BCS Business Analysis Practice Flashcards
Mark is a recently appointed business analyst, working for a government department dealing with international trade and regulations. He has been asked to lead a project concerned with the development of a new policy framework, to assist in the agreement of trade regulations with other countries. He has been told by his manager to spend time understanding how such negotiations and interactions work and to consider the complex social dynamics of working in this department.
Mark has met and spoken with colleagues and key stakeholders. They have outlined the complex cultural differences between teams in the department, suggesting causes of issues and conflict and given him a wide range of (often conflicting) views of how things work.
Despite these meetings, Mark is still not entirely sure that he completely understands the business context of the project.
Which of the following techniques would Mark use to provide an overview of the entire business situation of the project?
Select one: A. Rich picture B. Scenario analysis C. Business activity modelling. D. SWOT analysis
Rich picture
The charity, LifeForOld, focuses on supporting elderly people so that they can stay in their own homes for as long as possible. This support is provided by a network of local volunteers. At a recent strategy meeting for LifeForOld, the following was agreed:
a) LifeForOld strives to improve the quality of life for the elderly.
b) LifeForOld helps the elderly stay in their homes by providing meals and professional care.
c) The number of elderly people supported by LifeForOld should increase by 5% over the next year.
d) Training is required for LifeForOld volunteers to make them aware of services and benefits available to elderly people.
e) LifeForOld needs to upgrade its kitchens so that it can produce more hot meals.
Which of the above discussion points align with the M and T elements of a MOST analysis?
Select one: A. a, b and c B. a, c and d C. b, d and e D. a, d and e
a, d and e
An IT recruitment company has asked its business analyst to review an early draft of a set of documents outlining the organisation’s Critical Success Factors (CSF) and Key Performance Indicators (KPI). The following KPIs have been identified:
a) Percentage of suppliers paid within 30 days of invoice.
b) Percentage of customers who, in an independent questionnaire, are content or very content with our services.
c) Percentage of candidates who have been offered a first interview within eight weeks of registering their details.
d) Gross profit.
e) Number of new job listings per month on our website.
Which of these KPIs would align to the CSF ‘maintain customer satisfaction’?
Select one: A. b, c and e B. a, b and d. C. c, d and e D. a, b and c
b, c and e
One of the high-level activities on a consensus Business Activity Model for a school is ‘recruit teachers’. Five of the events that affect the business system are given below:
1. An approved request is received from a head of department for a new teacher.
2. The end of the school year.
3. Updated legal requirements are issued for security background checks on job applicants.
4. Government requests are received for an analysis of the qualifications of teachers currently employed.
5. Revised criteria are received for shortlisting candidates for interview.
Which of these events would affect the high-level activity ‘recruit teachers’?
Select one:
A. a, c and e
B. a, b and c
C. b, d and e
D. a, b and d
a, c and e
An Examination Board (EXB) intends to implement online marking. Candidate scripts will be scanned in to marking software and marked via the Internet by assessors working in their own homes all over the world. Every assessor has attended a training course at EXB headquarters, during which they marked some sample scripts. The marking software has been tested using in-house staff and computer systems.
Staff at EXB want the online marking system to be successful. It will deliver fast, auditable marking from a diverse marking team. This is a key business objective for EXB.
However, when the marking system went live, it was found it to be slow and unreliable. Assessors complained of poor response times and of scripts ‘going down’ during the marking process. The marking system was withdrawn after one week and EXB reverted to manual marking while the problems were investigated.
Which aspect of the holistic approach was given insufficient attention in the online marking project?
Select one: A. Processes B. Organisation C. Technology D. People
Technology
ABC clothing was founded in 2008 by accounting graduates Rose Cox and Andy Kee. They focused on sourcing high-quality clothes from local suppliers, which they sold online through an innovative website. Marketing was targeted at young, high-income individuals who could afford the clothes on offer and who also had little time for conventional shopping.
To keep overheads low and focus on the business, all non-core functions, such as payroll, accounting and legal support, were outsourced to specialist providers.
A business analyst has been commissioned to undertake a CATWOE analysis of the company. Which of the following statements aboutABC clothing describes a ‘transformation’ in this analysis?
