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We currently have access to several business case study journals and they are listed below. Most of these journals are available online. To search for additional journals, please use the journal search feature of BU Libraries Search .

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The  Business Case Journal  was established by the Society for Case Research to publish cases and research related to case writing or teaching with cases. All cases and teaching notes are subject to editorial review, as well as to a triple blind review process. Acceptance rates have recently ranged from 10-12 percent as noted in  Cabell's Directory of Publishing Opportunities.

Publication Process

Submissions are accepted at any time during the year, and the review process may take anywhere from three months to a year.

The process for publishing in this journal begins with submitting a case and teaching notes or an article related to case research or case teaching to the editor of the journal. The work is then reviewed by the editor and either sent on for triple-blind peer review or sent back to the authors for further work. If the work is not suitable for publication in the  Business Case Journal , it may be rejected at the editorial review stage or anywhere along the review process.

Click here for a full checklist for Business Case Journal submissions.

Types of cases accepted.

Historically, the  Business Case Journal  has focused on cases in which the student is placed in the manager's position and asked to make recommendations appropriate to the context of the situation. SCR refers to these as "decision cases." The  Journal  will also accept case studies. A "case study" is a description of a real situation. Authors must provide sufficient background information so that the student can evaluate how effectively the situation was managed. Teaching notes of these "descriptive" cases will require the student to analyze, assess, evaluate the situation, and determine if there was a more effective way to handle the situation. The  Business Case Journal  has a preference for field-researched cases, but it will also consider cases based on substantial research from secondary sources. The  Journal   does not  accept fictional or synthesized cases. Cases or articles that have been published previously or are under review elsewhere will not be reviewed by the  Business Case Journal . No part of an SCR published case or teaching note may be reproduced by any means or used in any form without written permission of the Society for Case Research.

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Business Case Studies

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• Case Studies in Strategic Communication An open access, peer-reviewed journal from the Annenberg Foundation.
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• Journal of Business Cases and Applications Publishes original, open access business case studies. (2007-present).
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Steps and theories towards more effective business case processes within existing organisations: an inter-disciplinary systematic literature review

Business Process Management Journal

ISSN : 1463-7154

Article publication date: 8 March 2023

Issue publication date: 18 December 2023

Business case (BC) analyses are performed in many different business fields, to create a report on the feasibility and competitive advantage of an intervention within an existing organisation to secure commitment from management to invest. However, most BC research papers on decisions regarding internal funding are either based on anecdotal insights, on analyses of standards from practice, or focused on very specific BC calculations for a certain project, investment or field. A clear BC process method is missing.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper aims to describe the results of a systematic literature review of 52 BC papers that report on further conceptualisation of what a BC process should behold.

Synthesis of the findings has led to a BC definition and composition of a 20 step BC process method. In addition, 29 relevant theories are identified to tackle the main challenges of BC analyses in future studies to make them more effective. This supports further theoretical development of academic BC research and provides a tool for BC processes in practice.

Originality/value

Although there is substantial scientific research on BCs, there was not much theoretical development nor a general stepwise method to perform the most optimal BC analysis.

• Business case
• Return on investment
• Intervention
• Resource allocation
• Stakeholders
• Performance

Appel-Meulenbroek, R. and Danivska, V. (2023), "Steps and theories towards more effective business case processes within existing organisations: an inter-disciplinary systematic literature review", Business Process Management Journal , Vol. 29 No. 8, pp. 75-100. https://doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-10-2022-0532

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Rianne Appel-Meulenbroek and Vitalija Danivska

Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

Introduction

Business cases (BCs) are commonly used as tools to evaluate an action on its fit to business goals. However, internal business decision making is becoming more and more complex, due to social and environmental considerations and interactions with increasingly more stakeholders ( Choi et al. , 2019 ). The development of a BC has therefore been said to be a key business process for project and organisational success and competitiveness ( Fortune and White, 2006 ). Nonetheless, in practice when making business decisions, a recent study showed that “spreadsheets were the second most used tool behind wall and paper.” ( Anke, 2019 , p. 4). As Anke puts forward, this is peculiar considering that spreadsheets contain various types of errors which impede their use for business decisions. A BC can also “… range from a highly comprehensive and well structured document to an informal briefing and may aim to seek funding or approval, or may seek to influence a policy making process” ( Quashie et al. , 2017 , p. 105). What is included/emphasised in a BC varies depending on the type of business and how the success of a BC (or business competitiveness) is addressed. And despite company drivers, compensation systems may not always encourage decision makers to decide for the option that creates long-term shareholder value ( Siegrist et al. , 2020 ).

The past decades, several fields have seen extensive publications on how to calculate a BC on a field-specific topic to support decision making. Although there are many such studies, there is not much scientific research into what a BC process should behold in general ( Ssegawa, 2019 ; Berghout and Tan, 2013 ). Most BC studies do not appear to be based on clear theoretical frameworks either ( Lee, 2018 ). Papers that do discuss the setup and components of a BC are either based on anecdotal insights from the author's expertise (e.g. Bishop, 2019 ; Tabbush, 2018 ), on analyses of documents or standards from practice (e.g. Ssegawa, 2019 ), or contain very specific BC calculations for a certain project or investment in a specific field (e.g. Unruh et al. , 2011 ; Casier et al. , 2008 ; Greene et al. , 2008 ). A generic overview of BC steps and insights in relevant theories for scientific advancement of BC studies appears to be missing. This prevents the fields where BCs are not yet common to embrace their use, or they might try to reinvent the wheel. The specific BC processes that are seen in some fields now, are not easily transferred to another field and make BCs less credible or comparable. Therefore, the inter-disciplinary approach of this paper aimed to synthesise distinct BC research traditions into one overview, to support business management in tackling current challenges of effective decision making.

The “ … key for developing a strong business case is a fundamental understanding of how each of its elements, models and concepts fit together” ( Quashie et al. , 2017 ). As far as the authors know, there is no generic inter-disciplinary review paper on what a BC process should behold, which steps to consider, and which theories are relevant for further theoretical development of BC analysis in general. Therefore, this paper discusses the findings of a systematic literature review of BC papers that either provided a (non-specific) framework/model with process steps/elements or discussed relevant theories for BC analysis. Very specific, detailed BCs with a strong mono-disciplinary focus were not included. From the review, a BC process method with essential steps and a list of relevant theories for further theoretical development were deducted.

The study followed the guidelines of a PRISMA structured literature review ( Page et al. , 2021 ; see Figure 1 ). The search was performed in Scopus and Web of Science databases by using the keyword “business case” in combination with “create”, “framework”, “model”, “component”, “approach”, “concept”, “tool”, or “assessment”. These keywords were chosen due to the focus of this research – a theoretical underpinning of a generic BC. It did not include “investment case”, “ROI case”, “investment paper” or “business plan” because those keywords yield either too narrow financial views on specific cases, focused on financial calculations or too wide views on business development, thus directing away from the theoretical development and understanding of a BC process as a concept. In both databases, keywords were searched in the title, abstract or keywords. The documents needed to be written in English and classified as either an article or a review. The search included articles published from 1945 to 2021 (last search update date was March 20, 2022).

Scopus yielded 2,202 publications and Web of Science 866. Removing duplicates provided 2,336 papers for initial screening. As common in the PRISMA method, during the first screening step only the titles of the publications were reviewed. Publications were removed if the titles clearly stated that the publication included a “case study” rather than a “business case”, or when they otherwise could be indicated as an irrelevant publication for the aim of this study (= minus 1,314 records). In the second screening step, abstracts were read and inclusion was based on the following criteria: either a BC composition is presented, theoretical BC process development is discussed, or BC elements are identified. Abstracts were thus excluded if the paper only discussed BCs as a case study teaching tool for students or as a specific case study calculation for a specific business/industry problem (= minus 628 records). The remaining 294 articles were read in full, which were published between 1992 and 2021 and in 236 different journals (particularly in the Journal of Cleaner Production , 12 articles; Applied Energy , 7 articles; Sustainability and Journal of Business Ethics , both 4 articles; and Journal of Nursing Administration , 3 articles).

In the last step, the full text articles were evaluated. Another 15 publications were excluded due to not being available full-text, and 3 were not published in a scientific journal. Also, 53 publications were removed because they did not discuss the BC but rather business models, different types of business analyses or effects of a BC on something else. In addition, 171 publications were excluded because they discussed a very specific BC without referring to the previous literature, providing theories or theoretical models/frameworks or identifying elements or steps to be included in a BC. Ultimately, 52 publications remained for the systematic review.

