Analytical Tools for Business Analysis

Business case analysis tools used to evaluate potential business decisions. The project manager, who is responsible for conducting the analysis, assesses the costs, risks, and benefits of a decision using their specialist knowledge. Business Analysis is popular to many company owners with the functions to analyze, examine data, and figure out the most appropriate plan or priority for the company to achieve their goals. There are several analytical tools used to support businessmen to perform a business analysis.

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Here are most effective analytical tools used in analyzing process of a business that you can take into your account:

1. SWOT Analysis or SWOT Matrix: SWOT Analysis or SWOT Matrix is a strategic planning technique used to help a person or organization identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to business competition or project planning. It is a simple but useful framework for analyzing your organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It helps you to build on what you do well, to address what you’re lacking, to minimize risks, and to take the greatest possible advantage of chances for success.
2. PESTEL/PESTLE/PEST Analysis: A PESTEL analysis is an acronym for a tool used to identify the macro (external) forces facing an organisation. The letters stand for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal. Depending on the organisation, it can be reduced to PEST or some areas can be added (e.g. Ethical). A PESTEL analysis or more recently named PESTELE is a framework or tool used by marketers to analyse and monitor the macro-environmental (external marketing environment) factors that have an impact on an organisation. The result of which is used to identify threats and weaknesses which are used in a SWOT analysis.
3. Porter’s 5 Forces: Porter’s Five Forces is a business analysis model that helps to explain why various industries are able to sustain different levels of profitability. The model was published in Michael E. … The five forces are frequently used to measure competition intensity, attractiveness, and profitability of an industry or market.
4. Value Chain Analysis: Value chain analysis (VCA) is a process where a firm identifies its primary and support activities that add value to its final product and then analyze these activities to reduce costs or increase differentiation. Value chain. represents the internal activities a firm engages in when transforming inputs into outputs.
5. BCG Matrix: BCG matrix (also referred to as Growth-Share Matrix) is a portfolio planning model which is based on the observation that a company’s business units can be classified into four categories: Cash. Cows. Stars. Question Marks.
6. Ansoff Matrix: In the Ansoff’s matrix, market penetration is adopted as a strategy when the firm has an existing product and needs a growth strategy for an existing market. The best example of such a scenario is the telecom industry. Most telecom products are existing in the market and they have the same market to cater to.
7. MOST Analysis: This method is suitable for any company looking for performing internal analysis since it helps the owners sure that they are on the right pattern. The name MOST is an acronym for mission, objectives, strategies, and tactics. The business needs to define where they want to drive their business to, what goals do they need to obtain to achieve their mission, what is the detail plan, and how to perform the defined plan.
8. Heptalysis: This is a model that studies the important factors of a business venture at the beginning of assessment process. This analysis is completed by analyzing 7 fundamental elements which are; market opportunity, product or solution, execution plan, financial engine, human capital, potential return, and margin of safety.
9. De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats: This method is mostly suitable when you want some new idea for your business. Using this analysis during brainstorming process helps you generate different ideas and examine them to figure out the most appropriate one. However, this analytical tool restricts people to think in certain directions. To complete De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats, there are 6 moods you should think about: pure and logical facts, creativity, positivity, negativity, emotions, and ability to control.
10. CATWOE: This business analysis used to force businessmen to brainstorm their goals within limited time. There are 6 essential factors: customers, actors, transformation process, world view, owners, and environmental constraints to make this analytical tool, which also make up the acronym for its name.
11. Five whys: This analytical tool is usually applied when the company wants to identify the causes of a problem. It provides the owners the general overview about what is really happening to their businesses.
12. MoSCow: A business often chooses this analytical tool when they have numerous tasks to handle and they need to decide which task will receive priority. By listing the tasks and analyzing them, business owners can quickly make decision based on the validity of requirements for each task. There are 4 factors in this analytical tool, which are: Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won’t have.
13. SCRS Analysis: Another useful business analytical tool is SCRS. Using this method, it means that the company will follow the order of the current state and requirements from a business strategy to look for suitable solutions. The name of the tool is also an acronym for four steps respectively: strategy, current state, requirements, and solution.
14. VPEC-T Analysis: This analysis allows users to make decision when they have to examine different expectations from several opinions about a system. The name of this tool stands for values, policies, events, content, and trust.