Synopsis: The business analyst is the one who acts as the decoder between the customers or the users and the group that is attempting to meet the needs of the user. The underlying competencies that should be possessed by the business analyst to support their effective performance are skills, knowledge, and personal characteristics. The role and responsibilities of a business analyst are as follows:
Reflection: From my point of view, the core competencies are required for business analysts so that their duties are performed effectively to meet the customer’s needs. I understand this from the following example: in planning the project, the business analysis looks after the features of regulatory, user, and business requirements along with functional and non-functional aspects. I think business analysts take a Holistic Approach (POPIT model) to carry out the business requirements. The analyst will identify the contract of the project and its vision, the business case, the work plan requirements, the request documents of the vendor, and the contract documents of the project and then the documentation is planned for the product scope. Even I found out that business analysts are also known as Enterprise analysts, Business architects, game changers, or intrapreneurs.
Critique: At the phase of requirements elicitation a crucial phase is faced by the business which is known to create a break in the project. At this time it is dealt with the business analysts. Some common problems are shortcomings in the core competencies of business analysts too (Balasubramanian, Bhattacharya & Krishnan, 2015).
Synopsis: Business analysts are required to be savvy in terms of both the business and the technology. They should know the processes of business, strategic planning, and development of the project and should have good writing skills for business. Concerning technology, the technical computer knowledge should be possessed by them. They have to grasp the new design concepts of the engineering system so that a new technology can be developed. Technical writing and complex modeling techniques are the other features that they should have.
Reflection: As a business analyst, I think the responsibility of the person is to use a certain business and analyze skills in developing new technology. This technology, in turn, should meet the user’s needs so the analyst has to validate and verify it. For example, while analyzing the various ways to improve production or efficiency marketing activities are required. I also learned they need to find out the root causes not the symptoms, they should focus on business improvement, not IT change. Most importantly from my point of view, they need to cover the entire business change lifecycle, not just the requirements definition. Business analysts should have Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) skills.
Critique: As per Chakravarty & Grewal, the organization consists of various departments where the business analysts have to work in coordination with them. Each department has its balancing role of different people. So to operate the business efficiently, communication and cooperation between the departments should be smooth (Chakravarty & Grewal, 2016). So business analysts should be aware of the business processes ranging from the level of simple guidelines to the important checklists to make sure that departments, such as IT and management work by the goals, limitations, and work processes of the organization.
Synopsis: The model that can be used for strategy formulation in analyzing the external and internal environment is the Strategy Formulation Model by Andrew Isherwood. This model is limited to the level of creation and the validation of the strategies and then ends with the vision of the documentation. It also gives the idea of where the business will see itself shortly and how it achieves its mission. The analytical steps involved in this model for creating the visions and mission are:
Reflection: The strategy formulation model is required to realize the goals and objectives of the organization and in turn achieve its vision. For this, I think internal and external environmental analysis is required for the following reasons:
Critique: According to Drake, Guest & Twedt, the analytical techniques used for strategy formulation will help you in determining the best ways to conduct the project or the activities of the business. It will help minimize the risks or the potential problems that might break the project (Drake, Guest & Twedt, 2014). The analytical techniques that are used by the businesses have some limitations which have to be understood by the analysts so that the resources can be dedicated appropriately to the various techniques.
Synopsis: Currently, the knowledge is in the forms of both unspoken and clear. It has become the key factor for sustainable development and competitive advantage. Therefore, in all the major business processes in their organizational strategy, the knowledge audit plan is being applied. The corporate enterprise is completely dependent upon the organizational strategy with the exploration of the knowledge audit plan and with the usage of the surviving one.
Reflection: In my, the concept of an organizational strategy for the business patterns for the knowledge audit plan pattern is outlining the tools that might be used in implementing the Knowledge audit methodology:
Critique: As per Foster et al, in the business context the analysis of the knowledge audit plan and its relation to the organizational strategy will show the business analysts the current possibilities for the easily sustainable market position. But in fact, the growth possibilities might not be known if a SWOT analysis is not performed and the threats that are posed to the business cannot be suspected (Foster et al., 2015).
Synopsis: Business analysts play a very critical role in the productivity, profitability, and efficiency of the company. Some important skill sets are to be possessed by the analysts. It ranges from communication and interpersonal skills to the level of problem-solving ability and critical thinking.
The two important features that are required by the business analyst are leadership and team-building skills so that the performance of the project is achieved as per the set goals.
Effective leadership is required in business analysis because it leads to collaboration, consent, communication results, and shared leadership in business analysis. If the leadership skills are sharpened then it will serve as an effective connection between the communities of the business and ultimately result in the development of the team with their team building skills (Sonteya & Seymour, 2012). For maximizing the leadership the techniques that are related to their abilities should be analysed and followed. Along with this, a career in business analysis can be advanced. The leadership and team building skills should be developed in such a way that it increases the satisfaction of the customer with their services and products. This, in turn, promotes the efficiencies of product development (Theißen & Spinler, 2014).
Reflection: I think for analyzing the stages of team development or team building skills hands-on experience is required by business analysts. The involvement of the user and their ownership should be maximized. What I learned is that while dealing with the leadership and team building there would be some challenges faced by the analysts. Effective solutions should be developed for fair dealing with the challenges.
