business system planning method

• Recent changes
• Random page
• Help about MediaWiki
• What links here
• Related changes
• Special pages
• Printable version
• Permanent link
• Page information
• View source

Business Systems Planning (BSP)

• 1 What is Business Systems Planning (BSP)?
• 2.1 See Also
• 2.2 References

What is Business Systems Planning (BSP)?

Business systems planning (BSP) is a method of analyzing, defining, and designing the information architecture of organizations. It is a complex method dealing with interconnected data, processes, strategies, aims, and IT Business systems organizational departments.

Business systems planning goals are to:

• Understand issues and opportunities with current applications
• Develop future technology supporting the enterprise
• Provide executives with direction and a decision-making framework for IT expenditures
• Provide information systems (IS) with a developmental blueprint [1]

Business Systems Planning (BSP) Procedure [2]

BSP procedure contains 15 steps which are classified into 3 main sections according to their functions.

• Obtain authorization for the study: The very first step of BSP is to obtain authorization for the study from management or a department interested in this study. There is no use to proceed in the study without this document. There are a number of roles which have to agree on the purpose and range of the study.
• operates as a sponsor or a team leader
• Verifies, approves final results of the study
• provides with the financial support for the study
• chooses and leads the team members (4-7 prsns)
• coordinates activities
• guarantees early documentation
• has 8 weeks to carry out the study (usually more)
• presents final results to the management
• set time plan
• get all the necessary documents
• choose managers for interview
• ensure meeting and interview space
• fundamental functions of the organization
• data processing level of the organization
• all the necessary information mentioned above,
• concrete study schedule, documents relating to IT, diagrams, etc.
• the main purpose of the study
• expected results of the study
• results of previous part
• plan of the study
• the present state of IS
• role of IS within the organization
• Strategy = particular strategic targets mentioned above.
• a cross [*]= primary responsibility.
• a slash [/] = partial responsibility.
• Adaptation to the customer’s desires
• Centrally planned reservations, stock, customer’s payments
• Check-in improvement
• Material movement improvement
• Noise reduction
• Paperless processes
• Product portfolio expansion
• Presentation improvement
• Advertising improvement
• Reduction of commitment losses
• Reduction of material costs
• Relations with business partners improvement
• Stock management improvement
• Simplification of customer’s order cycle
• Transport coordination
• 1.Processes / OU
• 2.Processes / Strategy.
• Contacts creation
• Plane coordination
• Plane service
• Registration of a new customer
• Service reservation
• Employee training
• 1.Data classes / Processes,
• 2.Data classes / Strategy and
• 3.Data classes / OU.
• Purchase order
• Service Catalog
• IT Strategy (Information Technology Strategy)
• ↑ What is Business Systems Planning (BSP)? Musato Technologies
• ↑ Business Systems Planning (BSP) Procedure mibambino

• Contact Sales
• Download App
• Business strategy |
• 7 strategic planning models, plus 8 fra ...

7 strategic planning models, plus 8 frameworks to help you get started

Strategic planning is vital in defining where your business is going in the next three to five years. With the right strategic planning models and frameworks, you can uncover opportunities, identify risks, and create a strategic plan to fuel your organization’s success. We list the most popular models and frameworks and explain how you can combine them to create a strategic plan that fits your business.

A strategic plan is a great tool to help you hit your business goals . But sometimes, this tool needs to be updated to reflect new business priorities or changing market conditions. If you decide to use a model that already exists, you can benefit from a roadmap that’s already created. The model you choose can improve your knowledge of what works best in your organization, uncover unknown strengths and weaknesses, or help you find out how you can outpace your competitors.

In this article, we cover the most common strategic planning models and frameworks and explain when to use which one. Plus, get tips on how to apply them and which models and frameworks work well together. 

Strategic planning models vs. frameworks

First off: This is not a one-or-nothing scenario. You can use as many or as few strategic planning models and frameworks as you like. 

When your organization undergoes a strategic planning phase, you should first pick a model or two that you want to apply. This will provide you with a basic outline of the steps to take during the strategic planning process.

During that process, think of strategic planning frameworks as the tools in your toolbox. Many models suggest starting with a SWOT analysis or defining your vision and mission statements first. Depending on your goals, though, you may want to apply several different frameworks throughout the strategic planning process.

