Building an Effective Business Case

What is this course about?

The business case is a tool that supports decision-making and projects the financial and business consequences of a specific business initiative or project. Thoroughly researched and clearly communicated business cases provide higher quality information resulting in better management and project decisions. Conversely, if a business case is poorly constructed or poorly communicated, organizations can miss opportunities and make less-than-optimum decisions.

In this course, you learn how to analyze and build a successful business case to meet your organization's unique needs and enable your organization to make better decisions. You maximize the chances that your business case will be accepted and learn how to effectively present the case to critical stakeholders to gain acceptance. You also write a business case and align it with business requirements and drivers.

Who will benefit from this course?

This course is valuable for the following audiences:

• Anyone within an organization who has to construct a business case to justify an investment in a program, product, or purchase.
• Professionals who are transitioning to a new role in which the creation and presentation of business cases is expected. Often this transition is from a technical or operations role to the role of business analyst.
• Technical evaluators who must evaluate and report on business cases.
• Executives who must communicate their business case expectations and standards to subordinates.

What background do I need?

This course is open to anyone who wants to develop a clear business case for decision-making. There are no prerequisites.

How is this course different from Course 211?

In Course 211: Introduction to Business Analysis: Defining Successful Projects, you learn to apply a solid business analysis framework and prioritize the feasibility of business initiatives. This course builds on the knowledge gained in Course 211 and enables you to apply the business analysis skills from Course 211 toward the construction of a business case.

I already took Course 281. How is this course different?

Course 281: Finance and Accounting for Nonfinancial Managers, is for those who want to integrate financial concepts into the decision-making and budgeting process. By contrast, this course is not geared toward the development of a financial model. While financial modeling is covered in this course, it is only one aspect of constructing a business case.

If you're interested specifically in financial analysis, you should consider Course 281 or Course 247: MBA Essentials: Enhancing Organizational Performance.

How is this course different from Course 247?

Course 247: MBA Essentials: Enhancing Organizational Performance, is geared toward overall business and strategic planning and focuses on integrating business management theory with realistic practices. By contrast, Course 212 doesn't focus on business planning but rather on planning for a specific business initiative or project.

Does this course cover writing requirements?

This course covers some of the issues and concerns of business requirements gathering. For exclusive coverage on requirements gathering, you should consider Course 315: Developing User Requirements: The Key to Project Success, or Course 218: User and System Requirements for Successful Software Development.

How much time is spent on each topic?

How much time in this course is devoted to activities?

Approximately 55 percent of course time is spent on activities. This course applies a case study based on an organization's overarching business concern – the need to reduce internal IT customer support. The case is presented via videos, role-playing and computer-enhanced simulation. Exercises include:

• Developing and presenting a real business case
• Analyzing your stakeholders
• Applying key interview skills
• Determining user scenarios for the proposed process or product
• Identifying and prioritizing alternative solutions
• Performing cost-benefit analysis
• Capturing and prioritizing risk using a business case Risk Register
• Prioritizing alternative solutions to align with key business criteria
• Creating a persuasive executive summary

I need to write a business plan. Should I take this course?

No. While a business case is part of a business plan, this is not the focus of the course. The foundation for building a business plan is covered in Course 247 and Course 252.

Is this course applicable toward a Project Management Institute (PMI) certification?

Yes. Though this course is not designed as preparation for an exam, it is beneficial to anyone working toward, or maintaining, a PMI certification. Most PMI certifications require a specific number of PDUs in order to obtain and maintain the credential. Completion of this course provides 17 professional development units (PDUs).

Learning Tree offers several courses that help you prepare for PMI certifications, including Course 276: Preparing for the Project Management Professional (PMP)^® Exam, which prepares you for PMI's most popular certification. For more details on these courses and PMI certifications, please see the Learning Tree PMI Registered Education Provider Q&A.

Is this course endorsed by the IIBA^®?

Yes. Learning Tree is an Endorsed Education Provider (EEP^TM) by the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA^®). This course has been approved by the IIBA^® as supporting core concepts and knowledge outlined by IIBA^®'s Business Analysis Body of Knowledge^® (BABOK^®). Completion of this course counts as 17 continuing development units (CDUs) that will assist you in qualifying for or maintaining the Certified Business Analysis Professional^TM (CBAP^®) certification. For more information about CDUs and how to register them with the IIBA^®, please see the Learning Tree IIBA^® EEP^TM Q&A or http://www.theiiba.org.

The IIBA^®, an independent, nonprofit professional association for business analysts, created the BABOK^®, which is a collection of knowledge for professional business analysts. The BABOK^® reflects generally accepted practices and describes business analysis areas of knowledge, their associated activities and tasks, and the skills necessary to be effective in their execution.

How does this course relate to other Learning Tree courses?

The following courses are closely related to this course:

• Course 211: Introduction to Business Analysis: Defining Successful Projects, is valuable to take prior to this course as it provides a foundation in business analysis. However, Course 211 is not a prerequisite.
• Course 3505: , offers the skills to integrate continuous process improvement strategies and techniques within your business.
• Both Course 315: Developing User Requirements: The Key to Project Success, and Course 218: User and System Requirements for Successful Software Development, cover writing well-formed and validated user requirement. Effective requirements gathering is essential to constructing many business cases.
• Course 281: Finance and Accounting for Nonfinancial Managers, provides the skills to evaluate the financial viability of projects and business initiatives.
• In Course 247: MBA Essentials: Enhancing Organizational Performance, you learn fundamental business concepts and proven management analysis tools to address business challenges and make better decisions.
• In Course 901: Introduction to Business Intelligence: Designing a Successful BI Program, you learn the critical variables needed to implement an effective Business Intelligence program that maximizes your organization's business opportunities.
• In Course 909: High Impact Leadership: Expanding Your Influence to Achieve Results, you gain practical knowledge, skills and political savvy to become more effective at implementing strategy, addressing business challenges, decision making, leadership and motivation.
• In Course 296: Project Management: Skills for Success, you learn how to produce a project plan for successful delivery.

The following courses can assist you in writing your business case:

• 219: Business and Report Writing: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction 
• 319: Technical Writing: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction 

Other business analysis courses that may be of interest include:

• 381: Business Process Reengineering for Competitive Advantage 
• 912: Creating a High-Impact Work Plan for Business Analysts 
• 284: Critical Thinking and Creative Problem Solving 
• 195: Power Excel®: Analyzing Data to Make Business Decisions 
• 289: Disaster Recovery Planning: Ensuring Business Continuity 

The following courses may be of interest for effectively communicating your business plan:

• 292: Communication Skills: Results through Collaboration 
• 294: Influence Skills: Getting Results without Direct Authority 

US Dates