MIS782.4 Emerging Opportunities and Business Communication futurelearn.com/courses/mis782-fl4/1/steps/167773 What is a professional business case made of? © Getty Images Business cases come in various shapes and forms. The framework outlined below is a comprehensive account of all areas that a professional business case should account for. This is the structure that we would expect you to follow in your development of a business case for Assessment 2. A business case can be broken into the following three separate sections: OVERVIEW & BACKGROUND INFORMATION Define the business problem or opportunity. Scope the business and IT alignment. ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS Identify alternatives. Analyse the alternatives. PLANNING FOR FUTURE IMPLEMENTATION 1/3Select the best choice. Create a plan for the implementation of ideas. Communicate your case. In the following steps, we shall examine each of the above steps one at a time. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Step 1: Define the business problem or opportunity Businesses do not go on a spending spree and start various initiatives simply because they have the capability. Business initiatives/projects need to address an existing problem or exploit an opportunity. An example of a business problem might be “Our coffee shop is losing customers due to a long queue at the counter”. A business opportunity might be “Our coffee shop could form a partnership with the bookshop next door that has an established loyal customer base”. Once the business problem or opportunity is identified: Craft an opportunity statement outlining major benefits – this is a headline that speaks to management in terms they can easily understand. If competitive advantage can be integrated into the discussion that would speak volumes. Identify the business objectives – what are the high-level subtasks this initiative could be broken down into? Then prioritise those objectives (generally based on stakeholders). Assign metrics to each objective – how could they be measured? These steps form an overview of the business initiative/project, its purpose, benefits, subtasks, priorities and success measurements quite succinctly. Step 2: Business & IT Alignment The focus of this section of a business case is to outline resources and capabilities that the organisation can take better advantage of. Now it is time to explore the initiative in more detail from the IT alignment point of view. What IT resources and capabilities (including employee skills) need to be brought in or reconfigured? How is it aligned with the overall strategic objectives of the organisation? In VRIO framework, the “O” stands for “organised to realise maximum value”. That would be a convenient way to view business IT alignment covered in this step. A case of Royal District Nursing Service The Royal District Nursing Service (RDNS) is a case that we will use throughout the rest of this course. RDNS is an organisation in Australia that aims to provide in-home care for elderly citizens. Mobility is key to this organisations where care-givers and nurses are dispatched to homes of elderly patients. RDNS has identified a business problem that they would like to resolve. There is currently a very high staff turnover, which indicates low employee job satisfaction and costs the RDNS a lot in recruitment and training. The RDNS has a business goal to improve employee satisfaction and reduce employee turnover (ie. strategic goal). Your Task In thinking about the organisational problem and solution that RDNS identified, in the comments, share your insights as your responses to the two questions below: How will the RDNS measure whether they have achieved this business goal? What metrics might they use to determine the achievement of this goal? 2/3© Deakin University 3/3