Systematic review of these 52 papers focused on the following aspects: BC definitions, steps/components of the BC, and underlying theories that help explain BC processes. The definitions that were provided were analysed on their main terms and include in an overall best definition. The labels of the steps/components that papers put forward were analysed to identify overlap and the most common sequence from start to end. Under the assumption that those papers with more steps are likely to report more detailed steps, this comparison started from those models/frameworks with the least steps and then fitted the more extensive step/element lists within those. Last, all theories that were mentioned in the papers were assigned to the different process steps where they can help BC research become more rigorous.

Descriptives

The 52 selected papers were published in 2003 or later with the exception of one from 1995 (see Figure 2 ). Most of the selected papers (36 out of 52) stem from 2013 or later years, with a clear emphasis on the last few years, particularly 2018–2020. Surprisingly, only one paper from 2021 was added to the final selection, although in total 18 papers were included in the long list.

As mentioned earlier, there is no specific journal focused on BC process studies. The selected papers were published in 41 different journals, with 1 journal publishing 3 papers ( International Journal of Project Management ) and 5 journals with 2 papers ( Applied Energy, IEEE Engineering Management Review, Construction Management and Economics, Sustainability Switzerland, and Journal of Business Ethics ). So, the topic of BCs is widespread amongst several fields. Regarding the topic/field of the selected papers, only 3 focused on BCs in general ( Bishop, 2019 ; Ssegawa, 2019 ; Eckartz et al. , 2012 ). Two topics/fields were recurring most (see Table 1 ), namely the sustainability field, with sub-topics like corporate sustainability (9 papers), corporate social responsibility (4 papers), renewable energies (2 papers) and sustainable business (2 papers), and health related research, with sub-topics like healthcare (13 papers) and occupational health (3 papers). A third field regarded technologies, such as information technology (IT) projects (5 papers) and new technologies (3 papers). Less common fields were public projects (4 papers), infrastructure (2 papers), knowledge management (1 paper) and government policy (1 paper).

The IT field appeared to be the furthest along in developing a BC process. For example, Berghout and Tan (2013) extracted 9 elements for a BC from a systematic literature review of papers on IT projects (which identified only 8 previous studies on BC elements). Later, Einhorn and colleagues published a set of papers ( Einhorn et al ., 2019 , 2020 ; Marnewick and Einhorn, 2019 ) about their suggestion for 37 process steps of an IT focused BC of 8 elements. Outside the IT field, Lee (2018) performed a systematic review of BC studies in the field of occupational health and safety (which identified only 12 previous studies). The biggest systematic selection of previous research has been done by Rodrigues et al. (2018) , identifying 87 previous studies, but their keywords focused on logic models and not specifically on BCs.

The research methods that are used in the selected articles differ a lot. Some were written in a narrative way based on experience and the opinion of the (mostly single) author (e.g. Bishop, 2019 ; Tabbush, 2018 ; Shirey, 2011 ; Cervone, 2008 ). Others had a narrative (e.g. Sasse-Werhahn et al. , 2020 ; Siegrist et al. , 2020 ) or systematic literature review approach (e.g.  Rodrigues et al. , 2018 ; Lee, 2018 ; Zadeh et al. , 2015 ; Schmidek and Weeks, 2005 ), did a content analysis of BC documents in practice (e.g. Linton et al. , 2019 ; Pronk et al. , 2015 ), held interviews (e.g. Riley et al. , 2020 ), set up surveys (e.g. Zaitsev and Dror, 2020 ) or combined different methods (e.g. Eisman et al. , 2020 ; Gannon and Smith, 2011 ). A couple of papers (e.g.  Nielsen and Persson, 2017 ; Sarkis and Liles, 1995 ) were based on design/action research where frameworks were developed together with practitioners. Also, specific calculations were made for real cases (e.g. Quashie et al. , 2017 ) or fictive ones (e.g. Jonker et al. , 2017 ) after generic frameworks were created first.

BC definitions

While most papers did not provide an explicit definition of a BC, 28 of the 52 selected papers did describe it in one or two sentences. Berghout and Tan (2013) even compared definitions in their systematic literature review on BC's for municipal IT projects, but unfortunately did not decide on a preference for one and also did not self-compose the “ultimate” definition. From those definitions, terms that were counted more than once (or synonyms) were listed in Appendix 2 and collated into a complete definition. From these 28 papers, 20 mentioned that a BC provides some kind of justification (with many synonyms). The BC definitions were mostly focused on a document (n = 6) within an organisation (n = 7) about a project (n = 13) or more generally an intervention/change/cause (n = 9), for which they want to secure commitment/approval/support from management (n = 8) for an investment (n = 14) decision (n = 3) on resource allocation (n = 4). Besides management, other stakeholder (n = 2) roles and needs (n = 2) were identified for a broader view on the context. According to the definitions, a BC tries to seek commitment by understanding (n = 3) different aspects such as costs (n = 8), benefits/results/outcomes (n = 9) and risks (n = 6) of possible solutions (n = 6) and their financial/economic or other return on investment (ROI) (n = 8) to come to a recommendation (n = 2). Last, some of the definitions seemed to search for SMART objectives, including this acronym's terms such as specific (n = 2), measurable/quantifiable (n = 3), reasonable to attain (n = 3) and time frame (n = 5). Three very long definitions were proposed by Einhorn et al. (2019) , Marnewick and Einhorn (2019) , and Shirey (2011) . Their definitions mentioned a lot of the aspects identified above (but not all), plus all added a “later-stage” purpose of a BC after the intervention. These longer definitions noted that a BC should be reviewed (n = 2) after the implementation (n = 3).

A BC documents costs, benefits, risks, and return on investment of (a) feasible alternative intervention(s) regarding an object, activity or otherwise within an organisation’s scope, to come to an understanding and recommendation that helps to justify and secure commitment from management for an investment or other resource allocation in order to start a change process. It regards all stakeholder roles and needs and defines objectives in a SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based) way, and is used to review performance on expected outcomes throughout the project’s life cycle.

BC framework/model elements

Of the 52 selected papers, only 37 suggested steps or elements of a BC. Of these 37 papers, 25 referred to an existing framework/model to set up their BC (see Table 2 ). The rest described steps and/or elements for their BC analyses, without insight how these were determined. Some of the frameworks/models that were used were more generic, such as systems thinking ( Jonker et al. , 2017 ), real options analysis ( Tahon et al. , 2013 ) and multi-criteria decision making ( Riley et al. , 2020 ), while others stemmed from a specific disciplinary field such as the BC process groups from the IT project field ( Einhorn et al. , 2019 , 2020 ), EcoM2 from the sustainability field ( Rodrigues et al. , 2018 ) or the value based care model from healthcare ( Bartlett-Ellis et al. , 2015 ). Some papers referred to other developed frameworks specifically for the BC purpose in their fields, for example, a BC for ergonomic interventions ( Seeley and Marklin, 2003 ), or for information systems ( Nielsen and Persson, 2017 ; Ward et al. , 2007 ).

On average, the 37 papers that suggested steps/elements identified 6.8 different steps, with a maximum of nineteen ( Ssegawa, 2019 ) and a minimum of three steps to start from (e.g. Probert et al. , 2013 ; see Figure 3 ). The studies from Einhorn et al. (2019 , 2020) identified 37 sub-steps of the eight main steps that they proposed, so this could have potentially been seen as an even longer list. However, these sub-steps were not elaborated on in much detail in their papers and therefore only the eight main steps were used in this review.

When all the lists of steps were laid on top of each other, 3 main phases with a flow through 20 sub-steps came forward (see Figure 4 and Appendix 3 for the underlying tables in a detailed analysis of steps per publication). The simplest BC setup was from Williams et al. (2020) , dividing a BC in 3 phases: identify, execute and sustain, which was chosen as the basic setup of the BC process. The “heart” of the BC analyses – Execute – was present in all 37 papers that identified steps/elements. But while the preparatory work – Identify – also had items in 34 of the papers, the afterwork – Sustain – could only be identified from steps/components in 13 papers. This confirmed Einhorn et al. (2019) who also mentioned that most organisations do not check the BC after the decision to start had been made. The lack of afterwork was also visible during the analysis of BC definitions that is discussed in the previous section. Below the ultimate 20 sub-process steps are explained per phase.

Phase 1: identify information and stakeholders

Prepare to start: choose a problem to analyse ( Robinson et al. , 2004 ) and determine conditions for starting a BC study ( Bailit and Dyer, 2004 ).

Conduct a needs assessment: identify drivers, needs ( Quashie et al. , 2017 ) and motivations ( Nielsen and Persson, 2017 ) for what outcomes are desired ( Zaitsev and Dror, 2020 ).

