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Business Analysis > BA Foundation v1 > Flashcards

BA Foundation v1 Flashcards

1
Q

What are the five stages of the Business Change Lifecycle?

A

Alignment, Definition, Design, Implementation, Realisation

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2
Q

What is the mnemonic for the stages of the Business Change Lifecycle?

A

ADDIR

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3
Q

If a systems analyst is concerned with IT systems, what is a business analyst concerned with?

A

Business systems

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4
Q

What does the mnemonic POPIT refer to?

A

The four views of a business system (people, organisation, process, IT)

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5
Q

The business analyst needs competencies that fall into three broad groups or types. What are they?

A

Professional techniques, business knowledge, personal qualities.

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6
Q

Name two tools that can be used to analyse the external environment of an organisation

A

PESTLE and Porter’s Five Forces model. The results of applying these techniques feed into the SWOT analysis [OT].

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7
Q

What does PESTLE stand for?

A

Political, Economic, Sociocultural, Technological, Legal and Environmental factors

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8
Q

What does Porter’s Five Forces model enable you to do?

A

Evaluate an industry’s profitability, and hence determine how attractive it is.

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9
Q

Can you name any of Porter’s Five Forces?

A

Threat of new entrants, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, threat of substitute products/services, rivalry among existing industry competitors

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10
Q

How is strategy developed? Can you think of four broad starting points for strategy?

A

Through a formal planning process; from the ideas of an entrepreneurial founder (e.g. Mark Zuckerberg); through intrapreneurial managers in a decentralised organisation; through the political influence of powerful groups in the organisation.

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11
Q

What is the M in MOST? Give an example M for a car dealership.

A

Mission - what business we are in, what we aim to achieve: e.g. to be the number one car dealership in the UK

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12
Q

What is the O in MOST? Give an example O for a car dealership.

A

Objectives - goals for measuring our achievement: e.g. to increase new vehicle sales by 25% over 5 years

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13
Q

What is the S in MOST? Give an example S for a car dealership.

A

Strategy - our broad approach: e.g. boost sales leading up to new registration dates

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14
Q

What is the T in MOST? Give an example T for a car dealership.

A

Tactics - the detailed means we will use: 8 weeks before the new registration dates, write to all customers whose vehicles are coming up to 3 years old

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15
Q

Name two tools for understanding the (internal) capabilities of an organisation

A

Resource Audit and Portfolio Analysis (using the Boston Matrix). The results of applying these techniques feed into the SWOT analysis [SW].

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16
Q

Strategy development can be ‘inside-out’ or ‘outside-in’. What is the ‘inside-out’ view?

A

In the ‘inside-out’ view, strategy starts from the company’s core competences. The core competences enable the company to create new products and services, and that is where competitiveness comes from.

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17
Q

Strategy development can be ‘inside-out’ or ‘outside-in’. What is the ‘outside-in’ view?

A

In the ‘outside-in’ view, the external environment creates opportunities and threats, and that gives the stimulus for developing strategy.

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18
Q

What is a resource audit?

A

The resource audit identifies strengths and weaknesses by looking at the company’s tangible and intangible (know how, reputation) resources

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19
Q

Name three types of tangible resource.

A

Physical, Human, Financial

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20
Q

Name two types of intangible resource.

A

Know-how, Reputation

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21
Q

What is the basic idea behind the Boston Box?

A

Many companies offer a range (a portfolio) of products and services, and these will fall into four broad categories. A new product or service will start as a Wild Cat, and then go clockwise round the box until it dies or is revitalised.

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22
Q

What two factors does the Boston Box look at?

A

Market growth and market share

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23
Q

Can you name any of the four categories in the Boston Box?

A

Wild Cat, Star, Cash Cow, Dog

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24
Q

The SWOT draws together the results of the internal and external analysis. What does SWOT stand for?

A

Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats.

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25
Q

When you implement a strategy, there are two models that are meant to help make sure it is successful. What are they?

A

The McKinsey 7S Model and the Balanced Business Scorecard (BBS).

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26
Q

The McKinsey 7S Model says that every organisation consists of seven components. Can you name any of them?

A

Strategy, Structure, Systems [three hard components]; Skills, Staff, Style, Shared Values [four soft components].

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27
Q

What is the basic idea behind the McKinsey 7S model?

A

When you are implementing a strategy, you need to pay attention to all seven components (or levers).

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28
Q

There is a simple mnemonic to help you remember the four components of the balanced business scorecard (BBS). What is it?

A

CLIF - Customer; Learning and Growth; Internal Business Process; Financial

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29
Q

What is the key feature of the BBS?

A

It combines financial and non-financial components of the strategy

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30
Q

What does the acronym CSF stand for?

A

Critical Success Factor.

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31
Q

What is a CSF in practical terms?

A

Something an organisation must be good at in order to succeed. For example: high customer retention rate; excellent service provision

32
Q

What does the acronym KPI stand for?

A

Key Performance Indicator - the way we measure how well we are achieving the CSFs.

33
Q

What is a KPI in practical terms?

A

Something an organisation measures to find out how well it is doing, how well it is achieving its CSFs. For example: percentage of previous customers who buy again; customer feedback on service provision.

34
Q

What does the acronym PT stand for?

A

Performance Target.

35
Q

What is a PT in practical terms?

A

A performance target is a target for a specific area where we need to succeed. The KPI defines what we will measure, the PT defines the target value that we want to get to for the given KPI. For example: 50% of sales to previous customers; 98% of customers rate our service as ‘good’ or better.

36
Q

Isaksen and Treffinger developed a model or framework for problem solving. What is one of the key messages of this model?

A

It is important to investigate and analyse, before jumping to conclusions.

