Business Book Review: Documenting Tools to Use with the Group
The books Business Analysis for Practitioners by Project Management Institute and An Introduction to Business Systems Analysis, Problem Solving Techniques and Strategies by O’Loughlin suggest descriptions of tools and techniques that apply to work with clients. The objective of this journal entry is to document tools and techniques that are used for the analysis with the client and real-life business situation. In particular, attention is paid to SWOT analysis, Cause and Effect Diagram and Capability Table.
SWOT analysis is a commonly used analytical tool that applies to a variety of business contexts. Experts at the Project Management Institute admit that SWOT analysis is utilized to get an accurate idea of a company’s strategy, goals and objectives (18). During cooperation with a client, SWOT analysis is used to determine the vector of the company’s development and identify forces shaping the process. When conducting SWOT analysis, it is necessary to keep in mind the fact that factors impacting an organization’s performance can be internal and external and are further divided into strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (Project Management Institute 18). It is assumed that the client would agree to apply SWOT analysis because this tool is not only easy to use, but also gives a fairly clear idea of the business developmental prospects.
Cause and Effect Diagram is another analytical tool that applies to cooperation with the client. O’Loughlin offers using this diagram to identify the cause of the problem (101). It is suggested that a thorough analysis of the causes underlying a particular challenge provides insights into strategies to address it. Moreover, the use of the Cause and Effect Diagram increases the effectiveness of SWOT analysis. Indeed, the discussion of the prospects of development involves the identification of organizational weaknesses. It is further offered to assess the identified weaknesses in terms of forces leading to their emergences and the effect that they could have on organizational development. The analysis of causes and effects of organizational weaknesses would likely result in the development of strategies to mitigate them.
Finally, it is offered to use the Capability Table when planning cooperation with the client. It is suggested applying capability table shortly after conducting SWOT and Cause and Effect analyses. Indeed, while relying on previously collected data, the Capability Table lists problems, specifies factors causing them and describes the capability or feature used to address them (Project Management Institute 25). An effectiveness of the Capability Table can be examined in terms of delayed reports that are a common problem in any business. While drawing data from SWOT analysis and Cause and Effect diagram, the Capability Table lists possible causes of the problem, including limited ways to accept reports and over-reliance on paper documents that can be easily lost and whose production is time-consuming. The analysis of the root causes of the problem allows proposing strategies to respond to it, for instance replacing paper reports with electronic ones and submitting them …