For example, if you’re applying a scenario-based strategic plan, you could start with a SWOT and PEST(LE) analysis to get a better overview of your current standing. If one of the weaknesses you identify has to do with your manufacturing process, you could apply the theory of constraints to improve bottlenecks and mitigate risks. 

Now that you know the difference between the two, learn more about the seven strategic planning models, as well as the eight most commonly used frameworks that go along with them.

1. Basic model

The basic strategic planning model is ideal for establishing your company’s vision, mission, business objectives, and values. This model helps you outline the specific steps you need to take to reach your goals, monitor progress to keep everyone on target, and address issues as they arise.

If it’s your first strategic planning session, the basic model is the way to go. Later on, you can embellish it with other models to adjust or rewrite your business strategy as needed. Let’s take a look at what kinds of businesses can benefit from this strategic planning model and how to apply it.

Small businesses or organizations

Companies with little to no strategic planning experience

Organizations with few resources 

Write your mission statement. Gather your planning team and have a brainstorming session. The more ideas you can collect early in this step, the more fun and rewarding the analysis phase will feel.

Identify your organization’s goals . Setting clear business goals will increase your team’s performance and positively impact their motivation.

Outline strategies that will help you reach your goals. Ask yourself what steps you have to take in order to reach these goals and break them down into long-term, mid-term, and short-term goals .

Create action plans to implement each of the strategies above. Action plans will keep teams motivated and your organization on target.

Monitor and revise the plan as you go . As with any strategic plan, it’s important to closely monitor if your company is implementing it successfully and how you can adjust it for a better outcome.

2. Issue-based model

Also called goal-based planning model, this is essentially an extension of the basic strategic planning model. It’s a bit more dynamic and very popular for companies that want to create a more comprehensive plan.

Organizations with basic strategic planning experience

Businesses that are looking for a more comprehensive plan

Conduct a SWOT analysis . Assess your organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with a SWOT analysis to get a better overview of what your strategic plan should focus on. We’ll give into how to conduct a SWOT analysis when we get into the strategic planning frameworks below.

Identify and prioritize major issues and/or goals. Based on your SWOT analysis, identify and prioritize what your strategic plan should focus on this time around.

Develop your main strategies that address these issues and/or goals. Aim to develop one overarching strategy that addresses your highest-priority goal and/or issue to keep this process as simple as possible.

Update or create a mission and vision statement . Make sure that your business’s statements align with your new or updated strategy. If you haven’t already, this is also a chance for you to define your organization’s values.

Create action plans. These will help you address your organization’s goals, resource needs, roles, and responsibilities. 

Develop a yearly operational plan document. This model works best if your business repeats the strategic plan implementation process on an annual basis, so use a yearly operational plan to capture your goals, progress, and opportunities for next time.

Allocate resources for your year-one operational plan. Whether you need funding or dedicated team members to implement your first strategic plan, now is the time to allocate all the resources you’ll need.

Monitor and revise the strategic plan. Record your lessons learned in the operational plan so you can revisit and improve it for the next strategic planning phase.

The issue-based plan can repeat on an annual basis (or less often once you resolve the issues). It’s important to update the plan every time it’s in action to ensure it’s still doing the best it can for your organization.

You don’t have to repeat the full process every year—rather, focus on what’s a priority during this run.

3. Alignment model

This model is also called strategic alignment model (SAM) and is one of the most popular strategic planning models. It helps you align your business and IT strategies with your organization’s strategic goals. 

You’ll have to consider four equally important, yet different perspectives when applying the alignment strategic planning model:

Strategy execution: The business strategy driving the model

Technology potential: The IT strategy supporting the business strategy

Competitive potential: Emerging IT capabilities that can create new products and services

Service level: Team members dedicated to creating the best IT system in the organization

Ideally, your strategy will check off all the criteria above—however, it’s more likely you’ll have to find a compromise. 

Here’s how to create a strategic plan using the alignment model and what kinds of companies can benefit from it.

Organizations that need to fine-tune their strategies

Businesses that want to uncover issues that prevent them from aligning with their mission

Companies that want to reassess objectives or correct problem areas that prevent them from growing

Outline your organization’s mission, programs, resources, and where support is needed. Before you can improve your statements and approaches, you need to define what exactly they are.

Identify what internal processes are working and which ones aren’t. Pinpoint which processes are causing problems, creating bottlenecks , or could otherwise use improving. Then prioritize which internal processes will have the biggest positive impact on your business.