As a business analyst, I think they should be able to structure the team and develop coordination between the team members. The business analysts who possess these skills will build a successful team. In the role of leadership, negotiation skills are required as they will be valued in facilitating the negotiations between the IT and the users of the business. Also in between the analyst and the IT with regards to the resources development. This will try to enhance the project scope.
While building the team the analyst should be an active listener. This will help gather the requirements of the business. Internally the client service will be provided in a high quality if status reports are gathered with all the information.
Critique: In numerous organizations, the competencies, that are required for successful business analysts are not differentiated from those of a project manager. Yet both roles have their responsibilities in the project cycle. There is no wonder why many of the projects fail. A business analyst cannot be expected to perform at the top level if his or her required competencies are not clearly defined. As per the Hass research, business analysts are responsible for identifying the needs of the business for their clients and the stakeholders. In addition to this, the solutions should be determined for the business problems (Hass, 2011). These are the leadership activities that are to be performed by the analysts. As an analyst, they generate analysis, validation, and documentation of the business. The team building skills are required in terms of reaching the requirements of the operations of the organizations.
Unit 1 Communicating in Health and Social Care Organisations
Synopsis: As a business analyst, being assigned to a new project is an appreciable task. But at the same time, it can also be a tense job. The key processes that are involved in the business context should be understood so that the success of the project is met. The following are the steps that are involved in the business analysis and its understanding.
Reflection: I think knowing the key processes that help manage strategic concerns and which reflect the issues through several significant dimensions is important for understanding the business context.
By working on this pattern, with the help of the key strategic goals all the processes that are involved in building a project will be known.
Critique: According to Laursen & Thorlund, The key processes will give access to an extensive pool of knowledge that will help them to know whether the needs of the customers are met and whether the environment of the business can be analyzed along with the skills and competencies of the staff (Laursen & Thorlund, 2016). How the business information is gathered, the way it is shared, and the exploitation of this knowledge will be the main criteria for the ability of the business to develop successfully.
Synopsis: A thorough requirement of the business is never available readily at the fingertips of business analysts. No documentation of the technical requirements of the business will be there. It will generally reside in the minds of the stakeholders and in the feedback that has to be got from the users. Hence, the requirements should be elicited and the methodology for performing that has to be logical (Rothaermel, 2015). For any project requirement elicitation is essential its importance cannot be overstated. The purpose of the requirement elicitation is to identify the needs of the business, the risks involved, and the assumptions that are associated with the project. The best techniques for the investigation of the requirement elicitation are as follows:
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Reflection: In requirement elicitation, the first step is to gather a wide range and an accurate understanding of the needs of the business project. During the process of the elicitation, the strong understanding of the analysts about the business needs will help them against the scope creep. It will also assist in selecting the proper stakeholders and the techniques of elicitation.
The next step in the elicitation requirements is to make sure that a sufficient amount and a mix of stakeholders are available for the duration of the project. I think these points should be taken care of by Business analysts. The method that is the most prevalent, but invisible method of social interaction is the conservational method. The demands, needs, and constraints are verbally expressed.
I think, in the observational method, documentation is required for analyzing the problem, charts of the organization, standards, and the existing systems.
Generally, the analytic methods do not have an important role in the requirements elicitation it is because the requirements are taken indirectly from various other sources instead of customers or the users.
Critique: After discussing the four groups of the requirement elicitation methods, to understand each of the requirement elicitation methods they have to be used in the real case (Paul, Yeates & Cadle, 2014). The limitation of the conversational method is that it depends more on the behavior and the attitude of the conductor. The limitation of the observation method is that it requires a lot of time and so is not a good choice when it is a tight schedule.
The disadvantage of the analytical method is that it needs some of the empirical data, and requires documentation and the opinions of the experts.
Balasubramanian, S., Bhattacharya, S. and Krishnan, V.V., 2015. Pricing information goods: A strategic analysis of the selling and pay-per-use mechanisms. Marketing Science, 34(2), pp.218-234.
Chakravarty, A. and Grewal, R., 2016. Analyst earning forecasts and advertising and R&D budgets: role of agency theoretic monitoring and bonding costs. Journal of Marketing Research, 53(4), pp.580-596.
Drake, M.S., Guest, N.M. and Twedt, B.J., 2014. The media and mispricing: The role of the business press in the pricing of accounting information. The Accounting Review, 89(5), pp.1673-1701.
Foster, K., Smith, G., Ariyachandra, T. and Frolick, M.N., 2015., Business intelligence competency center: improving data and decisions. Information Systems Management, 32(3), pp.229-233.
Hass, K. 2011, The Enterprise Analyst: Developing creative solutions to complex business problems, Management Concepts, Inc,
Laursen, G.H. and Thorlund, J., 2016. Business analytics for managers: Taking business intelligence beyond reporting. John Wiley & Sons.
Paul, D., Yeates, D., Cadle, J., 2014, Business Analysis, BCS Learning and Development Ltd., Swindon
Rothaermel, F.T., 2015. Strategic management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Sonteya, T & Seymour, L 2012, Towards an understanding of the business process analyst: An analysis of competencies
Theißen, S. and Spinler, S., 2014. Strategic analysis of manufacturer-supplier partnerships: an ANP model for collaborative CO 2 reduction management. European Journal of Operational Research, 233(2), pp.383-397.
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