Diving into Business Analysis

Marina Melnik

Business Analysis Techniques

5 Whys Technique –is a simple technique that helps you to get to the root of a problem quickly. The primary
goal of the 5 Whys technique is to determine the root cause of a problem.
Simply ask your customer about the staff he needs: Why? It is interesting to note that the last answer points
to a process. This is one of the most important aspects in the 5 Why approach - the real root cause should
point toward a process that is not working well or does not exist.
A key phrase to keep in mind in any 5 Whys exercise is "people do not fail, processes do".

CATWOE Technique – is a simple technique that can be used to stimulate thinking about:
• what the business trying to achieve
• what problem we are trying to resolve
• what solution we implement

CATWOE is a Mnemonic
Customers
Actors
Transformation Process
World View
Owner
Environmental Constraints

HEPTALYSIS Analysis – is used to perform an in-depth analysis of businesses goals & possibilities
Heptalysis is the modeling concept that discusses the fundamental elements of the business ventures
and suggests the ways to systemize the results and the assessment process.
HEPTALYSIS 7 Factors are:
Market opportunity
Product/solution
Execution plan
Financial engine
Human capital
Potential return
Margin of safety
THE POPIT Model
Organisation: People:
the management structure, roles, the staff members responsible for implementing
responsibilities and resources the business processes and carrying out the
Processes: work of the organisation
the business processes used to deliver the Technology:
organisation’s products and services to the hardware and software systems used to
customers, and to support its work support the work of the organisation

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 Diving into Business Analysis
Marina Melnik

MOST/VMOST Analysis – is used to perform an internal environmental analysis to ensure that problems
Customer is going to work on are aligned with his vision of future.
You can conduct a VMOST analysis both for an existing business and for proposed changes.
MOST/VMOST Components
Vision – This is organization's purpose, in terms of its values or how it goes about doing business.
It should inspire staff, and help customers understand why they would want to use the company's
products or services.
Mission – This is also organization's purpose, but expressed in terms of key measures that must
be reached to achieve your vision.
Objectives – These are specific goals that Customer must meet to achieve the mission.
Strategy – This is the overall plan Customer should follow to meet organization's objectives.
Tactics – These are specific sets of actions needed to execute your strategy.
SWOT/TOWS Analysis –both are used to analyze the external environment (threats and opportunities),
and your internal environment (weaknesses and strengths).
At a practical level, the only difference between TOWS and SWOT is that TOWS emphasizes the external
environment whilst SWOT emphasizes the internal environment.
SWOT/TOWS Components
Strengths – What are the advantages? What is currently done well?
Weaknesses – What could be improved? What is done badly?
Opportunities – What good opportunities face the organization?
Threats – What obstacles does the organization face?

PEST Analysis
PEST Analysis helps to analyze the Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural, and Technological changes in
business environment.
This helps to understand the "big picture" forces that affect business and shape business environment.
PEST Factors
Political
Economic
Social
Technological

McKinsey 7S Frameworkcan be used in a wide variety of situations:

• Improve the performance of a company
• Examine the likely effects of future changes within a company
• Align departments and processes during a merger or acquisition
• Determine how best to implement a proposed strategy
McKinsey 7 Elements
“Hard” elements are easier to define or identify and management can directly influence them:
1. Strategy: the plan devised to maintain and build competitive advantage over the competition.
2. Structure: the way the organization is structured and who reports to whom.
3. Systems: the daily activities and procedures that staff members engage in to get the j ob done.
“Soft” elements are more difficult to describe, and are less tangible and more influenced by culture:
4. Shared Values: called "superordinate goals" when the model was first developed, these are the
core values of the company that are evidenced in the corporate culture and the general work
ethic.
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 Diving into Business Analysis
Marina Melnik

5. Style: the style of leadership adopted.

6. Staff: the employees and their general capabilities.
7. Skills: the actual skills and competencies of the employees working for the company.

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The information contained in these documents is confidential, privileged and only for the information of SkillsUp authorized students
and may not be used, published or redistributed without the prior written consent of SkillsUp. Copyright © 2011-2019 by SkillsUp. All
rights reserved.