Identify solutions. Work with the respective teams when you’re creating a new strategy to benefit from their experience and perspective on the current situation.

Update your strategic plan with the solutions. Update your strategic plan and monitor if implementing it is setting your business up for improvement or growth. If not, you may have to return to the drawing board and update your strategic plan with new solutions.

4. Scenario model

The scenario model works great if you combine it with other models like the basic or issue-based model. This model is particularly helpful if you need to consider external factors as well. These can be government regulations, technical, or demographic changes that may impact your business.

Organizations trying to identify strategic issues and goals caused by external factors

Identify external factors that influence your organization. For example, you should consider demographic, regulation, or environmental factors.

Review the worst case scenario the above factors could have on your organization. If you know what the worst case scenario for your business looks like, it’ll be much easier to prepare for it. Besides, it’ll take some of the pressure and surprise out of the mix, should a scenario similar to the one you create actually occur.

Identify and discuss two additional hypothetical organizational scenarios. On top of your worst case scenario, you’ll also want to define the best case and average case scenarios. Keep in mind that the worst case scenario from the previous step can often provoke strong motivation to change your organization for the better. However, discussing the other two will allow you to focus on the positive—the opportunities your business may have ahead.

Identify and suggest potential strategies or solutions. Everyone on the team should now brainstorm different ways your business could potentially respond to each of the three scenarios. Discuss the proposed strategies as a team afterward.

Uncover common considerations or strategies for your organization. There’s a good chance that your teammates come up with similar solutions. Decide which ones you like best as a team or create a new one together.

Identify the most likely scenario and the most reasonable strategy. Finally, examine which of the three scenarios is most likely to occur in the next three to five years and how your business should respond to potential changes.

5. Self-organizing model

Also called the organic planning model, the self-organizing model is a bit different from the linear approaches of the other models. You’ll have to be very patient with this method. 

This strategic planning model is all about focusing on the learning and growing process rather than achieving a specific goal. Since the organic model concentrates on continuous improvement , the process is never really over.

Large organizations that can afford to take their time

Businesses that prefer a more naturalistic, organic planning approach that revolves around common values, communication, and shared reflection

Companies that have a clear understanding of their vision

Define and communicate your organization’s cultural values . Your team can only think clearly and with solutions in mind when they have a clear understanding of your organization's values.

Communicate the planning group’s vision for the organization. Define and communicate the vision with everyone involved in the strategic planning process. This will align everyone’s ideas with your company’s vision.

Discuss what processes will help realize the organization’s vision on a regular basis. Meet every quarter to discuss strategies or tactics that will move your organization closer to realizing your vision.

6. Real-time model

This fluid model can help organizations that deal with rapid changes to their work environment. There are three levels of success in the real-time model: 

Organizational: At the organizational level, you’re forming strategies in response to opportunities or trends.

Programmatic: At the programmatic level, you have to decide how to respond to specific outcomes or environmental changes.

Operational: On the operational level, you will study internal systems, policies, and people to develop a strategy for your company.

Figuring out your competitive advantage can be difficult, but this is absolutely crucial to ensure success. Whether it’s a unique asset or strength your organization has or an outstanding execution of services or programs—it’s important that you can set yourself apart from others in the industry to succeed.

Companies that need to react quickly to changing environments

Businesses that are seeking new tools to help them align with their organizational strategy

Define your mission and vision statement. If you ever feel stuck formulating your company’s mission or vision statement, take a look at those of others. Maybe Asana’s vision statement sparks some inspiration.

Research, understand, and learn from competitor strategy and market trends. Pick a handful of competitors in your industry and find out how they’ve created success for themselves. How did they handle setbacks or challenges? What kinds of challenges did they even encounter? Are these common scenarios in the market? Learn from your competitors by finding out as much as you can about them.

Study external environments. At this point, you can combine the real-time model with the scenario model to find solutions to threats and opportunities outside of your control.

Conduct a SWOT analysis of your internal processes, systems, and resources. Besides the external factors your team has to consider, it’s also important to look at your company’s internal environment and how well you’re prepared for different scenarios.

Develop a strategy. Discuss the results of your SWOT analysis to develop a business strategy that builds toward organizational, programmatic, and operational success.