37
Q

What are the six steps in the Isaksen and Treffinger problem-solving model?

A

Mess-finding, data-finding, problem-finding, idea-finding, solution-finding, acceptance-finding

38
Q

What mnemonic can you use for remembering the steps in their problem solving model?

A

My Dog Pants If She’s Active.

39
Q

What does the Business Analysis Process Model describe?

A

The key stages of a business analysis project

40
Q

What are the five [or, six] steps in the Business Analysis Process Model (BAPM)

A

Investigate situation, consider perspectives, analyse needs, evaluate options, define requirements [, and deliver the changes]

41
Q

What mnemonic can you use for the steps in the Business Analysis process model?

A

I Call All Elephants Dumbo, ICAED(D)

42
Q

If you are working with an unfamiliar organisation, division or department, what should you do before you start the Investigation stage of the project?

A

Gather and study background information (e.g. company reports, company website, manuals and documentation, org chart)

43
Q

There are two broad types of investigation technique. What are they?

A

Quantitative and qualitative

44
Q

Name some qualitative investigation techniques

A

Interviews, Observation, Workshops, Hothouse Workshops, Focus Groups, Scenarios, Prototyping

45
Q

Name some quantitative investigation techniques

A

Questionnaires/Surveys, Special Purpose Records, Activity Sampling, Documentation Analysis

46
Q

Once you have investigated the situation, you need to document it. What techniques might you use to do this?

A

Apart from written reports, you could use graphical techniques such as: rich pictures or mind maps. These seem to be favoured by the syllabus. Techniques like business process models are also possible.

47
Q

What is a stakeholder?

A

Anyone who has an interest in, or may be affected by the issue under consideration

48
Q

How would you ensure that you identify all stakeholders?

A

You could hold a workshop with people who are knowledgeable about the organisation and the proposed project.

49
Q

Do competitors count as a stakeholder?

A

Yes

50
Q

What is the Stakeholder Wheel?

A

The Stakeholder Wheel shows generic stakeholder categories that apply to many projects.

51
Q

Name some of the stakeholder categories that appear in the Stakeholder Wheel

A

Customers, Partners, Suppliers, Regulators, Employees, Managers, Owners, Competitors

52
Q

What tool would you use for stakeholder analysis?

A

The Power/Interest Grid

53
Q

For each stakeholder, you need to capture their individual perspective on the part of the organisation that is in the scope for the project. How would you capture this individual perspective?

A

Use the CATWOE framework developed by Peter Checkland

54
Q

What does the acronym CATWOE stand for?

A

Customer, Actor, Transformation, Worldview, Owner, Environment

55
Q

Checkland uses the term ‘root definition’. What is this?

A

It is a summary in one sentence of the content of the CATWOE. Hence, it is a one-sentence summary of the individual business perspective.

56
Q

When you use the CATWOE framework, it is important to work through it in the right order. What would you do first? And what next?

A

Start with the Worldview, since that underpins everything else. Then look at the Transformation and the Customer [WCT].

57
Q

Once you understand a stakeholder’s perspective, you can draw up a conceptual model for the system. What is this conceptual model called.

A

BAM - Business Activity Model

58
Q

A BAM includes five types of business activity. What are they?

A

Plan - Enable - Do - Monitor - Control

59
Q

In what order should activities be added to the BAM?

A

Start with Do, then Enable, then Plan. Then add Monitor and finally Control.

60
Q

How many BAMs will you have initially?

A

One for each individual business perspective - so one for each stakeholder.

61
Q

How will you bring all these different BAMs together?

A

Draw up a single ‘consensus model’.

62
Q

What is a ‘functional view’ of an organisation?

A

A functional view is based on the different specialised functional areas such as sales, operations and accounts. This is a vertical view. It is internally focussed.

63
Q

We will use a process view of the organisation. How does this differ from a functional view?

A

A process view emphasises the need for co-operation between all the participants to achieve the desired customer service. It is a horizontal view and is more focused on the outcome for the customer.

64
Q

What is Michael Porter’s value chain?

A

An alternative way of analysing the activities performed by the organisation.

65
Q

Michael Porter’s Value Chain identifies two types of activity. What are they?

A

Primary activities and support activities

66
Q

Give some examples of primary activities

A

Inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing & sales, service.

67
Q

Give some examples of support activities

A

Infrastructure, HR, Technology, Procurement

68
Q

What is a value proposition, according to Kaplan and Norton?

A

A value proposition is a definition of an organisation’s product or service that will demonstrate to customers that we understand and can satisfy their needs

69
Q

What are the main attributes that make up a successful value proposition?

A

Functionality, price, quality, choice, availability/timing. [Choice = do we have a standard product, or can it be tailored to the customer’s needs? Availability = how quickly can we respond to customer requests]

70
Q

What are business processes triggered by?

A

Events

71
Q

What type of events can trigger a business process? Name three.

A

An internal event, an external event, a time-based or scheduled event.

72
Q

A business process is triggered by an event and includes five components. What are they?

A

Tasks, the process flow, decision points, actors, the outcome.

73
Q

Name two standards (that is, notations) for modelling business processes

A

UML Activity Diagrams; BPMN (Business Process Modelling Notation)

74
Q

What is a handoff

A

The flow of work from one actor to another

75
Q

Why are handoffs worth looking at closely?

A

They are a frequent source of problems in business processes, because they can cause delays, errors and bottlenecks.

76
Q

Which swim lane is usually at the top of a process model?

A

The customer swim lane

77
Q

Can you think of some ways you might improve a process, once you have mapped the ‘as-is’?

A

Simplify it; remove bottlenecks; change the sequence of tasks; re-define the process boundary; automate the process; re-design the process

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