Determine strategic fit: determine whether the problem is a strategic priority ( Linton et al. , 2019 ) and fits with the mission, vision and strategic context ( Bartlett-Ellis et al. , 2015 ).

Structure the problem: define the problem in more detail, by doing a situation analysis ( Ssegawa, 2019 ), identifying capability gaps ( Zaitsev and Dror, 2020 ) and/or preliminary analyses.

Identify alternative options: identify alternatives/solutions ( Ssegawa, 2019 ) and constrain them ( Riley et al. , 2020 ) by studying them.

Select measures: select indicators ( Zaitsev and Dror, 2020 ) how to measure progress towards objectives and key benefits ( Kos et al. , 2008 ).

Identify stakeholders: identify key stakeholders ( Seeley and Marklin, 2003 ) and understand where you share values and vision ( Pronk et al. , 2015 ).

Explore interrelations: identify cause and effect relations ( Robinson et al. , 2004 ) that the solution(s) could deliver ( Ssegawa, 2019 ).

Consider internal resources: consider constraints in building a team ( Bartlett-Ellis et al. , 2015 ) and tools for implementation ( Robinson et al. , 2004 ).

Determine the timeline: determine the time horizon ( Reiter et al. , 2007 ) for an intervention plan ( Bartlett-Ellis et al. , 2015 ).

Phase 2: execute BC calculations and make decision

Appraise relevant costs: identify and appraise relevant costs of the intervention.

Appraise relevant benefits: identify and appraise relevant benefits/outcomes, including reduced expenditures ( Bailit and Dyer, 2004 ).

Provide financial calculations: calculate economic measures such as cost-benefit analysis (CBA) or ROI, and compare to a hurdle rate ( Tabbush, 2018 ).

Perform risk/sensitivity analyses: perform sensitivity analyses to rank alternatives ( Riley et al. , 2020 ) and study potential risks and contingency plans ( Kos et al. , 2008 ) to address the probability of success ( Robinson et al. , 2004 ).

Build a report: communicate the BC results ( Pronk et al. , 2015 ) to make your case ( Perencevich et al. , 2007 ) and embed it ( Watson, 2018 ).

Prioritise and decide: prioritise against other projects ( Einhorn et al. , 2020 ) and make a decision ( Bishop, 2019 )

Phase 3: implement and sustain

Communicate implementation: implement the intended intervention and communicate to all stakeholders during this process ( Zadeh et al. , 2015 ).

Monitor the project: monitor the project and document it ( Einhorn et al. , 2020 ).

Evaluate the realisation: evaluate realisation of benefits ( Einhorn et al. , 2019 ) with the identified quality metrics ( Zadeh et al. , 2015 ).

Re-evaluate potential changes: re-evaluate potential changes to original plan ( Sasse-Werhahn et al. , 2020 ) and communicate BC review back for future learning purposes ( Zadeh et al. , 2015 ).

Theoretical development

Only 27 of the 52 papers mentioned a theory (or several) that was relevant for BC processes. Many of these papers were from the sustainability field, which suggests that this field might be most advanced in trying to build theoretical “rigour” into BC studies. Additionally, some theories were identified in papers from the IT field. No convergence into a specific overall theory was found in any of the papers, nor an identification of the most relevant theories across fields. Therefore, all theories in the selected papers are discussed here in light of the 20 identified steps for the BC process that they could be relevant for ( Table 3 ). In future studies, these theories could be used to enrich these steps and perhaps to develop a meta-theory for BC processes in business decision-making.

Phase 1 was the most extensive phase in terms of both the number of steps and proposed theories. Several theories can be used for step 2 (conduct needs assessment), where those involved in the BC process need to think about which goals/benefits to aim for by addressing a certain problem. Perhaps the most well-known theory in terms of gaining a competitive advantage with the available internal resources is the resource-based view theory (also known as the resource-advantage theory) ( Siegrist et al. , 2020 ). It suggests that organisations must focus on developing unique, firm-specific core competencies that will allow them to outperform competitors by doing things differently ( Prahalad and Hamel, 1990 ). On the other hand, Nielsen and Persson (2017) discussed the value/benefit management approach that focuses on benefits that can be achieved with a certain project (and selecting the best ways to measure them). It aims to improve and sustain a balance between the needs and wants of stakeholders and also relates to the resources needed to satisfy them ( IVM, 2022 ). Carroll and Shabana (2010) named two views to BC values; economic or management. They wrote that the economic view concentrates on the financial performance, while the management view looks broader, studying direct and indirect relationships between the financial performance and different initiatives. Another one focused on benefits is paradox theory, discussed in three of the papers. Desired benefits might appear contradictory to each other and this theory states that such tensions “ might be better addressed as a dynamic equilibrium than through alignment or prioritization ” ( Sasse-Werhahn et al. , 2020 ). Walker et al. (2020) added that managers that accept tensions between aims can transcend them. They claimed that one cannot exist without the other anyway, because of the dynamic relationship between them, and add that focussing on one dimension only will exacerbate the other. Paradox theory provides several approaches for managing tensions between certain elements of the BC, related to time, organisational barriers and lack of control over the process ( Sabini and Alderman, 2021 ). Another theory to overcome such tensions is practical wisdom theory et al. As Sasse-Werhahn et al. (2020) stated, “ wisdom accepts the complex, cuts through ambiguity, and derives its energy from the tensions and uncertainties of a complex world. ” They also pointed out that this dates back to Aristotle and the term phronesis: “ a true and reasoned state of capacity to act with regard to the things that are good or bad for man ”.

Next, a substantial set of theories could improve steps 6–8. Although decision makers sometimes have a narrow financial perspective, increasingly a broader view is preferred, especially in the sustainability field. Five papers from this field with diverse stakeholders have suggested many theories that can help identify metrics, stakeholders and interrelationships. Regarding step 6 (select measures), Schaltegger et al. (2019) suggested that utility theory could provide important insights on value creation with a proper BC process. They stated that “ Another way to overcome the very narrow, monetary perspective on economics and business is to not use financial and monetary indicators as proxies for utility, but instead to directly analyse how a business activity creates utility for its stakeholders and fosters sustainable development .” They also claimed that such a focus could allow companies to better deal with unexpected changes and to increase their innovativeness.

For step 7 (identify stakeholders), Schaltegger et al. (2019) also introduced a theory, namely stakeholder theory, which puts forward that the key objective of a business or project is to create value for all stakeholders involved (this theory was also mentioned by Carroll and Shabana (2010) , and Salzman et al. (2005) ). Related to this, Bartlett-Ellis et al. (2015) based their BC model partly on the theory of corporate social responsibility, which as they said “ speaks to organizations ' legal and moral obligations. The legal obligation is to be financially responsible, and the moral obligation is to interact ethically with the communities they serve. ” (p. 339). A wide range of stakeholders was identified, such as employees, customers, suppliers, governments, credit lenders and financiers.

Salzman et al. (2005) further analysed the relationship between financial, environmental and social performance and provided a list of theories that explain how those relationships are relevant for step 8 (Explore interrelationships). First of all, they mentioned supply and demand theory which puts forward that firms supply a demanded and unique level of environmental and social performance, specifically to maximise their own profits. They also mentioned the trade-off hypothesis that firms always try to pursue optimal capital and that environmental and social performance leads to lower financial performance. But they also introduced two theories that contradict this: (1) the social impact hypothesis , that meeting the needs of various non-owner stakeholders would positively impact financial performance and (2) the available funds hypothesis (also known as the slack resources theory) that higher financial performance of firms in turn allows them to allocate more resources to environmental and social performance. For this complexity of interests (and stakeholders), Eckartz et al. (2012) suggested applying co-ordination theory. It emphasises the need to understand the dependencies between different tasks and stakeholders in order to carry out a successful BC. Several papers mentioned that strategic decision-making and strategic planning requires business elements to be arranged in a way that supports the purpose of the business ( Robinson et al. , 2004 ; Hahn et al. , 2014 ). Last, according to Einhorn et al. (2020) process theories are often contrasted or supplemented with variance theories. Variance theory is focused at explaining the variance in a dependent variable based on one or more independent variables, so it seems relevant for this step too. While process theories help clarify how something happens, variance theories clarify why something happens.