Rinse and repeat. Monitor how well the new strategy is working for your organization and repeat the planning process as needed to ensure you’re on top or, perhaps, ahead of the game. 

7. Inspirational model

This last strategic planning model is perfect to inspire and energize your team as they work toward your organization’s goals. It’s also a great way to introduce or reconnect your employees to your business strategy after a merger or acquisition.

Businesses with a dynamic and inspired start-up culture

Organizations looking for inspiration to reinvigorate the creative process

Companies looking for quick solutions and strategy shifts

Gather your team to discuss an inspirational vision for your organization. The more people you can gather for this process, the more input you will receive.

Brainstorm big, hairy audacious goals and ideas. Encouraging your team not to hold back with ideas that may seem ridiculous will do two things: for one, it will mitigate the fear of contributing bad ideas. But more importantly, it may lead to a genius idea or suggestion that your team wouldn’t have thought of if they felt like they had to think inside of the box.

Assess your organization’s resources. Find out if your company has the resources to implement your new ideas. If they don’t, you’ll have to either adjust your strategy or allocate more resources.

Develop a strategy balancing your resources and brainstorming ideas. Far-fetched ideas can grow into amazing opportunities but they can also bear great risk. Make sure to balance ideas with your strategic direction. 

Now, let’s dive into the most commonly used strategic frameworks.

8. SWOT analysis framework

One of the most popular strategic planning frameworks is the SWOT analysis . A SWOT analysis is a great first step in identifying areas of opportunity and risk—which can help you create a strategic plan that accounts for growth and prepares for threats.

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Here’s an example:

9. OKRs framework

A big part of strategic planning is setting goals for your company. That’s where OKRs come into play. 

OKRs stand for objective and key results—this goal-setting framework helps your organization set and achieve goals. It provides a somewhat holistic approach that you can use to connect your team’s work to your organization’s big-picture goals.  When team members understand how their individual work contributes to the organization’s success, they tend to be more motivated and produce better results

10. Balanced scorecard (BSC) framework

The balanced scorecard is a popular strategic framework for businesses that want to take a more holistic approach rather than just focus on their financial performance. It was designed by David Norton and Robert Kaplan in the 1990s, it’s used by companies around the globe to: 

Communicate goals

Align their team’s daily work with their company’s strategy

Prioritize products, services, and projects

Monitor their progress toward their strategic goals

Your balanced scorecard will outline four main business perspectives:

Customers or clients , meaning their value, satisfaction, and/or retention

Financial , meaning your effectiveness in using resources and your financial performance

Internal process , meaning your business’s quality and efficiency

Organizational capacity , meaning your organizational culture, infrastructure and technology, and human resources

With the help of a strategy map, you can visualize and communicate how your company is creating value. A strategy map is a simple graphic that shows cause-and-effect connections between strategic objectives. 

The balanced scorecard framework is an amazing tool to use from outlining your mission, vision, and values all the way to implementing your strategic plan .

You can use an integration like Lucidchart to create strategy maps for your business in Asana.

11. Porter’s Five Forces framework

If you’re using the real-time strategic planning model, Porter’s Five Forces are a great framework to apply. You can use it to find out what your product’s or service’s competitive advantage is before entering the market.

Developed by Michael E. Porter , the framework outlines five forces you have to be aware of and monitor:

Threat of new industry entrants: Any new entry into the market results in increased pressure on prices and costs. 

Competition in the industry: The more competitors that exist, the more difficult it will be for you to create value in the market with your product or service.

Bargaining power of suppliers: Suppliers can wield more power if there are less alternatives for buyers or it’s expensive, time consuming, or difficult to switch to a different supplier.

Bargaining power of buyers: Buyers can wield more power if the same product or service is available elsewhere with little to no difference in quality.

Threat of substitutes: If another company already covers the market’s needs, you’ll have to create a better product or service or make it available for a lower price at the same quality in order to compete.

Remember, industry structures aren’t static. The more dynamic your strategic plan is, the better you’ll be able to compete in a market.

12. VRIO framework

The VRIO framework is another strategic planning tool designed to help you evaluate your competitive advantage. VRIO stands for value, rarity, imitability, and organization.

It’s a resource-based theory developed by Jay Barney. With this framework, you can study your firmed resources and find out whether or not your company can transform them into sustained competitive advantages. 

