The Strategic Context for Business Analysis (7.5%) Flashcards
Describe business analysis and the strategic context
Strategic context helps to clarify the environment in which the business analyst operate. They do so by applying knowledge of the strategic context.
Which are having the ability:
analyse and discuss strategic approaches and priorities;
-build credibility when discussing the organisation with stakeholders;
-question the appropriateness and alignment of decisions taken prior to and during the execution of change;
- analyse the effectiveness of the approach, outputs and benefits expected from a change initiative;
- provide leadership and influence for the delivery of strategically aligned change.
Describe the following elements of performance measurement
- Critical success factors
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
CSFs are defined that help to monitor the progress towards achieving this objective.
Relevant KPIs and associated targets are determined for each CSF to provide quantitative measures that support progress tracking.
Objectives
The specific objectives or outcomes that the organisation wants to achieve
These are used to guide and measure progress towards the organisation’s ‘Vision’ and the completion of the ‘Mission’. They should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound (SMART)
Critical success factors (CSFs)
Qualitative descriptions of the critical factors that must be in place for the organisation to achieve defined objectives
CSFs are ideally balanced (see BSC) and should align to the ‘Vision’ and ‘Mission’ of the organisation
Multiple CSFs can be relevant to any individual objective
Key performance indicators (KPIs)
Quantitative (SMART) measurements of performance that track the achievement of CSFs.
Multiple KPIs can be used to measure a single CSF
KPIs can be used to measure multiple different CSFs
Targets
These are specific in nature and provide an objective measurement of performance against ‘Objectives’ or ‘KPIs’
Often the red, amber, green status is used to indicate the current status of defined targets:
Red: performance significantly below target
Amber: performance slightly below target
Green: performance in alignment with or above target
Describe the structure of a SWOT analysis
A SWOT analysis is often represented as a two-by-two matrix.
Strengths:
Strong levels of customer satisfaction. The organisation has exceeded annual targets for all customer-focused objectives.
Weaknesses:
Unclear direction set for the organisation.
Weak financial position. The organisation has high levels of debt relative to assets and is experiencing poor cash flow.
Leadership succession planning. The organisation has identified a gap in the succession plans for several key roles.
Opportunities:
The availability of technology advancements and the popularity of digital service offerings.
Demographic changes in Europe and the US opening up a large potential market for the organisation’s products.
Threats:
Increased likelihood of stringent regulatory interventions following several high-profile supervisory failures.
Increasing propensity for fraud.
Describe the following techniques used in strategy execution
- The POPITTM model
Target Operating Model’ (TOM) is used to describe ‘how’ a business needs to be established to support the execution of strategy. POPITTM These are People, Organisation, Processes, Information and Technology.
What knowledge and skills will people need in the target state? What levels of motivation will be required? How will people communicate?
Organisation
Who will be the key partners and suppliers? What business model or organisation structure will be adopted? What culture will pertain within the organisation? What leadership and management approaches will be used? How many people are needed and in what roles?
Process
Which processes will be used in the target state? Are the processes optimal? What efficiency gains will be obtained?
Information
What change will be made to the capture, storage and analysis of data and information? How secure will the organisation’s information and data be?
Technology
What technology will be used in the target state? How well will this align to the organisation’s processes? Will the technology be scalable? Will the technology be interoperable?
Define the factors assessed using PESTLE to analyse an external environment
PESTLE is a framework used to assess the factors in the macro strategic environment that are beyond immediate control.
Political
Forces within the international, national and local political environments.
-Policies and decisions made by national and local governments
Economic
Forces within the international, national and local economic environment.
-Interest rates/Inflation/disposable income
Socio-cultural
Trends within society and culture.
-Changes to demographics/Changes in preferences and habits
Technological
Trends within technology.
-The availability of new technologies such as AI,
Legal
Trends and expectations that have legal or regulatory impact.
-Market specific legislation and regulation
Environmental
Trends and influences that are concerned with the natural environment.
-Carbon emissions and climate change
Identify the elements of the VMOST technique used to analyse an internal environment
Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategy, Tactics (VMOST) provides an approach for the development and assessment of strategy. The goal is to assess whether the elements within VMOST are a source of strength or weakness to the organisation.
Vision: Defines the target state for the organisation without regard to how this will be achieved. The target state is realised through the completion of the ‘mission’.
Mission: Describes what the organisation does or will do.
Objectives: The specific objectives or outcomes that the organisation wants to achieve. These are used to guide and measure progress towards the organisation’s vision and the completion of the mission.
Strategy: The long-term approach that is going to be taken by the organisation to achieve the ‘vision’, ‘mission’ and ‘objectives’.
Tactics: The specific and detailed means by which the strategy should be executed. The tactics are often adapted when feedback regarding the success of the strategy is received.
Describe the following techniques used in strategy execution
- The purpose of the business model canvas
It is used to refer to the way an organisation is designed to deliver products and services to customers. This provides a means through which to develop and execute strategy.
Business models help to align the work of the organisation with desired outcomes. They can be used to assess the current and target state and to identify and plan changes.
Customer segments
Who are the organisation’s important customers? For whom is value proposed?
Value propositions
What value does the organisation offer? Which customer problems or pains does it propose to solve? Which customer opportunities or gains do the products or services support or satisfy? What are the qualities (e.g. price, availability, choice, quality, functions supported) offered by the products or services? What is the relative value of the organisation’s brand or image?
Channels
How does the organisation interact and communicate with customers? Is there variance in customer experience across different channels? Which channels work best? What additional channels do customers expect? How do customers pay?
Customer relationships
What is the nature of the relationship that the organisation has with each customer segment? Where might it be possible to enhance the customer experience?
Revenue streams
What are the organisation’s revenue streams? How profitable are each of these revenue streams? How much does each revenue stream contribute?
Key resources
What key resources do the organisation’s value proposition, channels and customer relationships require?
Key activities
What key activities do the organisation’s value propositions, channels and customer relationships require?
Key partners
Who are the organisation’s key partners and suppliers? Which key resources or key activities do they provide?
Cost structure
What are the costs of the key resources, key activities and key partners employed in the business model? Is the cost structure sustainable?
