To explain a business case study in a video, use four parts in order: the situation (who the company is and what was happening, with two or three numbers), the problem (one decision the company faced, stated as a question), the options (two to four realistic choices, each judged against the same criteria), and the recommendation (one choice, the reason, the main risk, and what you would measure). Give the options the most time, because that is where the analysis is marked. Use only facts you can source, put the date of every figure on screen, and keep what happened afterwards out of the options section. A case video that tells the story of a company without ever making a decision is a summary, not a case study.

What a case study presentation is marked on

Business school and A level business case work is assessed in similar ways, whatever the course calls it. The marker wants to see four things.

The structure below is built to show each of those in order. Knowledge sits in the situation, application and analysis in the options, and evaluation in the recommendation.

Situation, problem, options, recommendation

Situation. Short. Who the company is, what it sells, what had changed in its market, and two or three numbers that set the scale. This is context, not the case. Under a fifth of the video.

Problem. One question. "Should Netflix separate its DVD and streaming businesses?" is a case. "What happened to Netflix?" is not, because nothing can be decided. If you cannot phrase the problem as a choice, you have picked a story instead of a case.

Options. Two to four real options, including doing nothing. Each judged against the same criteria, in the same order. This is a comparison, and it follows the same rules as any comparison on screen: fixed criteria, fixed positions, equal time. How to explain a comparison in a video goes through those rules in detail.

Recommendation. One option. The main reason, the main risk, and the first thing you would measure to know whether it was working. Then, if the case is historical, a short separate scene on what actually happened.

Worked example: Netflix and Qwikster, 2011

This is a well documented public case, and a good one for a video because the decision is clear and the outcome was quick and visible. The facts below come from public reporting and Netflix's own announcements at the time; check each against a source before you use it, and put the source on screen or in the description as your course requires.

The facts to work from

• Netflix was founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, and launched DVD rental by mail in 1998. It moved to a monthly subscription in 1999.
• In 2000, Blockbuster turned down the chance to buy Netflix for 50 million dollars.
• Netflix launched streaming in January 2007, starting with about 1,000 titles to stream against around 70,000 on DVD.
• In September 2010 it launched in Canada, its first market outside the US. The same month, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy protection.
• In July 2011 Netflix stopped offering DVD and streaming as one plan and split them into two separate plans, so customers who wanted both paid more.
• In September 2011 it announced it would rename the DVD service Qwikster and run it as a separate business with its own website. In October 2011 it reversed the decision.
• About 800,000 subscribers cancelled in the period around the changes, and the share price fell sharply.

The scene list

About 650 words of narration, a little over four minutes.

A few things to notice.

Scene 5 sets the criteria before any option appears. That stops the analysis from drifting into whatever is most interesting about each option.

Options are written as they looked in 2011. Scene 8 does not say "this famously failed". The point of a case is to judge the decision with the information available at the time.

What happened gets its own scene, after the recommendation. This keeps hindsight out of the analysis, and it lets a marker see that your recommendation was reasoned rather than copied from the outcome. If your recommendation turns out to differ from what the company did, that is fine. It is often the most interesting part.

Scene 13 explains, it does not gloat. Netflix went on to become one of the largest streaming services in the world. A fair case acknowledges that the long-term direction, towards streaming, was right even if the 2011 execution was not.

Keeping the facts honest

Case studies are where students most often repeat things that are half true. The Blockbuster story, for example, is told in many versions. Rules that keep you safe:

• Date every number. "800,000 subscribers cancelled in 2011" is a fact. "800,000 subscribers cancelled" is a fact with no context.
• Source every number. Company reports and announcements first, then reputable news, then reference works. Put sources on a final scene or in the description.
• Do not quote what you cannot find. If you remember a line attributed to a chief executive but cannot find it in a source, paraphrase it and drop the quotation marks.
• Separate fact from interpretation. "Netflix reversed the decision in October" is a fact. "Netflix panicked" is an interpretation, and it needs evidence or it should go.
• Check the drawn labels. Generated scenes get years and figures wrong with full confidence. Pause on every scene with a date, number or company name and check it against your notes.

Using frameworks without letting them take over

SWOT, PESTLE, Porter's five forces and the Ansoff matrix are useful for finding the issues. They are poor as the structure of a video, because a scene that fills in four boxes of a SWOT is a list, and lists do not show analysis.

Use a framework in your notes to find the two or three points that matter, then build those into the options and criteria. If your course requires the framework to be shown, give it one scene near the start, filled in briefly, and say which of its points the rest of the video will use.

Other public cases that work well

Whichever you choose, read at least two sources before writing the script. If they disagree on a fact, say so or use the one from the company's own report.

Make it

1. 1

   Write the problem as one question

   It must be a choice the company faced, with a date. If it cannot be answered with an option, pick a different case.

2. 2

   Collect dated, sourced facts

   Six to ten facts with a year and a source for each. Note which belong in the situation and which in the options.

3. 3

   Fix the criteria and fill the options table

   Three or four criteria, two to four options including doing nothing, a short entry in every cell. This table is the middle of the video.

4. 4

   Script it in four parts

   Situation, problem, options against criteria, recommendation with its risk and measure. Put what actually happened in a separate scene at the end.

5. 5

   Paste the script into openCanviz

   Choose Keep my wording so every figure is spoken as you checked it, set the target length, and pick whiteboard or poster style so the options table builds clearly column by column.

6. 6

   Check every date, figure and name

   Pause on each scene and compare it with your notes. Fix any wrong label in the editor, and keep each option in the same column and colour throughout.

Common questions

How long should a case study video be? Usually four to eight minutes, or whatever the brief sets. At 150 spoken words a minute, five minutes is about 750 words. If you are over, cut the situation before you cut the options.

Should I include what actually happened? For a historical case, yes, in its own scene after your recommendation. For a live case where the decision has not been made, end on your recommendation and the measure you would watch.

Can I use a case from my textbook? Yes, but find at least one source beyond it, and choose your own criteria. Two students using the same textbook case are marked on their analysis, so the options table is where yours has to differ.

Is it fine to use a generated voice for a graded presentation? Check the brief. Some courses assess your delivery and expect your own voice; in that case, record it and replace the generated narration, keeping the scenes. Others assess the analysis, and a generated voice reading your script is fine.

How is this different from a pitch video? A case study judges a decision someone else faced. A pitch argues for your own idea. If you are pitching, see how to make a startup pitch competition video in a weekend.