Governing thesis
This framework treats business-case analysis as a disciplined way to train decision-making under ambiguity. A case is not merely a story, a financial problem, or a class discussion. It is a compressed arena where evidence, economics, incentives, timing, ethics, and implementation collide.
Feynman template
Phenomenon -> observable -> operational definition -> symmetry/field/probability rule -> derivation. The key work algorithm is to make nature calculable by isolating the decisive observable.
Newton template
Phenomenon -> ratio/diagram/table -> proposition -> corollary cascade -> universalization. The key work algorithm is to transform empirical regularity into mathematical architecture.
Executive decision template
Dilemma -> protagonist -> evidence -> economics -> stakeholders -> alternatives -> recommendation -> execution -> learning. The key work algorithm is accountable managerial judgment.
The executive decision machine
Strategy atlas: 9 systems, 96 strategy atoms
Click a system tab, then click a strategy. Each strategy is written as an executable case-preparation move rather than a superficial label.
Overlapping prevalence ranking
The counts are reconstruction weights over the 300-case corpus. Because one case can use multiple strategies, prevalence values are intentionally overlapping.
300 case / chapter / slide-deck units
The corpus preserves the earlier 300-unit scale, but the unit now points downward into ten micro-moves. Use the search box or source-family filter.
| # | Period | Source family | Case unit | Decision question | Result | Strategies | Zoom |
|---|
3000 micro-case decision moves
Every one of the 300 cases decomposes into ten micro-moves: protagonist, decision, constraints, stakeholders, evidence, economics, alternatives, stress test, recommendation, and learning loop. This makes the page 10x deeper without copying proprietary case text.
Exhibit engine
Financial exhibit
Ask what changed in revenue, margin, cash, working capital, and capital intensity. Convert accounting lines into decision drivers.
Market exhibit
Separate total market size from reachable segment, adoption path, customer willingness to pay, and channel feasibility.
Operations exhibit
Find capacity, queue, defect, rework, utilization, and handoff bottlenecks. Then ask which constraint governs throughput.
Organization exhibit
Read org charts, incentives, reporting lines, and decision rights as causal mechanisms, not decorative context.
Timeline exhibit
Use chronology to avoid false causality. Ask what happened first, what was anticipated, and what lagged.
Risk exhibit
Turn risks into triggers, owners, mitigations, and decision-update rules.
Classroom engine
Opening
Start with a decision-forcing question: What should the protagonist do now? The opening creates commitment.
Board plan
Use board columns for facts, assumptions, alternatives, risks, and recommendation. The board becomes shared memory.
Socratic ladder
Move from what happened, to why, to so what, to now what. The ladder prevents the room from staying descriptive.
Counterposition
Stage disagreement around assumptions, not personalities. A good class surfaces the conditions under which each answer is right.
Participation
Manage who contributes, whose expertise is used, who is silent, and whether the room remains fair, safe, and challenging.
Closing
Convert the specific case into a transferable principle and a decision rule for future situations.
Recommendation engine: memo and deck logic
One-page memo
Recommendation + rationale + risks + implementation + learning trigger
Forces the writer to state the action, not merely summarize the case.
Assertion-headline deck
Claim -> evidence -> implication -> decision
Each slide becomes a managerial claim supported by exhibits.
Appendix defense
Main story clean; backup analysis below the line
Maintains executive clarity while preserving analytical defensibility.
Implementation roadmap
Milestone + owner + metric + review cadence
Turns recommendation into observable action.
Worked reconstructions
Publication boundaries and method sources
This is an original methodological framework. It does not reproduce third-party case text, teaching notes, slides, exhibits, course packets, proprietary summaries, answer keys, or paid educational materials. It abstracts general business-analysis methods into original taxonomies, algorithms, and decision templates.
Transfer library
The purpose of the project is to build a reusable executive decision engine for business, policy, product, investment, and organizational domains.