Firmed resources can be tangible (e.g., cash, tools, inventory, etc.) or intangible (e.g., copyrights, trademarks, organizational culture, etc.). Whether these resources will actually help your business once you enter the market depends on four qualities:

Valuable : Will this resource either increase your revenue or decrease your costs and thereby create value for your business?

Rare : Are the resources you’re using rare or can others use your resources as well and therefore easily provide the same product or service?

Inimitable : Are your resources either inimitable or non-substitutable? In other words, how unique and complex are your resources?

Organizational: Are you organized enough to use your resources in a way that captures their value, rarity, and inimitability?

It’s important that your resources check all the boxes above so you can ensure that you have sustained competitive advantage over others in the industry.

13. Theory of Constraints (TOC) framework

If the reason you’re currently in a strategic planning process is because you’re trying to mitigate risks or uncover issues that could hurt your business—this framework should be in your toolkit.

The theory of constraints (TOC) is a problem-solving framework that can help you identify limiting factors or bottlenecks preventing your organization from hitting OKRs or KPIs . 

Whether it’s a policy, market, or recourse constraint—you can apply the theory of constraints to solve potential problems, respond to issues, and empower your team to improve their work with the resources they have.

14. PEST/PESTLE analysis framework

The idea of the PEST analysis is similar to that of the SWOT analysis except that you’re focusing on external factors and solutions. It’s a great framework to combine with the scenario-based strategic planning model as it helps you define external factors connected to your business’s success.

PEST stands for political, economic, sociological, and technological factors. Depending on your business model, you may want to expand this framework to include legal and environmental factors as well (PESTLE). These are the most common factors you can include in a PESTLE analysis:

Political: Taxes, trade tariffs, conflicts

Economic: Interest and inflation rate, economic growth patterns, unemployment rate

Social: Demographics, education, media, health

Technological: Communication, information technology, research and development, patents

Legal: Regulatory bodies, environmental regulations, consumer protection

Environmental: Climate, geographical location, environmental offsets

15. Hoshin Kanri framework

Hoshin Kanri is a great tool to communicate and implement strategic goals. It’s a planning system that involves the entire organization in the strategic planning process. The term is Japanese and stands for “compass management” and is also known as policy management. 

This strategic planning framework is a top-down approach that starts with your leadership team defining long-term goals which are then aligned and communicated with every team member in the company. 

You should hold regular meetings to monitor progress and update the timeline to ensure that every teammate’s contributions are aligned with the overarching company goals.

Stick to your strategic goals

Whether you’re a small business just starting out or a nonprofit organization with decades of experience, strategic planning is a crucial step in your journey to success. 

If you’re looking for a tool that can help you and your team define, organize, and implement your strategic goals, Asana is here to help. Our goal-setting software allows you to connect all of your team members in one place, visualize progress, and stay on target.

Related resources

Marketing leaders talk AI: How to optimize your tech stack

4 types of concept maps (with free templates)

Marketers are AI skeptics. Here’s how to fix that.

Human-centric AI at work: A playbook for powering your organization with AI

4 Strategic Planning Tools and Models for 2021 and Beyond

Let’s take a hypothetical trip back in time to January of 2020. Your house cleaning business revenue has been steadily growing for three years and the forecasting tool in your financial software tells you that you should expect your best year yet. You increase sales goals, plan to invest in new vacuums and vehicles, and hire 20 new employees throughout the year. Through the first month, everything is going according to plan.

Then, on March 11, the World Health Organization declares COVID-19 a global pandemic, much of the world shuts down, and your strategic planning for the year loses all meaning.

Last March, we surveyed more than 300 small business leaders and found that nearly 75% would be altering their strategic plan due to COVID-19, with nearly 20% anticipating “significant” changes (methodology below).

Even in a relatively stable year, the traditional approach to strategic planning—reviewing last year’s results, making incremental adjustments, setting targets, then budgeting, communicating, and executing the new plan—is woefully ill-suited for rapidly evolving markets.

Gartner research has found that executives believe more than half of their time spent in strategic planning is wasted, and the quality of those plans fail to meet expectations.

“Strategic assumptions are often sound when they are first formed, but in today’s environment (they) are more vulnerable to becoming outdated or obsolete due to a rapid increase in the pace of change,” says Matt Shinkman, vice president with Gartner’s Risk and Audit Practice.

