Before a project commences (either capital purchase or switching to a new supplier), a business case should be developed. The business case outlines the why, what, how, and who necessary to decide if it is worthwhile continuing a project.
Basically, the following criteria can be applied to the assessment of a business case:
1. Objectives
This part describes why you are doing the project. The business objective answers the following questions:
- What is your goal?
- What is needed to overcome the problem?
- How will the project support the business strategy?
2. Option identification and selection
Identify the potential solutions to the problem and describe them in enough detail for the reader to understand.
For instance, if the business case and proposed solution makes use of technology, make sure to explain how the technology is used and define the terms used in a glossary. Since most problems have multiple solutions an option appraisal is often needed. This will explore the potential solutions and recommend the best option.
When writing the initial business case the option appraisal is likely to contain a long list of options and will cover many possibilities. As the project continues a number of options will be rejected. The final business case may contain three to five options # the short list # that includes a do nothing or benchmark option.
3. Benefits and limitations
The benefits and limitations section describes the financial and non-financial benefits in turn. The purpose is to explain why you need a project.
For instance, to:
- Improve quality
- Save costs through efficiencies
- Reduce working capital
- Generate revenue
- Remain competitive
- Improve customer service
- Align to corporate strategy
The business case should also include any limitations since these present potential risk to the pro-ject.
4. Risk management
The risk assessment summarizes the significant project risks and opportunities and how they are managed.
The risks included should cover those that could arise from your project or the organiza-tion's ability to deliver change.
This section answers the following questions:
- What risks are involved?
- What are the consequences of a risk happening?
- What opportunities may emerge?
- What plans are in place to deal with the risks?
- Every project should include a risk log.
When writing a business case, make sure this is included as it explains how risk and opportunity are managed.
5. Implementation plan
The outline plan provides a summary of the main activities and overall timescale # project schedule # for the project.
Ideally, the project should be divided into stages with key decisions preceding each stage. Use this section to answer the following questions:
- What is required?
- How is it done?
- Who does what?
- When will things happen?
This outline plan lists the major deliverables and includes a brief project description plus accountabilities for each activity.
In the scenario, the CPO has set out objective, generated options, cost and benefit of each option and implementation plan. In order to make the business case more compelling, he should reinforce it with risk management.

Value analysis is often defined as a systematic process for improving the value of a product, service or project. It is typically used in the following ways:
- To determine the value of each component used
- To find cost reduction opportunities by optimising the components used Segment analysis helps procurement and supply to shape and manage the supply markets.
There is no concept known as Variety reduction.
Standardisation is the process which is used to reduce varieties of products or parts.
In this scenario, the company's objective is cost reduction, then value analysis or value engineering is more likely to be applied. Also the company aims at reducing variety, standardisation can be combined with value analysis to produce the best results.
LO 3, AC 3.4

According to Investopedia, the financial services sector provides financial services to people and corporations. This segment of the economy is made up of a variety of financial firms includ-ing banks, investment houses, lenders, finance companies, real estate brokers, and insurance com-panies. As noted above, the financial services industry is probably the most important sector of the economy, leading the world in terms of earnings and equity market capitalization. Large conglomerates dominate this sector, but it also includes a diverse range of smaller companies.
According to the finance and development department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), financial services are the processes by which consumers or businesses acquire financial goods. For example, a payment system provider offers a financial service when it accepts and transfers funds between payers and recipients.
This includes accounts settled through credit and debit cards, checks, and electronic funds transfers.
Companies in the financial services industry manage money. For instance, a financial advi-sor manages assets and offers advice on behalf of a client. The advisor does not directly provide investments or any other product, rather, they facilitate the movement of funds between savers and the issuers of securities and other instruments. This service is a temporary task rather than a tangible asset.
Financial goods, on the other hand, are not tasks. They are things. A mortgage loan may seem like a service, but it's actually a product that lasts beyond the initial provision. Stocks, bonds, loans, commodity assets, real estate, and insurance policies are examples of financial goods.