crimes were no more than bookkeeping errors that Trump didn’t know about.

But if the defense portrays everything as lies, as Trump has claimed, they may paint themselves into a corner. If the jury believes, for example, that Stormy Daniels was telling the truth when she said she had sex with Trump, then Trump’s denials may work against his lawyer’s defense strategy.

The defense has one more daunting task: to strike the balance between attacking Cohen and explaining why the lawyer Trump hired is not corroborated by the reams of evidence – and Trump’s own words.

And the defense must decide what its goal is. Is it an outright acquittal, or a hung jury in which a unanimous decision was unable to be reached?

If it is the latter, expect to have a major push on Cohen’s failings and a lack of corroboration in the hope that at least one juror will stand firm and say, “That’s just not enough.”

But the last word in these final arguments goes to the prosecutors. Because they must prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, they will give their closing argument last and know what they have to respond to.

• Donald Trump
• Stormy Daniels
• Michael Cohen
• Election fraud
• Alvin Bragg
• Business fraud
• 2024 election

Research Fellow

Senior Research Fellow - Women's Health Services

Lecturer / Senior Lecturer - Marketing

Assistant Editor - 1 year cadetship

Executive Dean, Faculty of Health