Strategic Anakysis

Week 2
Strategic Analysis
Lecture Content Source
All content in these lecture slides are from

Hass, K. 2011, The Enterprise Analyst: Developing
creative solutions to complex business problems,
Management Concepts, Inc, Chapter 2
Paul D., Yeates, D., Cadle, J., 2010 Business
Analysis, British informatics Society Ltd, Chapter 3
Unless otherwise stated on the

slides
Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand what strategy is and why it is

important, the assumption being that
strategy is important
Exploring some ideas about how strategy is
developed
Implementing strategy
Working out what all of this means for
business analysis
WHAT IS A STRATEGY?
Is it a plan?
Is it a pattern of consistency in
behaviour over time?
Is it a position for a product/service
in a market?
Is it a perspective a leaders vision?
Is it a ploy to outwit an opponent or
competitor?
The Context for Strategy

Business environment
becoming increasingly
unpredictable
Changing ways of employment:
contract, part time and
permanent
Growth of knowledge based
industries
Flattened organisational
structures and decentralised
decision
making
Marilyn Wells
T1 2013 Simon Crawford
T3 2014
http://www.sei.cmu.edu/reports/10tn018.pdf
The business architecture

Is the set of artefacts that comprise the
attributes and characteristics of the
business. It is a compilation of interrelated
elements that depict information about the
business: its operations, organizational
structures and physical locations, the
boundary of business processes, business
rules, policies and procedures, and the lines
of business used to flow value through to
customers.
http://www.renovartis.ie/Business_and_IT_Alignment.html
What is Strategy?
Strategy is the direction and scope of an

organisation over the long term, gives
advantage to the organisation through use
of it resources in a changing environment
and fulfils stakeholder expectations
Johnson, Scholes and Wittington (2008), cited
in Paul et al, Business Analysis (2010). (Kindle
location 1457)
Digital_strategy 6min
Levels of Strategy
Different business units within an organisation may
have different strategies, and there are differing
levels of strategy within an organisation:
Corporate: involved with the overall purpose of the
organisation and forms the basis for all other
strategies within the organisation
Business unit: Each unit will have a distinguishable
market from other business units. Each units
strategy will be formed to leverage competitive
advantage for the unit
Operational: focuses on delivering the strategies
through use of the units resources, processes and
Marilyn Wells T1staff
2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014
Developing
Strategies
Four perspectives of developing a strategy
Design lens: deliberate positioning of an
organisation following a detailed
enterprise analysis. Strategy formulated
by executive management
Experience lens: organisational experience and culture
transform the strategy over time, continually changing,
each incremental change building on the last one
Innovation (ideas) lens: new ways of approaching
organisational problems, perhaps with the introduction
of new staff members
Politics: organisations\s are discrete political systems
and as such interest groups form to compete for
organisational resources and power to achieve their own
outcomes
Sources of Power
Dependency: departments are dependent on those
who have control over organisational resources
Financial resources: who allocates the funds to
develop new ideas and/or projects
Position: where are the actors positioned within the
organisation? Are they generators of ideas or
organisational revenue?
Uniqueness: each group with special interests is
unique and each group has power
Uncertainty: power resides with people or groups and
people are unpredictable. During times of change
power holders often change
Using PESTLE
Not a set of checklists
Key tasks:
Identify those few factors that will really affect
the organisation
Develop a real understanding of how they
might evolve in the future
Porters five forces model
M Porters 5 Forces 11min
MOST Analysis Technique
Putting It All Together:

SWOT
AFTER the environmental scan has been
performed and the results are analysed a
SWOT analysis should be performed
Strengths: organisational strengths such as
market share
Weaknesses: such as financial position of the

organisation
Opportunities: what opportunities exist for the

organisation
Negative
Threats: how isPositive
the organisation performing?
Intern
Strengths
al
Exter
Weaknesses
Implementing Strategy
Issues to consider when implementing a
strategy
How quickly does the strategy need to be
implemented?
How big is the change? Is it new to the
business or is it incremental?
How quickly can the organisation absorb the
change? Do staff possess the necessary skills
to lead the change?
Is the organisation ready for the change?
Marilyn Wells
2013 Simon
Crawfordmanagement
T3 2014
T1Do
senior
possess strategic
leadership skills?
Business Analyst Strategic

