Business Case Role
Use the business case as an aid to management decision-making throughout the investment life cycle.
Improvement Planning
Practices-Outcomes-Metrics (POM)
Representative POMs are described for Business Case Role at each level of maturity.
- 2Basic
- Practice
- Use business cases as required on a project-by-project basis to secure funding.
- Outcomes
- There is increasing ability, at a business unit level, to determine what benefits are expected and can be realized.
- Business cases are not consistently used and are often incomplete.
- Metric
- % of approved investments using business cases.
- Practice
- Consolidate the number of cost accounting templates in use across investments.
- Outcome
- Templates exist, but they are not standardized and their focus is mainly on cost, and minimally on results.
- Metric
- % of approved investments using approved templates.
- 3Intermediate
- Practice
- Develop standard business case template(s) which include(s) a benefits plan.
- Outcome
- There is ability to determine, at the organization level, what benefits are expected and can be realized (based on post-implementation reviews) for all major investments.
- Metric
- % of approved investments using approved templates which include a benefits plan.
- Practice
- Mandate a business case requirement for all major investments.
- Outcomes
- Business cases are seen as a valuable management tool.
- For all major investments, there is a process for business case approval and sign off.
- Metric
- % of approved major investments adhering to approved business case processes.
- 4Advanced
- Practice
- Define and communicate the role of the business case throughout the full life cycle of an investment decision, including business case approval, sign-off, and reviews.
- Outcome
- The potential value of individual investments is optimized.
- Metric
- % of approved investments using business cases.
- 5Optimized
- Practice
- Review, update, and re-evaluate business cases dynamically, throughout the full investment cycle, and in the context of changing business conditions.
- Outcome
- The potential value of investments and the actual value of assets are maximized across all investment and asset portfolios.
- Metric
- % of approved investments whose business cases are reviewed and updated across their full life cycle.