Business Case Flashcards
A business case is the ?
Justification for undertaking the project
A business case sets out the________ and compares it against _______
Benefits of the project
The cost and risks of undertaking the work
The business case usually looks at a range of ______ to problems an organisation faces and prepares an analysis of ______ vs _____ for each option
Solutions
Cost vs benefits
The business case is used by ______ as a key input to their _______
Senior management
Decision making process
The business case list the _______ and relates to the _________
Reasons for doing the project
Problems the organisation faces
The business case list the options that are being considered to ________ , each option is accompanied by a brief analysis of the option and there will be a ___________
Solve the problems
Recommendation
The business case is looked at during the 1st phase of the lifecycle which is ?
The concept phase
Concept phase : the content of the business case will be at a ?
high level
Definition phase =
2nd phase
2nd phase = definition phase : content
The business case is refined + agreed by the end of the phase
Deployment phase =
3rd phase
Deployment phase = content
The business case is updated with the latest Information + any changes that have been made ( particularly; Cost , timescales and benefits)
Operations : content
The business case is reviewed to discover whether the benefits have been realised or not , if not then we would have to find out why and remedy the situation.
Business case - project manager
- initially writes the business case
- ## keeps the business case updated through out the project
Business case- project sponsor
- owns the business case
- ## responsible for liaising with senior management of the programme about the validity of business case
Business case - users
- users provide a view of the expected benefits + dis benefits
Business case - users + Sponsor
- approve or re approve the business case at the end of each phase
Benefits management - project success - project manager
- delivering the project on time, on budget and to the right standard
Benefits management - project success - Senior management
Same as a pm however - benefits may be more important + a slight overspend may be forgiven
The success criteria is recorded in the ?
Business case
Success meaning needs to be _______ in the ______ + _________ in the _________
Identified in the concept phase and defined in the definition phase
Success criteria - KPI?
Throughout we must be able to predict whether we will be able to achieve our KPIs
What is a KPI?
Key Performance Indicator - a KPI is something that we can measure that is directly related to the success criteria.
Each success criteria should have an ?
Associated KPI
Benefits should be identified in the _______ and from part of the ______
Concept phase
Business case
Benefits are refined in the ?
Definition phase
Benefits are reviewed ?
Continually until the project finishes
During the implementation phase benefits are ?
Benchmarked
Benefits management is a key aspect of ?
Programme management
Benefits are realised after the ______ but during the _________
Project is finished
Programme lifecycle
A key aspect of benefit management is making sure the users change there _________ to take advantage of the new __________. This creates the ______ which in turn results in _________
Operational processes
The new products
Outcomes
Benefits to the organisation
The business case provides ?
A justification for undertaking a project or programme
A business case evaluates ?
The benefit, cost and risk of alternative options and provides a rationale for the preferred solution.
A business case evaluates the ___________ of _________ and provides a _____ for the _______
Benefits , cost and risk of alternative options
Rationale for the preferred solution
The earliest phase of the project lifecycle provides ?
The opportunity for the project to evaluate the options that may be available.
The business case provides a _______ by which project _______ can be ____,_____ and _____ to learn lessons about how ______ the organisation is deploying its funds to achieve its targeted returns.
Recognised framework
Spending proposals
Recorded , reviewed and audited
Efficiently
The business case will referred to throughout the project in order to ?
Make decisions about the continuing viability of supporting the change initiative.
The business case will be used during reviews and act as a ?
Baseline for checking ongoing viability of project
The reviews will be carried out at ?
The end of major project phases and prior to starting phases
Why do reviews take place ?
To avoid continuing investment when perhaps there appears to be no reasonable way the project will achieve the returns that justify such funding.
Typically there are ___ key questions that need to be answered to be answered In order to consider any _______ requiring significant financial investment
5
Proposed change
5 key questions
Strategic case
Economic case
Commercial
Financial case
Management case
Strategic case
How does it support or fit with the long term strategic goals of the organisation?
Economic case
Does it represent the optimum value for money or can a greater return be gained elsewhere?
Commercial case
What are the factors that influence the commercial viability of the proposal and can they be sensibly realised ?