CGRM7003 Chap.6 Case Analysis and Defensible Recommendations
Case Analysis and Defensible Recommendations
Turn the packet into a decision
The case method begins with a decision maker, a controllable problem and a deadline. Evidence is organised by legal authority, climate effect, cost, stakeholder interest, implementation and uncertainty rather than retold in source order.
Commit and invite challenge
Distinct alternatives expose trade-offs.
A recommendation names an action, decisive criteria, risk control and review trigger, then answers the objection that attacks its central premise.
Read the packet in purposeful passes
Use the opening page to identify the apparent decision, then skim headings and exhibits to see the evidence landscape. On the careful pass, mark facts by function rather than source order.
Record contradictions and missing information. The result should be a short decision statement naming the actor, action and time horizon, not a chronological summary of events.
Build options that expose a real trade-off
Alternatives should differ in actor, mechanism, timing or consequence. Adopt, adopt carefully and adopt after consultation are usually one option dressed three ways.
A useful comparison might retain a claim with stronger evidence, narrow it to measured reductions or retire it and communicate a transition pathway instead. Distinct options make the decisive criterion visible.
Use the objection to improve the design
The strongest counterargument attacks the premise on which the recommendation turns.
Concede what is true, then change the design or explain why the remaining benefit still prevails. Add phasing, support, monitoring or escalation only when it answers the objection. The final paragraph should allocate the next action to a named actor and preserve a clear decision.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Decision maker and live choice
- 02
Issue spotting and material facts
- 03
Criteria grounded in the packet
- 04
Distinct and realistic alternatives
- 05
Recommendation and implementation
- 06
Strongest objection and rebuttal
- 07
Monitoring and escalation triggers
Worked example · free
Choose exit, engagement or escalation
- 2Define the fund's decision and powers.
- 4Compare climate effect, leverage and risk.
- 3Recommend a trigger and consequence.
Key terms
- Decision Criterion
- A standard used to compare realistic alternatives in a case.
- Material Fact
- A fact capable of changing the decision or the weight given to an alternative.
- Review Trigger
- An observable event or date requiring reconsideration or escalation.
Case Analysis and Defensible Recommendations FAQ
How do I avoid summarising the case?
State the decision maker and live choice before recounting facts. Organise evidence under criteria and use each fact to compare alternatives. Background that does not change the decision can be cut.
What makes alternatives genuinely different?
They should vary the action, actor, timing, mechanism or consequence. Adopting a proposal carefully and adopting it after consultation are usually versions of one option rather than distinct alternatives.
What is a strong conclusion in a climate-law case?
Name who acts, under what authority, using which instrument and evidence. State the principal risk, answer the strongest objection and give the date or result that triggers review or escalation.
How should peer feedback change the final recommendation?
Identify the challenged premise and decide whether it was central. If it failed, revise the option, actor, instrument, distributional repair or review trigger. If it survived, explain why the evidence still supports it. Preserve a clear decision instead of ending with balance alone. Show the revision explicitly in the final presentation structure and conclusion.
Assessment move
Read each case in passes: identify the decision, skim the evidence landscape, mark facts by function, build distinct alternatives and commit to one route. Practise a two-minute defence that states the recommendation, decisive criterion, strongest objection and review trigger without retelling the packet. Record the premise most likely to be challenged and prepare evidence for it.
After discussion, write what changed: the option, actor, instrument, distributional repair or monitoring trigger. If nothing changed, explain why the objection did not reach the decisive premise rather than repeating the conclusion. Time three preparation rounds. In the first, write the decision and four criteria without prose.
In the second, give each alternative one advantage, one cost and one implementation condition drawn from the packet. In the third, draft the recommendation and strongest rebuttal. Read it aloud in two minutes. A partner should be able to identify the hinge without seeing your notes. After the challenge, revise the option or control if the attacked premise was decisive.
Preserve a clear action even when acknowledging uncertainty, and end with the evidence or date that forces the next decision.
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