Roles
The business analyst plays
a key part in strategic
planning
Informing decision makers
about project investments
Involved in tactical
activities
Defines and manages
project business
requirements
Validates that the solution
Business Analyst Roles in

Projects
Strategic
planning
Solution deployment and
change management
Solution
assessment and
validation
Requirements
management and
communication
Figure 2.1 the Enterprise

Business Analyst,
Hass, Kathleen B. (Kindle
location 938)
Enterprise analysis
Planning and
requirements elicitation
Requirements
analysis,
specification and
validation
Strategic Planning (1)

Strategic planning is
the first step in
creating a project
Not normally
considered as a project
phase
Phase where the
current state of the
enterprise is examined
and the future state
determined
Describe a broad set of
http://www.seandonovanconsulting.com/business-and-it-strategic-planning
Strategic Planning (2)

To ensure common understanding
the future state is documented
what the organisation will look like
once the strategy is achieved
Enterprise analysts identify gaps in
organisational capabilities to achieve
a successful strategic outcome
Converts future strategy to
measurable objectives
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/governance-strategic-planning/strategic-planning/strategic-plan-2012-16
Strategy-Execution
Framework
Called portfolio management
Driven by strategy planning and goal-setting
processes
Critical business process between strategic
planning and project execution
Phase where projects are evaluated selected,
prioritised, funded
Phase where strategic goals are converted to
actionable objectives, scope and approach
Enterprise Analyst Tasks

Provide senior analysts with support by
performing tasks such as
Feasibility analysis
Competitive analysis
Problem analysis
Opportunity analysis
Financial analysis
Benchmark studies
Recommending innovative solutions to

Marilyn Wells
T1 2013 Simon
Crawford T3 2014
senior
staff
A Road Map
A strategic plan is a road map of how an
organisation is going to move from the as-is
state to the envisioned future
Dynamic and changes depending on the
environmental (competitive) climate
Is a link to what needs updating in the
project portfolio
Balanced Scorecard
Frames strategic goals
Financial goals: measurable goals focussing on
organisational finance and accounting
outcomes
Customer goals: a measure of customer
satisfaction
Internal operations goals: measurable process
and operational performance against industry
benchmarks
Learning and innovation goals: measures how
well an organisation applies learning, skills and
Corporate Scorecard (1)

Decision criteria: for-profit organisations
Tracks progress towards intended strategic
outcome
Strategic goals are ranked according to
organisational priority
Financial
Customer
Internal operations
Learning and innovation
Corporate Scorecard (2)

Decision criteria: not-for-profit organisations
Tracks progress towards intended strategic
outcome
Strategic goals are ranked according to
organisational priority
Customer
Financial
Internal operations
Learning and innovation
Note the change of perspective of the first

two goals
Planning Cycles
Volatile environments require evolving
strategies, goals and organisational change
Strategic goals and objectives are dynamic
Requires iterative planning cycles
Constant monitoring of progress towards goals
and objectives requires ability to make changes
as necessary
Business value expectations are raised at each
iteration
Business analysts provide expertise to ensure
that accurate information, analysis of business
problems, creative and innovative solutions are
Enterprise Analysis
Not a phase but a series of activities
throughout the project
Mature organisations use enterprise analysis
to support strategy development
Provides conceptual and creative business
solutions for new business opportunities
Enterprise Analysis
Activities
Core activities focus on:
Identifying new business opportunities
Research to determine most feasible solution
Develop business case or project proposal
recommending feasible projects to senior
management
Initiate new project planning activities
Are carried out over the life of the project
Continually validate project aligns with stated
project outcomes
Activities continue after project completion
Organisational Strategic
Alignment
Hass, Kathleen B. The Enterprise Business Analyst: Developing Creative