Select one:
A. The company targets young, high-income individuals with little time for conventional shopping.
B. The company was founded in 2008 by two accounting graduates.
C. The company outsources all non-core functions to keep overheads low.
D. The company sources high-quality clothes from local suppliers to sell online.
The company sources high-quality clothes from local suppliers to sell online.
Midshires University has decided to completely change its business model. It wants to move from being a conventional university with buildings and lecturers to an online university, with students taking its e-learning based courses from all over the world. In addition, research, except for research into online learning and assessment, will no longer be a priority. Assessments will still be undertaken by the university, but they will be administered by third-party suppliers at secure assessment centres throughout the world.
Several issues need to be included in the business case for this proposed change. These include:
1. The need to recruit people with assessment rather than teaching skills.
2. The cost of making a significant number of lecturers redundant.
3. The establishment of agreements with assessment centres.
4. The problems associated with a breach of assessment security.
5. The changes required in faculty structures to reflect changes in research priority.
Which of these would be documented in the impact assessment section of the business case?
Select one:
A. b, c and d
B. a, c and d
C. a, c and e
D. a, b and e
a, c and e
A Business Activity Model (BAM) has been developed for the chief executive of a sports centre. He has agreed that the doing activity in the BAM is ‘provide sports facilities’. The BAM also includes the following activities (with a further explanation):
1. Order equipment (for the sports centre).
2. Advertise facilities (showing what the sports centre offers).
3. Assess use of facilities (who is using the facilities and how often).
4. Check financial performance (actual costs and income against budgeted costs and income).
Which of these activities is linked to a control activity?
Select one: A. a, b and c B. c and d C. a and b D. d only
c and d
A trainee business analyst has been asked to produce a business case for a new project. However, he is unsure when he should develop the first draft of this document and asks a more experienced colleague about best practice.
When will the experienced colleague advise that the business case should be drafted?
Select one:
A. Immediately after the SWOT analysis
B. Once a feasible option has been agreed in gap analysis
C. As soon as intangible benefits have been quantified
D. Immediately after the consensus Business Activity Model (BAM) has been agreed
Once a feasible option has been agreed in gap analysis
Ashley is a business analyst working at a clothing company. She has interviewed four of the senior managers in the company;the sales manager, the financial controller, the design director and the quality controller and is now constructing a Business Activity Model (BAM) for each of these managers. One of the BAMs has the following thread of activities:
* Outlining the broad product range (Planning activity)
* Recruiting the very best fashion students (Enabling activity)
* Creating innovative, exciting clothes (Doing activity)
* Monitoring comments from the fashion press (Monitoring activity)
Whose business perspective is this MOST LIKELY to be?
Select one:
A. The design director
B. The sales manager
C. The financial controller
D. The quality controller
The design director
MobiltyFirst is a charity, which aims to improve the lives of disabled children and young people. Kevin is the chief executive of the charity and has listed (in no order) the following issues:
I am…
a) Worried about our ability to train our staff effectively.
b) Concerned about changes planned in government regulation and the restrictions these could place on the use of mobility aids.
c) Excited about developments in virtual reality and how these could offer new opportunities for mobility-impaired people.
d) Aware of the ageing population in the country and wonder how this will impact on the informal support networks currently in place for many children and young people.
e) Concerned about the increasing costs of rent in the regions where we have established drop-in centres.
f) In doubt of who will take over my role when I retire in 5 years’ time.
How many of these issues (and their classification) would be recorded in a PESTLE analysis?
Select one:
A. 1 x Political, 2 x Socio-cultural, 1 x Technological
B. 1 x Political, 1 x Economic, 1 x Socio-cultural, 1 x Technological
C. 2 x Political, 2 x Socio-cultural, 1 x Technological
D. 1 x Political, 1 x Socio-cultural, 1 x Technological, 2 x Economic
1 x Political, 1 x Economic, 1 x Socio-cultural, 1 x Technological
A business analyst is working with a set of stakeholders to develop a consensus Business Activity Model (BAM). They have reached agreement on the doing activity for their model, which is ‘sell cosmetics’; they have also agreed on ‘define range of products’ and ‘define target customers’ as appropriate planning activities.
What are appropriate enabling activities for this BAM?