The approach to BC calculations and decision-making varied slightly throughout the papers. For the first two steps of this phase (11. Appraise relevant costs, 12. Appraise relevant benefits) no theories have been mentioned, which might not be necessary as they are rather practical steps oriented at calculations. However, Schmidek and Weeks (2005) did mention the activity management approach for understanding costs and their consequences. It focuses on understanding activities and the costs that are associated with them to improve value for customers and own profits ( Turney, 1992 ). Also, several papers pointed out difficulties with determining the costs and quantifying the benefits (e.g. Perencevich et al. , 2007 ; Schmidek and Weeks, 2005 ). Regarding costs, generally a distinction was made between fixed, variable, direct and indirect costs ( Fischer and Duncan, 2020 ). Bailit and Dyer (2004) also discussed cost avoidance or costs of doing nothing. Regarding benefits, Williams et al. (2020) found that there was not really a standardised system yet for their classification. They showed examples of BCs distinguishing between financial and non-financial benefits, direct and indirect, external and internal, recurring and non-recurring, primary and secondary benefits, and several others. Robinson et al. (2004) added a further potential distinction between operational and strategic benefits.

A manipulation of the ROI is the net benefits analysis, expressed as the value of all benefits − value of all costs.

Reiter et al. (2007) described different ROI measures – net present value (NPV), rate of return (RoR) and cost-benefit ratio.

CBA: A ratio defined as the value of all benefits/value of all costs and reported as the value of benefits realised for each spent monetary unit. A variant is the balance sheet method, which lists all effects on the resources on one side of the ledger, and all the effects, positive and negative, on the consumer side.

Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios; A type of CEA used when comparing two or more interventions and defined as the difference in costs between groups divided by the difference in outcomes between groups

Cost-utility analyses; A type of CEA where the outcome is expressed in terms of a standardised outcome

Perencevish et al. (2007) also separated CBA analysis (as net financial benefit or loss) and CEA (as cost per unit). Bartlett-Ellis et al. (2015) distinguished CBA and CEA too but added cost-avoidance analysis as a third common approach (within the healthcare field). Cost-avoidance was also mentioned by Bailit and Dyer (2004) as one of the financial considerations, together with ROI and cost-of-doing-nothing. Similarly, Robinson et al. (2004) identified four techniques: CBA, CEA, cost-minimising analysis and cost-utility analysis as being used in the knowledge management field. They explained that the selection of the suitable technique depends on a number of initiatives at a time and the expression of outputs.

The normative fundament; it is focused on consumers only, not on other objectives like political goals or the welfare of future generations (as potential solution, Volden discussed multi-criteria decision making and/or presenting all costs and benefits, not just aggregated effects).

Various measurement problems; info at an early stage is based on assumptions which creates risk, normally only direct effects are included, and some impacts are hard to quantify. For the latter, Dayo-Olupona et al. (2020) suggested Fuzzy set theory to solve the vagueness of human mind, as they call it. This mathematical approach is aimed at dealing with vague and subjective judgements to quantify the difficult to quantify.

Challenges relating to appraisal optimism; own abilities and control over the situation are exaggerated (as potential solution, Volden suggested ensuring an additional outside view, ex-post evaluations to learn for the future and incentives for true speech).

Additionally, Reiter et al. (2007) pointed out that the results of financial (ROI) analyses also depend on the ability to clearly determine a time horizon, a right discount rate and risk assessment and adjust to inflation. Therefore, several papers ( Fischer and Duncan, 2020 ; Tabbush, 2018 ; Schmidek and Weeks, 2005 ) suggested performing sensitivity analyses of ROI calculations (the next step).

Tahon et al. (2013) emphasised that scenario analysis and sensitivity analysis are important extensions to financial calculations (step 14, Perform risk/sensitivity analyses). Two relevant theories for these steps that they brought forward were real options theory and game theory. The first can deal with potential future outcomes of current day investments. Real option analysis implements future flexibility benefits in NPV calculations. “ Extending the underlying business cases with the value of options would offer new insight into the dynamic interplay between options and games “ ( Tahon et al. , 2013 ). Game theory can help to analyse the impact of competition and can be used as an extension of the standard techno-economic analysis to study more realistic settings that include the impact of uncertainty. In addition, Den Dulk et al. (2010) suggested institutional theory as relevant for this step, because it “ emphasi ses the institutional pressures that influence organi s ations to respond similarly to their environments” (p. 158). They claimed that the weights that organisations assign to costs and benefits in these types of analyses depend on these pressures.

Regarding step 16 (Prioritise and decide), it was brought forward that decision making and prioritisation is done by people with diverse backgrounds and who are vulnerable to potential outside influences ( Einhorn et al. , 2020 ). In that light, Salzmann et al. (2005) mentioned the managerial opportunism hypothesis that states that decision makers might exploit opportunities in their own interest. Additionally, they suggested using the theory of cognitive framing , which indicates that people tend to make decisions based on whether options cause positive or negative associations for them. Similarly, agency theory was put forward by Siegrist et al. (2020) to show the importance of incentives and self-interest in steering the eventual decision making after the BC has been performed. “ Problems will arise when firms inadvertently create systems which incentivise managers and employees to act in ways that do not maximise shareholder value. ” ( Siegrist et al. , 2020 ). More in general, Hahn et al. (2014) introduced cognitive categorisation theory to explain how managers make sense of the main topic of the BC. In very complex situations, people's “ cognitive processing becomes schema-driven ” (p. 5). They explained that managers are unable to oversee the full strategic situation due to bounded rationality, and therefore develop subjective representations of the information inside the BC.

Two theories in one paper from the sustainability field could enrich step 17 (Communicate implementation). First signalling theory was proposed, because it focuses on communication between people ( Siegrist et al. , 2020 ). As pointed out, it could help deal with asymmetric information between a business and its wider stakeholders through proactive approaches to reduce that. In that same context, they also introduced legitimacy theory, which “ posits that corporate disclosures are made as reactions to environmental factors and in order to legitimise corporate actions .” ( Guthrie and Parker, 1989 ).

Regarding steps 18–20 on further monitoring and (re-)evaluation of the BC, no explicit theories were mentioned. However, some papers referred to different strategic approaches that shaped the way BCs were addressed in this phase. Kos et al. (2008) introduced the total quality management approach, which is coined in the idea of continuous improvements of operations and processes at all levels of an organisation to achieve long-term success and customer satisfaction. It asks for a structured process of on-going refinements in response to continuous feedback, like these final steps incorporate. Marnewick and Einhorn (2019) mentioned that review and benefit tracking “ could be used to guide the project throughout ongoing decision-making ” (p. 8).

Besides theories for the three BC phases and their specific sub-steps, a few papers suggested theories for the flow/process of going through all the steps of a BC. Those four theories are all a type of process theory. Process theory in general is a hypothesis about a causal sequence of events ( Pentland, 1999 ) that lead to certain outcomes after starting at an initial position ( Einhorn et al. , 2019 ). It is considered a system of ideas that explains how an entity changes and develops (Wikipedia). Using a process theory approach, Einhorn et al. (2019 , 2020) identified their process steps that are needed to use an IT related BC effectively. The (collection of) input(s) of each process step may be outputs of earlier processes and should lead to the execution of certain activities towards outputs and outcomes. Rodrigues et al. (2018) labelled this same approach “logic models” also known as the theory of change. The process of going through each BC step is not necessarily a straightforward line as suggested in the previous section. Therefore Jonker et al. (2017) introduced systems thinking (also called complex systems theory), as it could be used to describe the complex interactions and patterns between the different steps. Last, Rodrigues et al. (2018) also referred to system dynamics and stated that this is an application of control theory.

Discussion and implications

The variety of the topics/fields where BC analyses are applied shows the widespread need to understand the BC process better, both in theory and in practice. Although the review also identified a few main current fields that apparently have a high interest in improving organisational efficiency (IT, sustainability and health) or the need for a well-argued proof that internal spending are/can be valuable investments. Despite that their research on the setup of BC processes started in the early 90s of the twentieth century, this review has shown that it has only recently really picked up pace. The novel inter-disciplinary overview created in this paper is important for further maturation of BC process research towards supporting optimal organisational efficiency and effectiveness in decision making. Up till now, most academic BC studies started with describing which steps to take and then applying them, without basing their BC process steps on previous studies. Their processes and steps were largely based on anecdotal expertise of the authors or on standards in practice.

This systematic review extracted 20 common sub-steps and three main phases of a BC from 37 different academic studies, providing a ready BC process method to apply by everybody; both in academia and in practice. The integration of the steps for a full BC process from multiple disciplinary fields into one overall BC process method can accelerate future BC research, which can now immediately dive into more in-depth research on certain steps or apply this method in fields that are less familiar with BC analysis. For practitioners, the 20-step method provides a clear overview to set up their own BC project for specific problems. With it, they do not have to reinvent the wheel, trust commercially available tools (which might be biased), or work with published approaches from specific disciplinary fields that do not fit well in their own context. Moreover, this generic representation of phases and steps in BC process can be seen as a helpful reminder about the need for proper preparation and evaluation of the BC as well as the need to take a broader view towards the impact that a certain intervention might cause.