Solutions to Complex Business Problems (Kindle Locations 1022-1023).
Management Concepts. Kindle Edition.
Strategic plans established
Portfolio projects selected based

on enterprise analysis and
business case information
Portfolio of
Projects
Supporting projects
launched
Project teams
execute
Foundation
Mature Business Analysis and Project Management Practices
Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014Environment for Project Success
Strategy
execution
through projects
Strategic Alignment
Strategic plans and goals covert to portfolio
of programs and projects
Project leaders execute project plans to meet
objectives
Project outcomes are achieved
Enterprise Analysis in
Practice (1)
A significant role is played by enterprise
analysts when translating strategies into
innovative change initiatives
Analysing the enterprise and competitive
environment
Experiments and brainstorming session to
determine creative solutions
The enterprise BA works with small groups of
experts in discovery sessions to identify viable
initiatives
Marilyn Wells T1
2013
Simon Crawford T3 2014
Documents
requirements at a high level and
ensures requirements are traceable to each
Executing Strategy
Executing new strategy involves risk
because it involves change
Contextual issues
Role of the leader
Tools used by the business analyst
Balanced Business Scorecard
McKinsey 7-S Model
Contextual Issues
Time
Scope
Capability
Readiness
Strategic leadership
Role of the Leader
Challenge the status quo all the time and

set new and demanding targets
Establish and communicate a clear vision,
new mission, set out objectives, strategies
for achieving them and defining specific
tactics
Walks the walk demonstrates how to act
and behave
Empowers people to deliver their part of
the strategic change
Celebrate success with those who
achieve it
Balanced Business
Scorecard
McKinseys 7-S Model

Structu
re
Strateg
y
System
s
Shared
Values
Style
Skills
Staff
AS 5037-2005 Knowledge
Management
KM Australian Standard provides guidance
on strategy and what drivers need to be
considered.
Business Analysis involves identifying
knowledge within the organisation, and
especially knowledge gaps.
Knowledge Management
Standard
The strategic intent of the organisation
helps to answer the question of where are
we and where do we want to be. By
analysing the strategic context, you can
begin to identify the relevant drivers for your
knowledge efforts. Drivers act as pointers or
indicators towards what knowledge should
be developed or leveraged (Standards
Australia 2005, p.14).
KM Drivers
(Standards Australia 2005, p.15)
Drivers
An example within an
organisation
Example of the
implications for the
knowledge ecosystem
Competitive
Pressures
There is a limited
understanding of the
marketplace to inform
strategic intent
Active knowledge
acquisition about
competitors, both direct
and indirect
Customer Service
The organisation
requires the highest
standard of customer/
client services
Effective and
coordinated flows of
knowledge about
customers/clients to key
operational units
Legislative
Requirements
Government body
requires regular
reporting to regulatory
authority
Processes for tracking

and reporting key
corporate knowledge
Operational
Effectiveness
Evidence of fragmented
business processes and
duplication of effort in
key processes
Analysis of the current

knowledge resources
and flows
Risk Management
There is a planned
restructure of
departments
Address loss of
corporate knowledge
assets
What this Means for

Business Analysis?
Understanding what tools to use and what
information and knowledge will be identified
with each tool.
Identifying knowledge management drivers
that can indicate where development might
occur next (eg. Knowledge gaps).
Planning and Requirements

Elicitation (1)
Involves customers, users, business
managers, architects and developers
Planned by the business analyst
collaborating with a team
Members are usually the project manager,
business visionary, and technology experts
Determine the approach (plan-based vs

adaptive)
Planning the activities to be undertaken
Marilyn
Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014
Deciding which artefacts are to be produced
Planning and Requirements

