A business case features a management summary, from which the below extract is taken:
‘The new approach will incur significant investment in terms of software licenses and annual maintenance fees, which will not be negotiable until year four of the proposal. We will research competing suppliers in the marketplace at end of year three, the supplier will, therefore, be likely to otter a reduced price for year five and beyond. However, we are convinced that the selected option is the right one. It will give us a competitive edge as a result of improved management information, in addition to the boost it will give to our image with our established customers."
Which categories of costs and benefits are described in this extract*?
Casper Trading have identified the need for a change in management style within their business case to enhance team productivity. They have identified a risk that managers may struggle to adopt the new behaviours.
Which is most likely to be an effective countermeasure?
You are a project manager tasked with leading the development of a new mobile application for a local community organisation. You realise the importance of understanding the various stakeholders and decide to utilise the power/interest grid analysis technique.
Which of the following steps is not typically involved in conducting a power/interest grid analysis?
A local council has decided to completely redesign the way it provides library lending services it plans to stop lending books and move towards an entirely online e-book lending model
Four activities to be included in the Business Activity Model (BAM) are given below
a) Lend books
b) Establish licensing arrangements with publishers
c) Define lending policies
d) Monitor lending usage
What will be the dependencies between these activities on the BAM?
Why would a Business Analyst use a consensus Business Activity Model (BAM) in gap analysis?
A business analyst working for a large, luxury home furnishings retailer has recail from one of their overseas buyers:
“Hi, I have recently returned from China, where I was searching for items for a new furniture range we are planning to release over the summer. The first thing tnot the first company looking to source these products from this market. By chance, I met a representative of HomeLux (one of our competitors). They told me that they had negotiated a very competitive price with the producers here …”
The business analyst is going to put together an analysis from this information.
What can be identified from the email?
A large mortgage provider has been running a project to develop an equity release product The project has run into difficulty due to a disagreement between two key stakeholders about whether the product should be developed in house or outsourced to a specialist company.
The business analyst on the project. George, has been discussing his role in resolving this problem with his manager.
Which of the following descriptions is George's manager LEAST LIKELY to use in describing his role'?
A business analyst has been discussing the individual perspectives of senior stakeholders using the CATWOE framework. One senior stakeholder has expressed concerns about the possible election of a political party whose manifesto promises to introduce taxes on imported goods. They claim that such taxes would cause the company to have to review its business model.
In which element of CATWOE should the concerns of the senior stakeholder be captured?
A report has been created into improving the scheduling of physio appointments at a major hospital An extract reads
'The scheduling team have a strong set of skills that will not need to be updated However, the team should be split into two. one dealing with inpatients and one with outpatients The introduction of a new telephony software and an online booking system will also require changes to the process'
How might these changes be BEST presented to communicate with the scheduling team'?
Adiyan has been considering the feasibility of introducing a new payments method into his company His draft report reads
'The new payment method has not yet been widely adopted although it has the backing of all the big phone brands. Our current payments system will be upgraded next month to take payment as part of a scheduled release This method of payment will be supported under our current license deal Trials have shown that the technology will scale to our customer base and cyber security testing is encouraging'
Which of the following is the BEST description of the areas of Technical feasibility mentioned in the report?
At a recent Board Meeting the Directors of an office fitting company ratified the company's mission as:
To meet or undercut all our competitors' prices'
Which of the following is MOST LIKELY to be the company's vision?
A PESTLE analysis is being conducted for a small manufacturing company The following has been discovered.
The company's electricity provider is planning changes to the way in which electricity usage is calculated, it is likely that this will lead to increased electricity costs.
An amendment to the Data Protection Act has recently been introduced It states that information held about employees' payroll can now be held for more than six years, as long as the individual remains an employee
How will this information be categorised in the PESTLE analysis? Select the TWO that apply
A local council wishes to improve its housing allocation process. The following notes were made by the head of housing about the current process.
Housing application decision are made using a set of criteria based on a range of factors, including the length of time application has been on the waiting list and the number of dependents they have. The criteria by the council housing committee, who meet on a regular basis and seek to ensure that the criteria continue to enable effective housing allocation.
Occasionally, legislation ensuring protection for the most vulnerable people in our society can affect the criteria, as can changes issued by central government concerning practical issues, such as building regulations?
Which of the following types(s) of business rule has been described in this extract?
End users in one business area are unwilling to adopt a new finance management system (recently introduced by the innovation team), as they perceive that it is unnecessarily complicated and not useful. One of the end users in this business area has been very vocal and has been relying support from others since posting about it on the company’s intranet homepage.
The introduction finance system was initially supported by senior managers, but now users in other business area are also beginning to question whether they adopt the tool and are raising the issue with their managers.
The sponsor fully supports the decision to go ahead with the now tool and has made il very cleat to senior managers that he expects them to support this Initiative.
Which stakeholder management strategy SHOULD be taken with the senior managers?
Paul has been struggling to make his farm profitable for a number of years Recently, an energy firm has asked him if it can survey his land in order to determine if there is natural gas deep under his fields If there is. they will pay him for the extracted gas.
