Uvarova K. V., Shkil N. O., Beschastna D. O.

Oles Honchar Dnipropetrovsk National University, Ukraine

BUSINESS ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES

The term business analysis refers to the discipline of identifying needs within a business and determining the appropriate solution. These solutions may include changes in the organization itself, strategic development or development of new policies. When the time inevitably comes for some sort of change, the business analyst has several techniques at his disposal. Precisely which techniques are used will depend on the nature of the problem, and the scope of the solution. Here are five that are used successfully by business analysts to help solve an array of different problems.

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 towards the 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».

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?

McKinsey 7S Framework  can 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 job 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.

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.

Everyday projects, like larger, more complex projects, require analysts to apply the necessary methods, knowledge and skills to achieve success. An analyst assigned to a smaller, stand- alone project must be able to work with the business customer in order to understand and clarify the problem and specify a potential solution. Business analysis techniques help to correctly collect and analyze information from the customer. These techniques help save customer and performer money.