Developing a Business Case: Expert Solutions to Everyday Challenges

by Harvard Business School Press

• ISBN13: 9781422129760
• ISBN10: 1422129764
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-11-23
• Publisher: Ingram Pub Services

Summary

How do you decide on the best course of action for your company to take advantage of new opportunities? By building a business case.This book provides a framework for building a business case. You'll learn how to: Clearly define the opportunity you'll want to address in your business case Identify and analyze a range of alternatives Recommend one option and assess its risks Create a high-level implementation plan for your proposed alternative Communicate your case to key stakeholders

Table of Contents

Mentor's Message: The Advantages of a Solid Business Case	p. xi
Developing a Business Case: The Basics
What Is a Business Case?	p. 3
A preview of key facts about business cases
Business case versus business plan	p. 4
When you should create a business case	p. 5
A complex document	p. 6
Seven steps to a business case	p. 6
Define the Opportunity	p. 9
Tips for articulating the opportunity you want to pursue
Identifying a problem or opportunity	p. 10
Developing an opportunity statement	p. 12
Identifying your business objectives	p. 14
Prioritizing your objectives	p. 14
Assigning metrics to your objectives	p. 15
Identify the Alternatives	p. 17
Ideas for making sure you have many options to choose from
Generating a list of options	p. 18
Gathering input	p. 19
Narrowing your choices	p. 23
Gather Data and Estimate Time Frame	p. 25
Suggestions for obtaining crucial information about your opportunity
Identifying the information you need	p. 26
Collecting the data	p. 27
Setting a time frame	p. 29
Documenting your estimates and assumptions	p. 30
Analyze the Alternatives	p. 33
Recommendations for comparing all your alternatives
Evaluating alternatives against your metrics	p. 34
Understanding common financial metrics	p. 35
Creating a framework for comparing alternatives	p. 35
Make a Choice and Assess the Risk	p. 45
Advice for selecting a course of action and weighing its pros and cons
Selecting the best solution	p. 46
Weighing the risks	p. 49
Deciding how to mitigate the risks	p. 50
Determining whether to modify your recommended course of action	p. 51
Craft a Plan for Implementing Your Idea	p. 57
Tips for ensuring that your proposed alternative can be put into action
Understanding the purpose of an implementation plan	p. 58
Listing your milestones	p. 59
Communicating with decision makers	p. 60
Identifying resources you'll need	p. 61
Clarifying responsibilities	p. 61
Indicating expected payoff	p. 62
Tracking your results	p. 63
Communicate Your Case	p. 65
Techniques for presenting your case to decision makers
Understanding your audience	p. 66
Using visuals to present your case	p. 67
Tips and Tools
Tools for Developing a Business Case	p. 73
Worksheets for identifying alternatives, tracking implementation of your idea, ensuring that you've taken all the right steps for creating a business case, and documenting an actual business case
Test Yourself	p. 87
A helpful review of concepts presented in this guide. Take it before and after you've read the guide, to see how much you've learned
Answers to test questions	p. 90
To Learn More	p. 95
Further titles of articles and books if you want to go more deeply into the topic
Sources for Developing a Business Case	p. 101
Notes	p. 103
For you to use as ideas come to mind.
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.