Select one:
A. Purchase packaging, sell hair products
B. Purchase packaging, test products for safety
C. Sell hair products, evaluate sales
D. Evaluate sales, test products for safety
Purchase packaging, test products for safety
The following statements have been made about the consensus Business Activity Model (BAM).
1. A model of what the business system should look like.
2. Used in gap analysis.
3. Shows the events that affect the business system.
4. Contains the processes of the current system.
5. Resolves stakeholder conflicts in perspective.
Which of the statements are TRUE?
Select one:
A. a, b and c
B. c, d and e
C. a, c and d
D. a, b and e
a, b and e
Below is an extract from a project gateway review:
‘…In summary, the project appears to be in a bad state. The project proceeded to pilot implementation, but the system it delivered was full of faults. Our investigation suggests that these faults were not technical in nature; in fact, the IT team appear to have implemented the system to the specification provided.
However, it is now clear that the project team itself had a very poor understanding of how the project aligned with the business strategy and so the purpose of the project was not obvious to them. Whilst we accept that a lack of senior management support has also been a factor in the outcome of this project, the costly failure of this project is primarily the responsibility of the project manager and the project team.’
Problems in which two areas of the POPIT model contributed to the failed project?
Select one: A. People and Processes B. People and Organisation C. Information and Processes D. Information and Organisation
People and Organisation
A global telecommunications company has decided to enter the mobile phone retail market. It now intends to sell own-brandmobile phones. A business activity model (BAM) is being constructed to reflect the perspective of the newly appointed director ofthe mobile phone division. The BAM will show the dependencies between these activities- five of them are given below: 1. Sell mobile phones. 2. Recruit staff. 3. Define staffing needs. 4. Define target customers. 5. Agree on product range. 6. Manufacture mobile phones. What are the dependencies between these activities? Select one: A. e → f → d → c → b → a B. d → e → f → a; c→ b → a C. e → d → c → b → a; f → a D. c → b → a; d → f → e → a
d → e → f → a; c→ b → a
Prince is a business analyst developing a consensus Business Activity Model (BAM). The BAM relates to a new business idea, which his organisation hopes will revolutionise the market for sunscreen. He has made the following list of potential activities forthe BAM on a set of sticky notes:
1. Determine the range of skin types to focus on.
2. Appoint a testing laboratory.
3. Agree on the range of human subjects for the pilot phase.
4. Establish pilot performance measurements.
5. Advertise the new range of products.
Which of the these will become planning activities when the BAM is constructed?
Select one:
A. a, c and d.
B. c, d and e.
C. a, b and e.
D. a, b and c.
a, c and d.
Raminder is a business analyst who has been tasked with undertaking a resource audit for GrowFast, an agricultural company. In a recent management workshop, she took the following notes:
a) Staff are skilled and highly motivated. They care about the GrowFast brand.
b) Cash flow problems lead to some suppliers not being paid on time.
c) Government grants to help companies train employees are being withdrawn.
d) Wholesale customers report that the quality of produce is exceptional. GrowFast has a good reputation in the industry.
e) A competitor is considering developing a rival production site close to GrowFast’s base.
Which of these notes are relevant to a resource audit?
Select one:
A. c, d and e
B. a, c and d
C. a, c and e
D. a, b and d
a, b and d
Lorraine is a business analyst working on a new product service definition for an IT innovation company, which is considering launching a new range of smart pet monitoring devices that allow owners to monitor the health and location of their pets from anywhere in the world.
She has decided to use Porter’s Five Forces model to understand the attractiveness of entering into this market and has made some notes during her investigation:
a) Building a reliable platform to ensure customers are receiving accurate updates on their pets is going to be very challenging (mainly because of unreliable network coverage).
b) The device hardware components (particularly for collar monitors) are likely to be available to makers of similar products at a slightly lower cost, because of pre-existing commercial arrangements.
c) The product will require extensive commitment from customers (all devices are tied to a 12-month contract) and there are offerings from rivals that operate on a ‘pay monthly’ basis.
d) There are concerns about the legalities of making accessible tracking devices widely available to the public.
e) There are rumours that a new form of pet microchip, which includes a tracking capability, may become the industry standard in the next 5 years.
Which of these notes can be assigned to one of the five forces and therefore added to her analysis?