Besides the 20-steps method, an important novelty of this paper is the identification of 29 theories and/or management approaches that can make a BC process more effective and successful. This adds to general theory-building for further research on BC processes. A few of these theories and approaches were aimed at the overall flow of a BC process, but most were related to benefit specific steps in more detail (see Table 3 for an overview). The review showed that the following steps of the BC process might be more developed than others: step 2 (conducting needs assessment, 4 theories), step 7 (identifying stakeholders, 2 theories), step 8 (exploring interrelationships, 6 theories), step 14 (performing ris/sensitivity analysis, 3 theories), step 16 (prioritising and deciding, 4 theories), and step 17 (communicating implementation, 2 theories). These steps are all related in some way to important decisions that have to be made during the development of a BC report and the management of a proper BC process. For example, they regard the decision of what to include, who to regard as impacted by the intervention, how these components create a complex system of relationships, which then need to be prioritised and communicated in some way.

So far, it seems that particularly phase 3 of the BC process about its implementation and communication has not received much theoretical attention yet at all. Besides the mentioned signalling and legitimacy theory to help in communicating the implementation process, perhaps project management, communication and evaluation theories could be valuable to further develop this phase as well in future studies. Regarding the other two BC process phases, the reviewed papers made no suggestions for theories to enrich the steps from phase 1 on problem structuring and identifying alternatives at the beginning of this phase, nor for internal resources and timelines to finalise this phase. It would be interesting to apply existing theories on problem structuring and on project management to these steps. An important step at the beginning of phase 2, step 12 on appraisal of benefits, was also ignored from a theoretical point of view so far. While this seems the essential heart of a BC in more tacit and complex interventions in the organisation, also here further research is recommended. Last, it seems likely that additional theories on decision making can benefit BC processes further. Some other steps that lacked theoretical underpinning (1. prepare to start, 3. determine strategic fit, 15. build a report) seem a bit more case specific. So, there might not be generic theories to support them, but rather certain (project management) tools could be useful to apply in future studies and in practice.

The overview of the theories that did come forward from this review clearly shows the importance of more emphasis on the “human component” of a BC process, besides the regular calculations that a BC generally is associated with. Looking at the main assumptions of the suggested theories, this human component might determine the outcomes of such calculations for organisational effectiveness and competitiveness even more than the calculation itself. They appear to suggest that, unless managed carefully, the BC process might not lead up to more effective and efficient business processes by itself. This paper therefore provides practitioners with the valuable insight that they need to carefully manage their decision makers and their cognitive processes of dealing with the outcomes of the BC calculations (in phase 2). The right considerations and strategic thinking might bring more than direct financial returns through indirect benefits to the organisation. In addition, further application of these theories to academic BC (process) research can provide valuable insights in how to make sure that the right information is used for calculations and that they are interpreted and communicated in alignment with the organisation's strategy, mission and vision. Only then, one is really able to manage a complete and effective BC process and thus improve organisational competitiveness. So far, every theory has been applied to the BC process in only a few papers.

The identified theories are also likely to alleviate the main challenges of creating an effective BC in practice. Its assumptions can thus help practitioners improve their BC approaches. According to Björklund and Forslund (2019) , the most important challenges of making a proper BC are: the inclusion of a wide range of indicators, the ability to measure, quantify and integrate different dimensions, and to include trade-offs, influence from stakeholders, a time perspective and contextual considerations. The identified theories seem applicable to shed more light on how all of these challenges should be managed in practice. For the inclusion of indicators and the ability to measure and quantify them, the theories of steps 2, 6 and 7 appear very relevant. Integrating the many dimensions and dealing with trade-offs and stakeholders could be studied through the lenses of the theories from steps 9 and 16, while the time perspective and contextual considerations can be enriched with the theories from step 11 and 14.

Like any study, this systematic review has its limitations. A review is as good as its selection of keywords. Although the search logic was developed through multiple iterations, some synonyms of keywords might have been missed. A quite generically used term as “business case” leads to tens of thousands of publications that were not relevant for this research, and thus was not an option. Other potential limitations relate to selection bias and consistency. The initial list of publications contained over two thousand papers and was compiled by the second author, thus the selection process was spread throughout a period of time which might have affected the selection of certain publications. In the following steps, both authors performed the screening, limiting further selection bias. For consistency reasons, both authors discussed all selected and discarded papers together. Another limitation is that the review is focused on papers that applied a certain theory or made a none/less-specific model/framework of steps/components for a BC. The longlist contained many more papers that discussed a BC analysis in different steps, but they were discarded because these lists of steps were very specific for the case that was studied. Further research of these papers could validate whether the 20-step method is indeed complete and/or whether certain fields might require a specific additional step somewhere in between. In addition, a different review approach using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to analyse the big data from the longlists of more detailed and specific BCs, might provide additional novel insights.

Conclusions

This systematic review has contributed to existing literature on BC analysis by its inter-disciplinary review of how BC processes are set up in different fields and which theories have been applied to it so far. Through an overarching analysis of existing knowledge, it has provided well-supported insights in what a BC is (definition), which steps should be included to go through an effective BC process, and which theories could help strengthen the theoretical foundation of BC development. As the step-by-step method is developed from works from different fields, it should be applicable for BC research in those fields that have supplied most of the evidence for this review (e.g. on the topics of sustainability, health and IT), but most likely also in fields that have not produced (much) BC related research yet. Overall, the authors feel that this review has made a valuable contribution to academic BC research by proposing a novel BC process method and discussing the state of theoretical knowledge development on BC analysis. For practitioners, the 20-step method demonstrates a wider view to the BC and provides a clear approach to composing their BCs for any change that they might need to consider.

PRISMA Flow diagram

Frequency of the year of publication for the final list of selected articles

Distribution of steps/components of the reviewed BC models/frameworks

Identified phases and steps of a BC

Topics/fields of selected publications

Frameworks/models used in the selected papers

Theories for BC steps

Paper ID of 52 selected studies for tables in this article

Terms for definition

Phase 2: execute BC calculations

There are no competing interests to declare. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Appendix 3 Tables comparing steps/components in the different papers

Table A3 Table A4 Table A5

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South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases

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• Description
• Aims and Scope
• Editorial Board
• Abstracting / Indexing
• Submission Guidelines

This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) .

South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases (SAJBMC) is a peer-reviewed, tri-annual journal of the Birla Institute of Management Technology, Greater Noida (India). The journal aims to provide a space for high-quality Qualitative Case Study Research (QCSR), thus all qualitative studies that follow Case Methodology shall be considered. Within QCSR we consider the five types of manuscript, these include Phenomenon-based, Phenomenon Extension, Theory Building, Review studies suggesting future opportunities for doing QCSR and Methodological studies that either inform how to do QCSR or extend ways of doing QCSR. A brief description of each of these can be found in the Aims and Scope.   Publication of Hypothetical and Survey Driven Research, do not fall under the domain of BMC. The journal strictly does not accept Teaching Cases.

SAJBMC accepts only qualitative case study research

Qualitative Case Study Research

Case study research is primarily known to be a part of the qualitative methodologies, although, that isn’t necessarily always the case. This Journal however, aims to publish only qualitative case study research hence, Case Research, that are built on quantitative data collection and analysis also fall out of its scope.

To define the scope of qualitative case study research for this journal we draw from the works of six prominent advocates of the qualitative case study research. These include (in alphabetical order), Ann Langley, Dennis Gioia, Kathleen Eisenhardt, Robert Stake, Robert Yin, and Sharon Merriam.

Hence, for us, qualitative case study research is:

“answering ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions in the study of a contemporary phenomenon, bounded in a real-life context, and anchored in previous theory(ies). Where the unit of data should be purposefully and/or theoretically selected and captured with in-depth insights of the complexities involved. Further, the analysis of the data should be done inductively with one of the two purposes – extend current knowledge on the phenomenon and theory or generate new knowledge on the phenomenon and building new theory”.

Why Qualitative Case Study Research Only

A qualitative method such as Case Study advances the understanding of the phenomenon by asking question like How, What and Why and follows qualitative process of enquiry. Using naturalistic data with rich description, and explanatory framework with theoretical anchoring deepens understanding of complex phenomenon. To support this in-depth inquiry, subject recruitment is done by purposive and or theoretical sampling. Data collection, and interpretation typically occur simultaneously. As data are collected, analysis begins with a process of coding in which the researcher identifies and names the theoretical concepts that appear in the data. Preliminary analysis of data gathered from early subjects informs recruitment and data collection for later subjects with whom emerging concepts are probed more fully. Concepts are examined for inter-relationships and assembled into a theoretical framework that advances understanding of the phenomenon.