While it’s unfair to suggest that any business should’ve been ready for COVID-19, there are strategic planning tools and models that would have been more adaptable when the market was turned on its head.

Let’s take a look at four different approaches that you can use so you’re ready the next time the market takes an unexpected turn.

What are strategic planning tools?

Strategic planning tools are techniques and models that business leaders use to determine where their business is at present, where they want it to be in the future, and which key metrics and initiatives they should track and pursue to achieve that target state.

A few common examples of strategic planning tools include:

SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis

OKR (Objectives and Key Results)

PEST (political, economic, socio-cultural, and technological) analysis

Balanced scorecard

Let’s take a closer look, along with strategies for making these tools more adaptable to changing conditions.

1. SWOT analysis

How does it work? In SWOT analysis, strategic planning teams brainstorm to come up with several strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for their business, then list those items in four quadrants.

Source: Most Popular Decision-Making Frameworks Among Project Managers

Teams can then look for connections between the quadrants (especially connections between strengths and opportunities) to inform their strategy.

How can it be adapted for a post COVID-19 market? The great thing about SWOT analysis is that it can be used for annual strategic planning, or everyday decision making. Adapt SWOT analysis to a rapidly evolving market by using it at the individual project level.

For example, say your office cleaning service was considering expanding just before COVID-19. Using SWOT, you could come up with the following assessment:

Strength: Efficient, established cleaning teams.

Weakness: Limited client base.

Opportunity: Expand services to home cleaning.

Threat: Market is nearly saturated with existing home cleaning services.

In this case, the business could match their strength to the opportunity to expand and leverage their experienced teams to make headway in an already competitive market.

What type of businesses should use this? While SWOT analysis can be adapted for a variety of situations, it is ideally suited for growth businesses that are able to make significant changes to their strategy in order to take advantage of market opportunities. These businesses might include startups and solopreneur operations.

2. Objectives and Key Results

How does it work: Famously used for strategic planning by Google, Microsoft, and Intel, OKRs work by establishing a clearly defined goal (the objective) along with a handful of key results —that is, measurable checkpoints that build toward the target goal.

Example OKR adjustments  

Ideally, teams should only have about a 70% success rate on key results. If teams are constantly hitting 100%, it likely means that the ultimate goal was not ambitious enough.

How can it be adapted for a post COVID-19 market? One strength of OKRs is that they are highly adjustable. For example, if your goal at the beginning of the year is to double the size of your business, and key results include increasing revenue by $150k, hiring 10 new employees, and adding three new high-value clients, you can scale those numbers to account for the market changes. Say, increasing the size of your business by 150%, increasing revenue by $100k, hiring 7 new employees, and adding two new high-value clients.

What type of businesses should use this? OKRs are a good fit for established, profitable businesses that might need to make incremental adjustments to continue growing without throwing off a successful formula.

3. PEST analysis

How does it work: With PEST (political, economic, socio-cultural, and technological) analysis, strategic planning teams weigh socioeconomic factors into their business forecasting. PEST analysis is also frequently modified to include legal and environmental factors (PESTLE analysis). For PEST analysis to be used effectively, it helps to have representatives on the strategic planning team with a working knowledge of the component factors.

How to use PEST analysis for beginners

How can it be adapted for a post COVID-19 market? PEST analysis is somewhat complex, due to the breadth and depth of the factors it accounts for.

On one hand, this necessitates an experienced strategic planning team to effectively use PEST analysis. On the other hand, this makes PEST adaptable for changing conditions. Think of each of the factors that make up PEST as levers. When the market changes, you may have to pull one or more of those levers to adjust your planning.

For example, when COVID-19 struck, you likely had to make major adjustments to your economic and political strategic planning, while your socio-cultural and technological levers might have only needed minor tweaks.

What type of businesses should use this? Due to its complexity and the experience required to use PEST analysis effectively, it is best suited for larger, established businesses with sufficient resources.

4. Balanced scorecard

How does it work: Balanced scorecard is a strategic planning model designed to incorporate both financial and non-financial (customer, internal, innovation) measures. Its precise origins aren’t clearly defined, but it was popularized in a 1992 article by Robert Kaplan and David Norton published in the Harvard Business Review .

To use the balanced scorecard, strategic planning teams seek to answer the following four questions:

How do customers see us?

What must we excel at?

Can we continue to improve and create value?

How do we look to shareholders?

