4 Business Case and Success Criteria

Question 1

Define success criteria

Answer 1

-Satisfaction of stakeholder needs for the deployment of a project
-Different to benefits which focus on the strategic intent and delivering of beneficial change

Question 2

What are the 5 elements of the business case?

Answer 2

SECFM

-Strategic context
-Economic analysis
-Commercial approach
-Financial case
-Management approach

Question 3

What are the 3 tools/techniques used for the business case?

Answer 3

-PESTLE
-SWOT
-VUCA

Question 4

What does PESTLE stand for?

Answer 4

-Political
-Economic
-Sociological
-Technological
-Legal
-Environmental

Question 5

What does SWOT stand for and what is it in relation to?

Answer 5

-Strengths
-Weaknesses
-Opportunities
-Threats

The organisation (e.g. opportunities outside of the organisation that the project could exploit)

Question 6

What does VUCA stand for?

Answer 6

-Volatility (e.g. price of materials)
-Uncertainty
-Complexity
-Ambiguity (e.g. unidentified risks)

Question 7

Give 6 reasons why it’s important to review the impact of changes in a project on the business case

Answer 7

-Business case justifies the initial and continued investment in the project
-Allows project manager to agree success criteria with the sponsor and stakeholders
-Record of decisions
-Periodic reviews and decision gates ensure investment remains aligned to expected benefits
-Definition and development phases - reviewed against progress made
-Used to form PMP

Question 8

What will happen if the benefits defined are no longer viable?

Answer 8

Senior management may stop the project

Question 9

Define outcome

Answer 9

-The changes, circumstances or behaviour that results from the use of an output
-Leads to realisation of benefits

Question 10

Who owns the business case and when is it developed?

Answer 10

Project Sponsor

Concept phase

Question 11

What does the success criteria define and how is it set?

Answer 11

What the project manager has to achieve and how

-Beginning of the project
-What’s being delivered (captured as part of requirements management process)
-Which criteria needs to be achieved by project end (documented as measurable objectives - e.g. delivered within budget)

Question 12

Give 3 techniques used to monitor KPIs

Answer 12

-Gantt chart
-Milestone chart
-Network diagram

Question 13

Give 3 benefits of keeping the business case up to date

Answer 13

-Ensures continuous justification
-Improves stakeholder confidence
-Enhances risk management