For such a study the approach of theoretical anchoring is to show the limits of the theory where it fails to explain the phenomenon. This is done by drawing the boundary of the context very carefully. Once the boundaries are found, the new understanding about either the phenomenon or the theory or both can emerge once the limits are crossed. For example, the competitiveness of a multispecialty hospital has been studied by many researchers. Adding another study to that will not generate new knowledge. But once the environment is described as highly dynamic, the scenario changes. The researcher then focuses on the agility or resilience dimensions of the competitiveness and lands in a territory that is sparsely researched. New understanding and hence contribution may emerge.

With the possibility of generating new knowledge, a qualitative case study research not only increases the contribution of the research but also enhances the potential of citation – a much desired feature for a case research journal.

Developing Research Questions for Qualitative Case Study Research

As stated in the definition, the ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions are not questions that study causal relationships between variables. Instead they pertain to ‘issue based’ questions. What do we mean by issue based questions for qualitative case study research is stated here .

So, when should you use a case study approach?

Like any other research, it is important to ensure whether Qualitative Case Study Research is the appropriate strategy for the study being undertaking. Hence, before going forward with the study, the author should establish the rationale behind taking this approach. Further, one can consider whether to opt for with single-case study approach of multiple-case study approach. The guidelines to provide rationale about the case study approach can be found here .

Components of Qualitative Case Study Research

There are three components in the qualitative case study research which should clearly be explained in the manuscript. These are ‘Phenomenon’, ‘Context’ and ‘Theoretical Anchoring’. The meaning, relevance and confluence of the three can be found here

Data Capturing, Data Analysis and Rigour

Researchers have provided different ways of capturing and analyzing data for a qualitative case study research; however, we advocate in-depth interviews for data capturing and the use of Gioia Methodology for data analysis. Nonetheless, one may use different qualitative analysis process that can show rigour of research process. The link to the paper by Gioia, Corley and Hamilton (2012) is given here to understand the process of data capturing and analysis:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258174099

Please note that the choice of the method depends on the philosophical underpinning of the researcher (positivist, interpretivist or constructivist). In our journal we consider manuscripts that are built on interpretivist and constructive grounding. Hence, although, we advocate Gioia Method for analysis, we also encourage the authors to use Constructivist Grounded Theory, Phenomenology, Narrative Analysis, Thematic Analysis or Qualitative Content Analysis as their data analysis strategy. It is imperative to remember, that the research design should be qualitative case study research, however, analysis can be chosen based on the need of the study. Qualitative case study research provides this flexibility.

Ensuring Quality

Many researchers have, discussed about quality parameters in Qualitative Case Study Research. However, for the sake of simplicity and rigour at the same time, we draw from the works of Sharon Merriam and Robert Stake as discussed here .

Structure of a Qualitative Case Study Research

Although the structure of a qualitative case study research is similar to that of other qualitative research manuscripts, however, the need to of context and theory expansion/building requires key elements to be included in the structure. Hence, thoroughly go through the structure and checklist here .

SAJBMC aspires to be known as a qualitative case focused research journal which

1. Publishes ORIGINAL qualitative case study researches preferably from South Asia 2. Selects cases that clearly bifurcate between PHENOMENON, CONTEXT and THEORETICAL ANCHORING but written at the confluence of these three. 3. Reviews cases with an approach to IMPROVE rather than to reject 4. Provides SUPPORT to understand Qualitative Case Study Research 5. Responds QUICKLY: Revolving Door Desk review within 5-6 weeks and Transparent Peer review within 5-6 months In short, SAJBMC is a bouquet of qualitative cases study researches primarily from South Asia. However, we do accept cases globally.

The preferred manuscripts

As we expand the scope of the Journal we expect consider following 5 types of manuscripts 1) Phenomenon bases QCSR 2) Phenomenon Extension QCSR 3) Theory Extension or Theory Building QCSR 4) Review articles that provide avenues for future QCSR 5) Methodological articles that explains the process of QCSR or extends the methodology of conducting QCSR Further elaboration of the types of preferred manuscripts can be found here .

For the first three types of manuscript please ensure the following: • Cases studying CONTEMPORARY phenomenon in SPECIFIC context • NOT written with more than two-year-old issues/data

We also look forward to process studies as developed by Ann Langley

Some of the paper that will be provide significant insights in developing a high quality case study research are:

Siggelkow, N. (2007). Persuasion with case studies. Academy of management journal , 50 (1), 20-24.

Pratt, M. G. (2009). From the editors: For the lack of a boilerplate: Tips on writing up (and reviewing) qualitative research. Academy of management journal , 52 (5), 856-862.

Gehman, J., Glaser, V. L., Eisenhardt, K. M., Gioia, D., Langley, A., & Corley, K. G. (2018). Finding theory–method fit: A comparison of three qualitative approaches to theory building. Journal of Management Inquiry , 27 (3), 284-300.

Cunliffe, A. L., & Alcadipani, R. (2016). The politics of access in fieldwork: Immersion, backstage dramas, and deception. Organizational research methods , 19 (4), 535-561.

Cloutier, C., & Langley, A. (2020). What makes a process theoretical contribution?. Organization Theory , 1 (1), 2631787720902473.

Langley, A. N. N., Smallman, C., Tsoukas, H., & Van de Ven, A. H. (2013). Process studies of change in organization and management: Unveiling temporality, activity, and flow. Academy of management journal , 56 (1), 1-13.

Houghton, Catherine, Dympna Casey, David Shaw, and Kathy Murphy. "Rigour in qualitative case-study research." Nurse researcher 20, no. 4 (2013).

Boblin, S. L., Ireland, S., Kirkpatrick, H., & Robertson, K. (2013). Using Stake’s qualitative case study approach to explore implementation of evidence-based practice. Qualitative health research , 23 (9), 1267-1275.

Harrison, H., Birks, M., Franklin, R., & Mills, J. (2017, January). Case study research: Foundations and methodological orientations. In Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research (Vol. 18, No. 1).

Cases will be denied for publication if they

· Are NOT qualitative case study research

· Do NOT study a recent phenomenon of interest

· Selected phenomenon is a part of MBA course (Research topics should be beyond MBA courses).

· Do NOT have theoretical contributions

· ONLY describes the context. Provides answers to ‘What?’. Does not raise ‘Why?’ and ‘How?’ issue based questions. The research questions formulated based on the outcome of ‘What?’ tend to be shallow and may NOT be researchable.

· Are written with more than two-year-old issues/data

· Are HYPOTHESIS based empirical researches

· Are TEACHING cases

· Situation is FICTITIOUS

· Written in an autobiographical mode highlighting a person living or dead

You may like to check the editorial to better understand, if you are on the right path

Seminal Case Study Research

Historically, case study research was not prevalently used. However, some famous studies, which changed the course of organizational studies, were primarily case study research. Please note that these are not qualitative case study research however, they clearly show how confluence of context and phenomenon to develop theory . You can read the brief about these studies here .

Recipe for desk rejection

Despite availability of plethora of literature on writing qualitative case study research, we have seen that most cases submitted to the Journal face desk rejection. Although, we have a policy to Improve over Reject, many manuscripts that are submitted to do fulfill the minimum quality parameter. Detailed pointers explaining the common reasons for desk rejection are provided here .

Abhishek, P., & Pratap, M. (2020). Achieving Lean Warehousing Through Value Stream Mapping. South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases , 9(3), 387-401.

Eisenhardt, K. (1989). Building Theory from case study research. Academy of Management Review, 14 , 532-550.

Gioia, D. A., & Chittipeddi, K. (1991). Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation. Strategic Management Journal , 12, 433-448.

Gioia, D. A., Corley, K. G., & Hamilton, A. L. (2013). Seeking qualitative rigor in inductive research: Notes on the Gioia methodology. Organizational research methods , 16(1), 15-31.

Given, L. M. (Ed.). (2008). The Sage encyclopedia of qualitative research methods . Sage publications.

Langley, A. (1999). Strategies for theorizing from process data. Academy of Management Review , 24, 691-710.

Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Thousand Oaks: CA: SAGE.

Malkamäki, K., Hiltunen, E., & Aromaa, E. (2021). The Role of Trust in the Strategic Management Process: A Case Study of Finnish Grocery Retail Company Kesko Ltd. South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases , 10(1), 21-34.

Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Stake, R. (1995). The Art of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks: CA: SAGE.

Yin, R. (2018). Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

• Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS)
• Indian Citation Index (ICI)
• Research Papers in Economics (RePEc)
• UGC-CARE (GROUP II)

This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics

South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases is hosted on Sage Peer Review; a web based online submission and peer review system. Please read the Manuscript Submission guidelines below, and then visit https://peerreview.sagepub.com/bmc to login and submit your article online.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases (SAJBMC) will be reviewed.