Elicitation (2)
Establishes the communication strategy

Defines the change management approach
Conducts a stakeholder analysis
Ensures the project is properly funded
Ensures the requirements elicitation
activities are valid
Elicitation Preparation
Activities include:
Gain an understanding of the organisational needs and
environment of internal and external stakeholders
Reviewing or creating the business case and supporting
documentation
Gain an understanding of the expected outcomes of any change
projects
Create and ensure the team understand the organisational
requirements
Determine which elicitation activities and modelling requirements
are appropriate for the project
Continually check and refine the requirements activities,
deliverables and schedule
Plan for change throughout the project
Elicitation Goals (1)

Requirements are capabilities or conditions a
solution must fulfil
Requirements derive from business goals and
objectives
Solution success factor measured by the extent it
supports business objectives
Goals include:
Identifying the stakeholders who should be involved
in requirements gathering process
Identifying essential user tasks to support
organisational goals and operations
Identify and commence documenting requirements
that meet the needs of stakeholders
Elicitation Goals (2)

During the
documentation of
requirements the BA is
not just a note taker for
groups
A collaborative
environment must be
created between the
stakeholders
Elicitation Activities
The major activity is to ensure that the
correct and complete requirements are
collected
Iterative nature of elicitation for
Requirements gathering
Documenting
Validating
Elicitation Techniques (1)

Workshops
Requirements elicitation workshops link business users with
developers
Conflicting and inconsistent requirements can be resolved
Interviews
Can be with individual or small groups (ideal for finding out how
a particular department operates)
Surveys
A amounts of data can be collected. Can be used to collect
initial information to drive workshops or interviews (anonymous
surveys ideal for collecting information that workshops or
interviews may not elicit)
Elicitation Techniques (2)

Review existing system and documents
Helpful to understand the current conditions
and processes
Observation
By observing users carrying out day-to-day
operational functions these functions can be
used to validate information collected through
other techniques
Note-taking and feedback loops

Regular feedback sessions with stakeholders
allows continual validation of requirements
Elicitation Deliverables
Reviewed and documented business
requirements
Documentation as approved by key
stakeholders
Project notes
Risks and issues documentation
Models and diagrams depicting the system
as-is and to-be
Other information pertaining to the project
Requirements Analysis &

Specification
Simple terms are used to first describe
organisational requirements
Requirements analysis is the phase where
requirements are analysed, categorised and
refined for clarity, accuracy and completeness
Evaluating the requirements collected
Representing the requirements in different
forms to support analysis and decision makings
Setting priorities for the project
Requirements Analysis
Activities
Organising and prioritising requirements

Requirements specification and modelling requirements
Determining assumptions and constraints
Verifying and validating requirements with stakeholders
Determine function and performance

Context
Stakeholder constraints
Effectiveness measures
Validation criteria
Requirements Analysis
Techniques
Are many and varied refer to Hass text
(Kindle locations 1180 1190)
As a rule of thumb use those that encourage
collaboration and innovation.
Requirements Specification
Activities
Production of detailed requirements derived
from information elicited from stakeholders
Production of models, graphs, statements
Productions of complete attribute set of
characteristics for each requirements
Refer Hass text (Kindle location 1211)
Identifying all precise attributes for each
requirements
Requirements Specification
Techniques
Attributes are used to structure, group,
explain, select and validate requirements
Attributes enable the association of
information with individual or groups of
requirements
Enables filtering and sorting in the
requirements analysis phase
Refer to Hass text for a list of typical attributes
attached to requirements. These may be user
or system defined (Kindle locations 1235
1253)
Requirements Analysis &

