course | Business Analysis, Decision Making and Developing a Strategy

Introduction to Business Analysis: The Role of the Business Analyst
 

• The business analyst’s scope of work 
• Business analysts as internal consultants 
• Active data gathering 
• An overview of strategic thinking
• The three big strategic questions

Strategic Analysis Tools and Techniques:
 

• The 5 Cs of strategic analysis
• Porter's 5 Forces Impact Potential Industry Earnings (PIE)
• Creating and capturing value 
• Conducting SWOT analysis 
• PEDESTL framework
• Practical Application.

Perfecting Strategic Analysis Tools and Techniques:
 

• Industry life cycle analysis.
• Strategic group analysis
• How to identify and understand your industry’s trends?
• Competitor analysis Tips and tricks,
• How to identify key success factors in your industry?
• Case Studies (For all Analysis Strategies).

How to analyze the resources and competencies of your Business?
 

• What is the resource auditing process? And how to apply it? 
• Identifying your business Core competences.
• Value chain analysis.
• Use Mapping to strengthen your organizational resources and competencies.
• How to apply all these concepts in your organization? “Practical Application”.

Getting into Business: Conducting Analyses 
 

• Getting the right data
• Types of research
• Primary research development
• Secondary research development 
• Using pivot tables for analysis 
• Introduction to pivoting tables 
• Creating pivot tables
• Customizing pivot tables 
• Performing calculations within pivot tables
• Creating calculated fields 
• Creating calculated items 
• Using cell references and name ranges
• Managing pivot table calculations

Your Guide to Develop strategic options:
 

• The importance of developing strategic options “with case studies”.
• Develop strategic options using:
• Portfolio analysis.
• Product/Market analysis.
• Develop strategic options to protect your current advantage.
• How to ensure that your strategic options fit your market needs and the organization’s Goals? (With Case studies) 
• Measure the effectiveness of your options.

The Psychology of Strategic Decision Making:
 

• How to be a strategic decision maker?
• Analytical Decision-Making Techniques
• What are the barriers to strategic decision-making?
• Improving strategic decision making Techniques:
• Brainstorming.
• Mind Mapping
• Dialectic inquiry.
• Devil’s advocacy.
• Scenario building.

Perfecting Strategic Decision Making:
 

• Factors that influence our natural decision-making
• Quality problems with intuitive decision-making processes
• Assess the efficiency of decisions.
• Case Studies and practical application

 Merging strategic analysis and decision-making together in an extraordinary strategy:
 

• Understand the key success factors of the perfect strategy.
• Use strategic analysis to identify your core business proposition.
• Develop a suitable Vision and Mission.
• Identify your organization’s key strategic priorities.
• Design strategic objectives.
• Mapping your strategic decisions to achieve business objectives: “Practical Application.”