Teams should answer those questions in four quadrants, linking them together where possible (similar to SWOT analysis), then translate those answers into operational strategy, individual performance goals, and business planning.

How can it be adapted for the post COVID-19 market? The balanced scorecard can be adapted for the post COVID-19 market by looking at it through an agile lens, that is by communicating about your strategy, making iterative improvements, and responding to changing needs regularly. For more on incorporating an agile mindset into your strategic planning, read the next section.

What type of businesses should use this? The balanced scorecard is open-ended enough to be used by almost any type of business , including automotive, financial, healthcare, manufacturing, technology, education, and almost anything in between.

Strategic planning software can streamline your efforts by automating all the tools we’ve discussed in this article, and through features like a strategy map and milestones. Check out our strategic planning software buyer’s guide for top products, common features, and more. 

If you’d like a more guided approach, we have trained advisors standing by and ready to help you choose the perfect strategic planning software for your business. Best of all, it’s free for you and you can get started right away. Click here to schedule an appointment for a phone call or start a live chat here.

The strategic planning software guide on Software Advice ( Source )

When in doubt, try agile strategic planning

What better way to prepare for an unpredictable market than to use agile planning? It’s not enough to just take the principles of agile project management –communication, iteration, responsiveness–and slap them onto your planning process, though. It helps to have a strategy.

Here are a few key points, from our guide on strategic planning for small businesses :

Ongoing customer interaction. Your customers determine the success of your business, so their needs should always be accounted for in your strategic planning. Identify your customers or end users and account for them in during every cycle of strategic planning. If you have the resources, soliciting customer feedback through surveys is great. But even if you don’t have that capacity, creating a customer persona and building your plan around that persona is a starting point.

Organizational accountability. If your marketing team is working toward one set of goals while your research and development team is working toward a different set of goals, your ship will fall apart and sink. Having a good strategy isn’t enough, that strategy has to be communicated and collaborated on across teams. Establish cross-functional teams and meet frequently to ensure strategic alignment.

Situational-specific strategies. Every good plan can benefit from room for improvisation and recalibration. Whatever your plan is at the beginning of the year, it’s helpful to have space built in for strategic readjustments, whether it’s weekly, monthly, or quarterly. Encourage your managers to surface ideas for improvement throughout the year rather than “sticking to the plan.”

Want to learn more about agile decision making? Read our complete guide , with tips on:

Gathering iterative feedback

Balancing alignment and autonomy

Getting comfortable with good enough

Placing time limits on decisions

And Avoiding sloppiness

Survey methodology

The Software Advice COVID-19 Reactions survey was conducted via Amazon Mechanical Turk in March 2020 and involved nearly 1,000 respondents all based in the United States. The number of respondents varied by question. The questions were worded to ensure each respondent fully understood the meaning and topic at hand. The information contained in this article has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable at the time of publication.

• Scholarly Community Encyclopedia
• Log in/Sign up

Video Upload Options

• MDPI and ACS Style
• Chicago Style

Business systems planning (BSP) is a method of analyzing, defining and designing the information architecture of organizations. It was introduced by IBM for internal use only in 1981, although initial work on BSP began during the early 1970s. BSP was later sold to organizations. It is a complex method dealing with interconnected data, processes, strategies, aims and organizational departments. BSP was a new approach to IA; its goals are to: The result of a BSP project is a technology roadmap aligning investments and business strategy. BSP comprises 15 steps, which are classified into three sections by function.

1. Preparation

1.1. study authorization.

The essential first step in BSP is to obtain authorization for the study from management or an interested department. A number of roles must agree on the purpose and range of the study:

• May be a sponsor or team leader
• Verifies and approves study results
• Provides financial support
• Chooses team members (four to seven people)
• Coordinates activities
• Documents and implements study (usually longer than eight weeks)
• Presents results to management
• Usually a department head
• Analyzes and determines organizational information needs
• Recommends future IS content
• Documents study
• Assists team leader

1.2. Preparation

The second step is the team leader's study preparation. Its goal is to:

• Set timeframe
• Obtain documents
• Choose managers to interview
• Procure meeting and interview space
• Organizational functions
• Organizational data-processing level

A product of this step is a lead study book with the above information, a study schedule, IT documents and diagrams.

1.3. Beginning

At the first meeting of the study, the sponsor explains the purpose and expected results of the study; the team leader presents the study plan, and the IT manager describes the current state and the role of IS in the organization.