There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.

As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere.

If you have any questions about publishing with Sage, please visit the Sage Journal Solutions Portal

1. What do we publish?

1.1 Aims & Scope 1.2 Article types 1.3 Writing your paper

2. Editorial policies

2.1 Peer review policy 2.2 Authorship 2.3 Acknowledgements 2.4 Funding 2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests 2.6 Research data

3. Publishing Policies

3.1 Publication ethics 3.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement 3.3 Open access and author archiving

4. Preparing your manuscript

4.1 Formatting 4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics 4.3 Supplemental material 4.4 Reference style

5. Submitting your manuscript

5.1 Information required for completing your submission 5.2 Permissions

6. On acceptance and publication

6.1 Sage Production 6.2 Online First publication 6.3 Access to your published article 6.4 Promoting your article

7. Further information

1.1 Aims & Scope

Before submitting your manuscript to South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases (SAJBMC) , please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.

1.2 Article types

South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases (SAJBMC)   invites stimulating original, unpublished qualitative case study research, based on primary data, or significant experience of learning on various facets of management. Pure and applied research does not fall under the domain of SAJBMC. Fictitious cases are not welcome.  SAJBMC aims at international relevance and encourages authors from all over the world, but a certain preference will be given to papers that focus on socio-economic context of South Asian region.

For Preferred Case Focus Pleas See Aim and Scope

Authors should ensure consent and anonymity of the participants of the study and follow Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) .

Please format your submissions as per the following guidelines:

• Abstract: 300 hundred words abstract, which briefly includes the purpose of the study, the phenomenon and context studied, the methodology adapted, and the theoretical contributions
• Keywords (5–7 words).
• For detailed structure of the paper please click here .
• All submissions should only be in MS word document. 
• Follow APA style. Take extra care in the reference section. Check if all citations are appearing in the reference section and vice- versa.
• Remove all notes. Convert them into citation and referencing. For a case written with the help of secondary data, endnotes may be retained.
• Ensure the proper style of citation and referencing for materials downloaded from the website. 
• All figures and tables should be in black and white. Colour displays are not acceptable.
• Please remember that in a black and white print, reproduction of half-tone figures is of poor quality. 
• As much as possible avoid copy paste of tables and graphs. Redraw afresh. Copy pasted figures or tables are not accepted.
• Each table and each figure should have table and figure numbers and titles. Separate numbering for tables and figures. Each table and figure must have a source.
• The entire document, including tables, figures, and graphs, must be in Times New Roman 12 point font size with 1.5 line spacing. 
• Exercise utmost care to avoid spelling and grammatical errors. Proofread the copy carefully. Take help of experts
• The full document, including abstract, tables, figures, graphs and references, should not exceed 7000 words.
• For the benefit of the international audience, all financial figures expressed in any currency should have USD equivalent as well. Units of million and billion should be used.
• Annexures (diagrams, images, figures, tables, graphs): Please follow instructions as detailed in the section ‘The Guidelines’.
• Endnotes: These should be consecutively numbered and presented at the end of the article.
• Bio briefs: Please furnish brief particulars of each author in not more than 25 words.
• No need to submit a teaching note. Please note the journal of publishes only research case studies.
• Endnotes should be numbered serially, the numbers embedded in the manuscript. The notes should be presented at the end of the article. Notes must contain more than a mere reference. 
• Use British rather than American spellings. Use the ‘z’ variant of British spelling. 
• It is the responsibility of authors to ensure that their articles are written in an acceptable international standard of English. 
• Submissions should use non-sexist and non-racist language. 
• When referring to social actors ‘woman/women’ should be used, not ‘female/females’, unless the context requires otherwise. Similarly, ‘man/men’ should be used, not ‘male/males’. ‘Female’ and ‘male’ should be used when referring to the construction of social identity. 
• Use single quotes throughout. Double quotes should only be used within single quotes. Spellings of words in quotations should not be changed. Quotations of 45 words or more should be separated from the text and indented with a line space above and below. 
• While referring to periods/decades, use ‘nineteenth century’/‘1980s’. Spell out numbers from one to nine, 10 and above to remain in figures. However, for exact measurements use only figures (3 km, 9 percent not %). Use thousands and millions (e.g., not lakhs and crores). 
• Use of italics and diacriticals should be minimized but used consistently. Avoid excessive use of italics for emphasis, but use italics for book titles, journal names, and foreign words.

1.3 Writing your paper

The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on  how to get published , plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.

1.3.1 Make your article For information and guidance on how to make your article more discoverable, visit our Gateway page on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online  How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online

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2.1 Peer review policy

Papers received will first undergo editorial scrutiny to judge suitability. The shortlisted papers will go through a double-blind peer-review process. The journal uses TURNITIN software to check the originality of submissions.

Differentiated Review Process SAJBMC distinguishes itself in the 'structure' and 'approach' of its unique review process.

Revolving Door Desk Review: We ensure that the initial desk review is completed in five to six weeks’ time. The outcome of this stage decides if the case can be taken forward for peer review. Quick turnaround time helps the author to revise and resubmit or, for cases, the author may consider some other journal. Authors are encouraged to remind the editor if Desk Review is taking more than three weeks.

Transparent Peer Review: It is a blind review by two is generally completed in three to four months. Cases are accepted only if both reviewers recommend 'Acceptance'. Any dispute is resolved by the editor. The SAJBMC reviews are done with an approach of 'Review and Improve' and not 'Review and Reject'.

We work with those see a potential to convert them into good research publications. We provide detailed tips for to authors who are in their early stage of career.

2.2 Authorship

All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.

If the named authors for a manuscript change at any point between submission and acceptance , an Authorship Change Form must be completed and digitally signed by all authors (including any added or removed) . An addition of an author is only permitted following feedback raised during peer review. Completed forms can be uploaded at Revision Submission stage or emailed to the Journal Editorial Office contact (listed on the journal’s manuscript submission guidelines). All requests will be moderated by the Editor and/or Sage staff.

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Family ties and corporate tax avoidance

• Published: 03 April 2024

Cite this article

• Geng Niu 1   na1 ,
• Yi Wang 2   na1 ,
• Yang Zhou 3   na1 &
• Xu Gan 4   na1  

A well-established body of international business research examines how the institutional environment influences corporate decisions. We add to this literature by investigating the unexplored link between family, a fundamental institution in human society, and corporate tax decisions. Applying theories on social norms and the evolution of moral boundaries, we argue that the strength of family ties in a society increases corporate tax avoidance by narrowing the scope of moral responsibilities. We confirm this argument by conducting regression analyses using a large sample of firms from 44 countries. In addition, the positive effect of family ties on tax avoidance is attenuated for firms in countries with inclusive political institutions and is amplified for family firms. Using a sample of U.S. companies, we also find that firms avoid more taxes when they are located in states with stronger family ties and when their CEOs are from countries with stronger family ties, indicating that both the social norms that surround firms and those that are embedded in the origin countries of the managers affect firm tax decisions. Our study implies that the institution of family provides a valuable perspective to understand the international differences in corporate behaviors.

Plain language summary

In a globalized business environment, comprehending the elements that sway corporate actions is vital. Corporate tax avoidance, which could result in significant revenue deficits for worldwide governments, is one focus area. Despite extensive studies on formal institutions like laws and regulations, the influence of informal institutions, such as family, on corporate tax strategies is not well understood. This research addresses this gap by investigating how the intensity of family ties in various societies affects corporate tax avoidance. This research scrutinized data from 148,459 firm-year observations across 44 countries from 2002 to 2020. The World Values Survey, which gauges the intensity of family ties in each country, was utilized by researchers and compared to the degree of tax avoidance by companies, defined as the disparity between the tax on pre-tax income and the actual taxes paid. The study is observational and employs statistical techniques to account for different factors that could impact the results, ensuring the findings are solid and dependable. The researchers discovered that companies in nations with strong family ties tend to avoid more taxes than those in nations with weaker family ties. This implies that in societies where family bonds are strong, there may be a lesser moral obligation to pay taxes for the welfare of the wider public. Additionally, the research examined whether inclusive political institutions (which spread power widely and have robust governance) or family control of firms moderated this relationship. It was found that inclusive political institutions lessen the positive effect of family ties on tax avoidance, while family-controlled firms are more likely to engage in tax avoidance in societies with strong family ties. The study's findings are significant. They underscore that informal institutions like family ties can influence corporate behavior just as much as formal regulations. This understanding could assist policymakers, regulators, and international organizations in understanding the cultural factors that drive tax avoidance and in formulating strategies to address it. The findings also suggest that fostering inclusive political institutions could counteract the negative effects of strong family ties on tax compliance. In conclusion, while the study doesn't assert that avoiding taxes is inherently bad, as firms may reinvest the saved money in ways that ultimately benefit society, it does provide a clearer understanding of the intricate relationship between culture, institutions, and corporate behavior. The hope is that this research will lay the groundwork for future studies on the determinants of tax avoidance and the design of tax systems that consider cultural factors. This text was initially drafted using artificial intelligence, then reviewed by the author(s) to ensure accuracy .