Paul has discussed this request with his business partner, explaining that he would like to explore the possibility as he feels that any subsequent extraction process is safe, will cause minimal damage to the farm, and will return the farm to profitability. Paul's business partner disagrees, believing that the process for extracting the gas is dangerous, that the machinery will spoil the landscape and that it would undermine the vision they had of living off the land.
On which element of CATWOE are Paul and his business partner in disagreement?
EcoBags is a company that designs and makes eco-friendly shopping bags foe various clients An Internal analysis of the business has revealed the following information about the company.
a) Recent investment in new machinery will enable the company to continue its innovation programme
b) Feedback from customers and an Increase in sales suggests that Leo Bugs is recognised as a quality brand
c) The number of staff currently employed in the company is sufficient to meet expected future growth
d) The ability of EcoBags to respond quickly to new market demands has earned it an innovation award.
e) The company has significant retained profits, which will help fund the innovation programme.
Which of these would be considered as 'tangible' resources in a resource audit?
Discounted Cash Flow takes into account the broader financial context. If interest rates are to increase, the project viability (costs to develop, ROI) might be negatively impacted. An IT Manager has been asked to prepare the business case for an investment in a new software system. They have been asked by the Project Manager whether they will be undertaking the investment appraisal using the Payback or Discounted Cash Flow method.
Which of the following factors would indicate that the Discounted Cash Flow method should be used?
On joining a new company. Sara spent time reviewing the company's organisation chart She was particularly interested in the sponsor of the project she is joining
What is Sara LIKELY to have learnt about the sponsor from this? Select the TWO that apply
Maria and Nelly own a small jewellery shop and are considering whether they should renew the lease on their shop for another year. They are both thinking about alternative business ventures as they never intended to run the jewellery shop indefinitely.
They source their jewellery products from an overseas manufacturer and market them in luxury presentation boxes, made by local craftsmen They employ Maria's son, Darren, in the school holidays to make up the boxes and keep the stockroom full
Which of the following CATWOE categories CANNOT be identified from this scenario?
A proposed new business model requires the following:
• Changes in the style and structure of the organisation.
• Improvements in the accessibility of systems.
• Better alignment with the existing data architecture.
Which two elements of the POPIT™ model consider these requirements?
A group of stakeholders at FlyMe travel operators are in a meeting to discus the Business Activity Model (BAM) for a new subsidiary business. They are planning to launch a new offering, which will offer flight bundle’ packages for organization that regularly need to send their staff overseas. The following activities have been identified so far:
a) Monitor flight bundle' sates
b) Sell "night bundles*
c) Determine demand amongst existing customers
d) Identify potential airline earners
e) Determine 'flight bundle' locations,
f) Define bundle pricing.
Although the Operations Director for FlyMe is supportive of the new business proposition, she is not entirely convinced there is a gap in the market, nor is she confident that the idea will be profitable.
With these concerns in mind, which planning activities will she be keen to ensure are discussed before the meeting ends?
A Business Analyst is reviewing the stakeholder management strategy for a high profile I Human Resources (HR) protect.
Following an organizational restructure, Harvey's role has changed from Director of Operations to Director of HR and he has Inherited sponsorship of the project. Harvey was previously involved in the project, but had little interest because his focus was on the Operational Projects that he sponsored.
Which of the following sets of stakeholder management strategies represent appropriate approaches for Harvey; firstly for when the project started and secondly now that his role has changed?
Fund42morrow Group is considering setting up a new company in the group to offer an innovative investment scheme aimed at encouraging people under 18 to save for their future. It has identified that the proposed new company must have regulatory approval and significant investment.
In which area of Porter’s Five Forces model would a competitor record this activity?
The following is an excerpt from a job advert tor a Business Analyst
"We are seeking an experienced Business Analyst to assist us in the development of formal written proposals. detailing the cost and benefit of proposed business initiatives. The successful candidate should be able to use a variety of methods to explore and define complex situations Experience of producing blueprints In terms of processes, management structures, culture and people would be highly advantageous-Based on the extract, what are the competencies required for this role?
The following definition has been agreed by the partners of DeanLegal
DeanLegal is owned by its two founding partners. Derek Little and Anne Smith The two partners, together with a team of experienced negotiators, provide insolvency services to small and medium-sized companies Comprehensive support is provided to customers at what can be a very difficult and stressful time in their lives
DeanLegal is currently considering extending its range of services to include, for example, advice in funding the purchase of capital assets All work undertaken by DeanLegal is regulated by the Federation of Insolvency Practitioners (FIP) and adherence to its rules is constantly checked by the FIP
The partners have agreed that the primary doing activity of a BAM reflecting their business perspective is to provide insolvency services'
What enabling activity would support this?
How would a business analyst use a Target Operating Model (TOM) in gap analysis?
A business analyst and a project manager are producing a business case for an initiative, which aims to improve the cyber defences of a large financial services provider
They met recently to review progress and made the following notes for the next draft
1. The benefits of cyber security will be hard to describe in quantitative terms, so we will need to describe these qualitatively.
2 We need to make it clear that we have fully explored the solution market, and we have considered a range of approaches to meeting the
objectives of this project.
3. The threat posed to the organisation from cyber attack, and therefore the justification for this project, needs to be clearly articulated
Which THREE sections of a business case will cover these points'?