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“I think I would like to write a case. What do I do now?” The purpose of this paper is to answer this often-asked question by presenting a useful guide for case writers which examines the entire process of case writing beginning with the initial idea and proceeding through required stages leading to the publication of case studies. Further, this guide seeks to emphasize that case writing is a form of research, not just story telling. Ultimately, the increasing interest of scholars in researching, writing, and publishing pedagogical cases provided the impetus for this paper. The four major case writing processes identified in this paper include ideation (idea generation), creation (crafting the case study), application (creating the Instructor’s Manual), and publication (publishing the case). Each of these four processes is presented in detail including examples, pitfalls, and resources. This work is intended to assist novice, as well as experienced, case authors who seek advice on crafting and publishing pedagogical cases in refereed journals. Resources presented in this paper should be helpful especially for aspiring and as yet unpublished case writers.

The paper is based partially on archival research, but most of the content is based on the substantial experience of the authors.

The paper is relevant for upper-level undergraduates as well as graduate students interested in pedagogically based research.

A case study may be defined as a description of a situation that has arisen within an organisation. The case may concern one specific problem or cover a wide range of problems. Preferably the case should be based on a real life situation although there are some who advocate the use of armchair cases, ie cases written without being based on a specific company although they may be an amalgam of the case writer's own personal experiences.

Begins by reviewing relevant literature to identify some of the features that are said to appear exclusively in e‐mails. Also highlights the main issues in the debate between those who embrace the new style of writing generated by e‐mail, and those who feel it is detrimental to communication. A total of 300 examples of e‐mails were obtained from a wide range of donors. Features counted included emoticons, acronyms and creative spelling. The lengths of texts and of sentences within them were amongst other calculations made. The data was grouped according to purpose: social, business personal and business impersonal. Users of e‐mail appear to be generally unconcerned with formalities. Although the sample of e‐mail texts was lucid, writers often dispense with traditions when opening their e‐mail, and their closings are informal. Social e‐mails involved the most creative sort of communication. Argues that the increased informality and lack of consistency of e‐mail texts is because e‐mail is a new medium where no clear guidelines exist. A standard for e‐mail communication might usefully be established, but such a standard should remain flexible.