Il existe un ensemble bien établi de recherches en affaires internationales examinant comment l'environnement institutionnel influence les décisions des entreprises. Nous enrichissons cette littérature en étudiant le lien inexploré entre les décisions fiscales des entreprises et la famille, institution fondamentale de la société humaine. En appliquant les théories des normes sociales et de l'évolution des frontières morales, nous argumentons que la force des liens familiaux dans une société augmente l'évitement de l'impôt sur les sociétés en réduisant la portée des responsabilités morales. Nous confirmons cet argument en effectuant des analyses de régression à partir d'un large échantillon d'entreprises de 44 pays. En outre, l'impact positif des liens familiaux sur l'évasion fiscale est atténué pour les entreprises des pays dotés d'institutions politiques inclusives et est amplifié pour les entreprises familiales. En utilisant un échantillon d'entreprises américaines, nous constatons également que les entreprises évitent davantage d'impôts lorsqu'elles sont situées dans des États où les liens familiaux sont plus forts et lorsque leurs PDG sont originaires de pays où les liens familiaux sont plus forts, ce qui indique que les normes sociales qui entourent les entreprises et celles qui sont ancrées dans les pays d'origine des dirigeants influencent les décisions fiscales de l'entreprise. Notre recherche implique que l'institution de la famille offre une perspective précieuse pour comprendre les différences internationales dans les comportements des entreprises.

Un corpus bien establecido de publicaciones de investigación en negocios internacionales examina como el entorno institucional influencia las decisiones corporativas. Añadimos a esta literatura al investigar en vínculo inexplorado entre la familia, una institución fundamental en la sociedad humana, y las decisiones fiscales corporativas. Al aplicar teorías sobre normas sociales y la evolución de los limites morales, argumentamos que la fortaleza de los lazos familiares en una sociedad aumenta la evasión corporativa de impuestos al reducir el alcanza del ámbito de las responsabilidades morales. Confirmamos este argumento al llevar a cabo análisis de regresión utilizando una amplia muestra de empresas de 44 países. Adicionalmente, el efecto positivo de los lazos familiares es atenuado en países con instituciones políticas inclusivas y se amplifica para las empresas familiares. Usando una muestra de empresas estadounidenses, también encontramos que las empresas evaden más impuestos cuando están ubicadas en estados con mayores vínculos familiares y cuando sus directores ejecutivos (CEOs) son oriundos de países con lazos familiares más fuertes, esto indica que tanto las normas sociales que rodean las empresas como aquellas que están integradas en los países de origen de los gerentes afecta las decisiones fiscales corporativas. Nuestro estudio implica que la institución de la familia suministra una perspectiva valiosa para entender las diferencias internacionales en comportamientos corporativos.

Um corpo bem estabelecido de pesquisas em negócios internacionais examina como o ambiente institucional influencia decisões corporativas. Acrescentamos a esta literatura ao investigar a ligação inexplorada entre família, uma instituição fundamental na sociedade humana, e decisões fiscais corporativas. Aplicando teorias sobre normas sociais e a evolução de fronteiras morais, argumentamos que a força de laços familiares numa sociedade aumenta a evasão fiscal de empresas ao estreitar o escopo de responsabilidades morais. Confirmamos este argumento conduzindo análises de regressão utilizando uma grande amostra de empresas de 44 países. Além disso, o efeito positivo de laços familiares na evasão fiscal é atenuado para empresas em países com instituições políticas inclusivas e amplificado para empresas familiares. Utilizando uma amostra de empresas americanas, descobrimos também que empresas evitam mais impostos quando estão localizadas em estados com laços familiares mais fortes e quando seus CEO são de países com laços familiares mais fortes, indicando que tanto as normas sociais que cercam as empresas como as que são incorporados nos países de origem dos gestores afetam decisões fiscais das empresas. Nosso estudo sugere que a instituição da família fornece uma perspectiva valiosa para compreender as diferenças internacionais em comportamentos corporativos.

国际商务研究既有文献研究了制度环境如何影响公司决策。我们通过调查家庭 (人类社会的基本制度) 与公司税务决策之间未经探索的联系来补充这一文献。运用社会规范和道德界限演变的理论, 我们认为社会中的家庭关系强度通过缩小道德责任范围使企业避税增加。我们通过使用来自 44 个国家的大量的公司样本进行回归分析来证实这一论点。此外, 家族关系对避税的积极影响对于具有包容性政治制度的国家的企业来说会减弱, 而对家族企业来说则会放大。使用美国公司的样本, 我们还发现, 当公司位于家庭关系较强的州以及首席执行官来自家庭关系较牢固的国家时, 公司会避免更多的税收, 这表明公司周围的社会规范和管理者原籍国的社会规范都会影响公司的税收决策。我们的研究表明, 家庭制度为理解企业行为的国际差异提供了一个有价值的视角。

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A large literature focuses on the behaviors of family firms (Gedajlovic, Carney, Chrisman, & Kellermanns, 2012 ). In contrast, our study focuses on the impact of family ties at the society level. The effect generated by society-level family ties differs from that coming from family control of firms. First, family control at the firm level affects family firms, while the strength of family ties in a society affects the behaviors of all types of firms embedded in that environment. Second, comparing family firms and non-family firms in a given country does not account for the fact that there is heterogeneity in the strengths of familistic values across societies. Third, family firms are complex organizations that are different from non-family firms in several separate dimensions (Calabro, Chrisman, & Kano, 2022 ; Gedajlovic et al., 2012 ). In contrast, society-level family ties affect firm behaviors by operating as an informal institutional factor fostering shared values and norms in the environment in which firms are embedded.

We provide empirical evidence that the strength of family ties in a society reduces individuals’ tax morale. See Online Appendix Table OA1 .

We determine the location of a firm by the location of the firm’s headquarter.

Since the number of observations differs across different waves, averaging across all observations for each country implies that large waves are given more weights than small waves. We obtain similar regression results when we first average at the country-wave level and then average the resulting means across waves for each country. See Online Appendix Table OA2 .

Atwood et al. ( 2012 ) use pre-tax income before exceptional items instead of pre-tax income minus special items. We modify their measure of PTEBX to extend our sample to 2020.

We also consider several alternative measures of inclusive political institutions and report the corresponding results in Online Appendix Tables OA7 and OA10 .

As the three measures of inclusive political institutions in Table 3 are highly correlated with each other, in the remaining empirical analyses we focus on the effects of Voice & accountability for brevity. The results using the other two measures are reported in Online Appendix Tables OA , OA11 , and OA12 .

We check the robustness of the instrumental variable results by including additional cultural dimensions and find that our results hold. See Online Appendix Table OA14 .

After including a number of additional control variables, we still find significant positive coefficients on the two alternative measures of family ties. See Online Appendix Table OA15 .

We also consider the amount of taxes avoided as an alternative measure of corporate tax avoidance and report the corresponding results in Online Appendix Table OA16 .

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Acknowledgements

We thank Lemma Senbet (the Editor) and two anonymous referees for constructive comments and valuable suggestions. Niu acknowledges the financial support received from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71904160), the Humanities and Social Science Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China (23XJC790005), and the Higher Education Discipline Innovation Project of China (No. B16040). Wang acknowledges the financial support received from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71971046; No. 72172029). Zhou acknowledges the financial support received from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 72273098) and the Humanities and Social Science Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China (No. 21YJC790172). Gan acknowledges the financial support received from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 72303073) and Huazhong University of Science and Technology Double First-Class Funds for Humanities and Social Science. All authors contributed equally to this work.

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Geng Niu, Yi Wang, Yang Zhou and Xu Gan have contributed equally to this work.

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Research Institute of Economics and Management, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, 610074, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China

School of Fintech, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Dalian, 116025, Liaoning, People’s Republic of China

School of Economics and Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, Hubei, People’s Republic of China

School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, People’s Republic of China

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Niu, G., Wang, Y., Zhou, Y. et al. Family ties and corporate tax avoidance. J Int Bus Stud (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-024-00692-9

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Received : 03 October 2022

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Accepted : 01 February 2024

Published : 03 April 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-024-00692-9

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