Specification Deliverables
Requirements must demonstrate the
business value to be delivered
Each must be traced back to business
objectives as stated in the business case
Must be structured to enable requirements
to be traced through to design, construction
and solution implementation
Requirements
Documentation
Documentation should be in clear, concise and
natural language
Overly technical language should be avoided as
requirements will be used by all project stakeholders
Technical language to describe requirements such as
security, government regulations or other standard
may be expressed in formal technical language but
MUST be able to be traced back to business objectives
Refer to Hass text for a list of the characteristics of

good requirements (Kindle locations 1265- 1283)
Requirements Validation
Techniques
Prototyping: provides a visual model of the solution
Test-driven requirements: can assist in defining
requirements difficult to define as by defining the testing
procedure the test will verify the requirement
Business scenarios: scenarios based on actual usage
Acceptance criteria: develop the criteria, performance
metrics and business benefits tests that the requirement
is complete
Structured walkthroughs: validates that the requirements
are clear, accurate, complete and accurate
Requirements Management
Once requirements are defined to a stage when
defining and designing the solution can commence
ALL changes are noted
Involves tracking and coordinating requirements
allocation, status and any changes
Requires requirements validation before each
change to ensure business objectives are still being
met
Management techniques depend on the complexity
of the project
Managing Changes to
Requirements (1)
Low to moderate complexity
Refer to Hass Figure 2.3 (Kindle location 1359)
Waterfall model effective for managing requirements for
low to moderate projects
Assumes events during the project are predicable, skilled
team members and once the phase is complete there will
be no need to return to it
This approach focusses on the importance of accurate
requirements
Unfortunately, projects rarely follow a sequential

pattern, and rarely are requirements not revisited
Managing Changes to
Requirements (2)
Highly complex projects and programs
Less predictable than low to moderate complexity projects
Risk management plan developed with options for various
high-risk scenarios
Functions are prioritised depending on business value
Highest value components should be delivered first
Requires a change management system that is flexible
Focuses on the current component being delivered
Tools used for the category of project/program are
sophisticated , not the basic spreadsheets or tables
Managing Changes to
Requirements (3)
Mega projects
Hard to predict due to changing compliance,
government regulations, environmental,
political issues
Transitional Requirements
Change needs to be planned when delivering new products or
business solutions
BA tasks undertaken at this phase include:
Readiness assessment: evaluating organisational readiness for
change
Skills assessment: identifying any gaps in the skill set of
employees and organising training to reduce those gaps
Organisational assessment: does the current organisational
structure meet the new business objectives and solutions?
Communication assessment: develop a communication plan to
support the organisational; initiatives
Management support assessment: determine the support
management has for the project
Maintaining and Enhancing the

Solution
BA contribution does not end when the
solution has been delivered and is
operational
BA responsible for tracking and reporting
actual business costs and benefits derived
from the solution
BA provides ongoing services to identify,
prevent and correct errors that may arise
Activities
Refer to COIT20238_Wk02_Activites_T3_2014
document on the course website.
Next Week
Creative Leadership
Hass chapters 4 and 5
Week 3: Portfolio due Week 4 Friday 1pm

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Week 2

Lecture Content Source

All content in these lecture slides are from

Unless otherwise stated on the

Understand what strategy is and why it is

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

The Context for Strategy

The business architecture

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Strategy is the direction and scope of an

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Porters five forces model

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

M Porters 5 Forces 11min

MOST Analysis Technique

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Putting It All Together:

Weaknesses: such as financial position of the

Opportunities: what opportunities exist for the

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Business Analyst Strategic

Business Analyst Roles in

Figure 2.1 the Enterprise

Strategic Planning (1)

Strategic Planning (2)

Enterprise Analyst Tasks

Recommending innovative solutions to

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Corporate Scorecard (1)

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Corporate Scorecard (2)

Note the change of perspective of the first

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Hass, Kathleen B. The Enterprise Business Analyst: Developing Creative

Strategic plans established

Portfolio projects selected based

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Role of the Leader

Challenge the status quo all the time and

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

McKinseys 7-S Model

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

(Standards Australia 2005, p.15)

Processes for tracking

Analysis of the current

What this Means for

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Planning and Requirements

Determine the approach (plan-based vs

Planning and Requirements

Establishes the communication strategy

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Marilyn Wells T1 2013 Simon Crawford T3 2014

Elicitation Goals (1)

Elicitation Goals (2)