About this course
Course Overview
This 3-day BCS Foundation Certificate in Business Change training provides an entry qualification for anyone wishing to gain an understanding of the holistic nature of business change. The syllabus is based upon a business change lifecycle which incorporates the processes, frameworks and techniques used in business change activities. The BCS Foundation Certificate in Business Change will be awarded to candidates who are able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the activities within the Business Change lifecycle.
Target Audience
This Foundation Certificate is for people who want to understand business change. This includes relevant processes, frameworks and techniques. Suitable for Business Analysts, Subject Matter Experts, Project Managers, Business Managers, Business Change Managers and Product Owners. This list is not exhaustive and many other roles may benefit.
Course Objectives
You’ll gain a broad understanding of business change, including:
- An appreciation of the principles, processes, roles and approaches involved in business change
- How to use information technology to enable business change, and as a driver for business change
- How to align the organisation with external and internal influences
- How to implement business change effectively
Course Content
1. Business Change Principles (5%)
Candidates will be able to:
1.1. Explain the degrees of business change
1.1.1. Venkatraman’s Business Transformation Model
1.2. Describe the business change lifecycle
2. Business Alignment (20%)
Candidates will be able to:
2.1. Identify the three aspects specific to an organisation with which any business change
must align:
2.1.1. The external environment
2.1.2. The enterprise architecture
2.1.3. VMOST (vision, mission, objectives, strategy and tactics)
2.2. Explain the process and techniques used to develop a SWOT analysis (Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats).
2.2.1. Techniques to analyse the external environment
2.2.1.1. PESTLE analysis
2.2.1.2. Porters Five Forces analysis
2.2.2. Techniques to analyse the internal environment
2.2.2.1. VMOST
2.2.2.2. Resource Audit
2.3. Describe frameworks used when analysing organisational culture
2.3.1. Handy’s Model of Organisational Culture
2.3.2. The Cultural Web
2.4. Describe Hofstede’s Dimensions of National Culture
2.5. Explain the balanced scorecard, critical success factors (CSF) and key performance
indicators (KPI).
3. Business Improvement Definition (25%)
Candidates will be able to:
3.1. Explain the applicability, advantages and disadvantages of the following investigation
techniques:
3.1.1. Interviews
3.1.2. Observation
3.1.3. Workshops
3.1.4. Scenarios
3.1.5. Surveys
3.1.6. Document analysis
3.2. Describe the techniques to analyse the root causes of problems
3.2.1. Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagrams
3.2.2. Mind Maps
3.2.3. Rich Pictures
3.3. Identify categories of stakeholder: Stakeholder Wheel
3.4. Explain techniques to analyse and manage stakeholders
3.4.1. Power/Interest Grid
3.4.2. CATWOE
3.4.3. RACI Chart
3.5. Explain the gap analysis process, comparing existing and target states
3.6. Explain the process for evaluating options
3.6.1. Identifying options
3.6.2. Evaluating feasibility: business feasibility, technical feasibility and financial
feasibility
3.7. Describe the contents and structure of a business case
3.7.1. Background and objectives
3.7.2. Options
3.7.3. Categories of costs and benefits
3.7.4. Impact assessment
3.7.5. Risk assessment
3.8. Distinguish between investment appraisal techniques
3.8.1. Payback
3.8.2. Discounted cash flow
3.8.3. Internal rate of return
3.9. Distinguish between the change programme and the change project
3.10. Requirements
3.10.1. Describe requirements definition
3.10.2. Describe the Requirements Engineering Framework: Elicitation, Analysis,
Validation, Documentation and Management
3.10.3. Describe the types of Requirement: General, Technical, Functional and NonFunctional
3.10.4. Represent the scope of the selected option: Use case diagrams
4. Business Change Design and Development (20%)
Candidates will be able to:
4.1. Describe the POPIT (People, Organisation, Process, Information and Technology)
model
4.1.1. People
4.1.1.1. Identify the people related areas to be considered within a Business
Change initiative
o skills
o recruitment
o staff development
o motivation and reward
4.1.2. Organisation
4.1.2.1. Describe types of organisational structures by
o function geography or product
o flat and tall structures
o centralised and decentralised
4.1.2.2. Explain the impact of business change on team structures and roles
4.1.3. Process
4.1.3.1. Distinguish between a functional and process view
4.1.3.2. Describe the components of a business process model (Swimlane
diagram):
o actors
o tasks
o swimlanes
o process flow
o initiating business event
o decisions
o outcome
4.1.3.3. Distinguish between current (as is) and improved (to be) business
process models.
4.1.4. Information:
4.1.4.1. Explain the rationale for data modelling
4.1.4.2. Describe the components of a Class Model
o classes
o attributes
o associations
4.1.5. Technology:
4.1.5.1. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of bespoke software
development and off-the-shelf software package procurement
4.1.5.2. Describe the Waterfall lifecycle
4.1.5.3. Describe the Agile approach to software development
o iterative development
o incremental delivery
4.2 Describe testing in the business change process
4.2.1 Describe the extended “V” model.
5. Business Change Implementation (15%)
Candidates will be able to:
5.1. Explain business readiness assessment
5.1.1. POPIT model
5.1.2. Force Field Analysis
5.1.3. Kotter approach to change
5.2. Describe the process for implementing the solution
5.2.1. Implementation approaches
5.2.1.1. Direct changeover (or “big bang”)
5.2.1.2. pilot
5.2.1.3. parallel running
5.2.1.4. phased
5.2.2. Lewin’s Model of Organisational Change – unfreeze, transition, freeze
5.3. Explain responses to change
5.3.1. Emotional impact of changes: SARAH model
5.3.2. The conscious competence learning model
5.4 Explain the purpose of post-implementation review
6. Benefits Management and Realisation (15%)
Candidates will be able to:
6.1. Describe benefits management process/lifecycle
6.2. Describe benefits categories
6.2.1. financial
6.2.2. quantifiable
6.2.3. measurable
6.2.4. observable
6.3. Describe the role of the Benefit Owner
6.4. Describe the contents of the benefits plan
6.5. Explain the purpose, conduct and outcomes of a benefits review
Course Prerequisites
There are no entry requirements for this certification.
Test Certification
- Type: 40 Multiple Choice questions
- Duration: 60 minutes
- Supervised: Yes
- Open Book: No (no materials can be taken into the examination room)
- Passmark: 26/40 (65%)