Select one:
A. a, c and d
B. a, b and e
C. b, c and e
D. c, d and e
b, c and e
Jameela has facilitated a workshop with several business stakeholders, with the intention of building a consensus BusinessActivity Model (BAM) for a new insurance product. She made the following notes in the workshop:
* Sell insurance policies.
* Train claims advisors.
* Advertise new range of policies.
* Evaluate sales performance.
* Appoint new legal advisor.
How many of each type of business activities can Jameela identify from these notes?
Select one:
A. Doing = 1, Planning = 0, Enabling = 3, Monitoring = 1
B. Doing = 2, Planning = 1, Enabling = 1, Monitoring = 1
C. Doing = 1, Planning = 0, Enabling = 4, Monitoring = 1
D. Doing = 3, Planning = 0, Enabling = 1, Monitoring = 1
Doing = 1, Planning = 0, Enabling = 3, Monitoring = 1
The following requirements are listed in a job advert for a business analyst:
* Must work effectively within a team.
* Should have experience in facilitating workshops.
* Must be able to engage with stakeholders to understand and elicit requirements.
* Analytical thinking and problem-solving abilities are essential.
Which of the following competency areas of a business analyst are being sought?
Select one:
A. Business knowledge and professional techniques
B. Personal qualities and professional techniques
C. Personal qualities, business knowledge and professional techniques
D. Personal qualities and business knowledge
Personal qualities and professional techniques
All banks in a country are regulated by the Financial Fairness Authority (FFA) who ensure that consumers of financial services are properly advised and protected. The FFA has the power to fine or suspend banks that do not adhere to its standards.
Ali works in a bank regulated by the FFA. She is part of a project team developing a financial product aimed at people who have had debt problems in the past. The FFA has been consulted and has responded enthusiastically. It believes that the new product will offer avaluable service to people who have difficulty in managing debt. However, the FFA is also concerned that the new product might expose the bank to high levels of unsecured lending.
Ali is drawing up a stakeholder management strategy for the project. How SHOULD the FFA be managed?
Select one:
A. Keep informed
B. Keep satisfied
C. Keep actively managed
D. Keep onside
Keep satisfied
Gregor is in the process of putting together the financial section of a business case for a new initiative, which seeks to revolutionise his organisation’s checkout system. Just as he had made a table to consider the payback profile, he received a call from the software vendor. The vendor indicated that they gave him the wrong software purchase price for the project and that it should have been quoted as 150,000, not the 200,000 highlighted in the table below:
When Gregor makes this amendment, in which year will the project break even? Select one: A. Year 2 B. Year 4 C. Year 1 D. Year 3
Year 3
A debate is taking place in a project team about the principles of gap analysis:
Roberto believes that gap analysis considers the gap between the current IT system and the ‘to-be’ process models; comparing what happens now to what will happen in the future.
Tara disagrees. She feels that the gap is between what happens now (‘as is’) and the activities defined in the Business Activity Model(BAM).
Jim has another view. He feels that the gap is between the ‘to be’ model (what will happen in the future) and the BAM (what would have happened in the future if all desired activities could have been feasibly implemented).
Faye has a different interpretation. She believes that the gap is between the ‘to-be’ model and the functions of the software package selected to implement that model.
Who is CORRECT?
Select one: A. Jim B. Roberto C. Tara D. Faye
Tara
RINGOLA is a high street and Internet-based retailer of men’s jewellery and clothing accessories. The leadership team met last week to discuss and agree the tasks required to launch the company’s seasonal collection and new smartphone app. Harish, the lead BA, made notes at the meeting and recorded the following list of outstanding tasks:
a) Write a first draft of the business case to secure funding for the launch.
b) Confirm the legal aspects of commercial contracts with our suppliers.
c) Map our processes to ensure that we understand how the new smartphone app will integrate into our order processing system.
d) Complete the detailed configuration of the IT architecture that will underpin the new smartphone app.
e) Develop a consultation process to support the strategic selection of products to include in the seasonal collection.
Which of the tasks fall within the potential scope of the business analyst role and can therefore be delegated to Harish’s team?
Select one:
A. b, d and e.
B. a, b and c.
C. a, c and d.
D. a, c and e.
a, c and e