2. Analysis

The analysis is the most important part of BSP. The team searches for an appropriate organizational structure as it defines business strategy, processes and data classes [ 1 ] and analyzes current information support.

2.1. Strategy

This step define strategic targets and how to achieve them within the organization:

• Adaptating to the customer´s desires
• Centrally-planned reservations, stock, payments
• Improvements in checking in, shipping, presentation, advertising, partner relations and stock management
• New customers
• Noise reduction
• Paperless processes
• Product-portfolio expansion
• Loss and cost reduction
• Simplifying customer order cycle
• Transport coordination
• Upgrade of production line
• Updating information

The team works from these strategic targets. Organizational units are departments of the organization. Each department is responsible for a strategic target.

2.2. Processes

There are about 40-60 business processes in an organization (depending on its size), and it is important to choose the most profitable ones and the department responsible for a particular process. Examples include:

• Contact creation
• Airplane coordination and service
• New-customer registration
• Service catalog creation
• Reservations
• Employee training

2.3. Data classes

There are usually about 30–60 data classes, depending on the size of the organization. Future IS will use databases based on these classes. Examples include:

• Accommodation
• Corporation
• Purchase order
• Service catalog

2.4. Information support

The purpose of this step is to check the applications used by an organization, evaluating the importance of each to eliminate redundancy.

2.5. Management discussion

In the final analytical step the team discusses its results with management to confirm (or refute) assumptions, provide missing information, reveal deficiencies in the organization and establish future priorities.

2.6. Issue results

All documents created during the analysis are collected, serving as a base for future information architecture. The organization classifies and dissects all identified problems; a list is made of the cause and effect of each problem, which is integrated into the future IS.

3. Conclusion

3.1. defining information architecture.

To define an organization's information architecture, [ 1 ] it is necessary to connect the information subsystems using matrix processes and data classes to find appropriate subsystems. The organization then reorders processes according to the product (or service) life cycle.

3.2. Establishing IS-development priorities

A number of criteria (costs and development time, for example) establish the best sequence of system implementation. High-priority subsystems may be analyzed more deeply. This information is given to the sponsor, who determines which information subsystems will be developed.

3.3. Verifying study impact

An IS planning and management study should be conducted. When the organization has finished its work on processes and data classes, it should explore the functions and goals of the system with a list of requested departmental changes and a cost analysis.

3.4. Proposals

Final recommendations and plans are made for the organization during this step, which encompasses information architecture, IS management and information-subsystem development and includes costs, profits and future activities.

3.5. Presentation

This is the agreement of all interested parties (team, management and sponsor) on future actions.

3.6. Final step

The organization should establish specific responsibilities during the project's implementation. There is usually a controlling commission, ensuring consistency across the IS.

BSP, in addition to its value to IS planning, introduced the process view of a firm. The business process reengineering of the 1990s was built on this concept. It also demonstrated the need to separate data from its applications using it, supporting the database approach to software development methodology.

4. Criticism

The effectiveness of BSP and other similar planning methodologies has been questioned:

• The historical analysis shows that BSP and subsequent enterprise architecture (EA) methodologies are "fundamentally flawed". [ 2 ] [ 3 ]
• The research concludes that "the [BSP] approach is too expensive, its benefits are too uncertain, and it is organisationally difficult to implement". [ 4 ]
• The research concludes that "given their great expense and time consumption, [...] findings seriously challenge the utility of the [BSP and similar] planning methodologies". [ 5 ]
• The research concludes that "in summary, strategic information systems planners are not particularly satisfied with [the BSP methodology]. After all, it requires extensive resources. [...] When the [BSP] study is complete, further analysis may be required before the plan can be executed. The execution of the plan might not be very extensive". [ 6 ]
• The study of BSP and similar planning methodologies concludes that "the evidence [...] presented here strongly supports the need for a fundamental rethinking of IS planning methodologies". [ 7 ]
• Business Systems Planning (IBM Corporation), paper 2. Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University. http://www.cis.gsu.edu/emclean/Business%20Systems%20Planning.ppt
• "Enterprise Architecture Frameworks: The Fad of the Century", Svyatoslav Kotusev, British Computer Society (BCS), July 2016 http://www.bcs.org/content/conWebDoc/56347
• Kotusev, Svyatoslav (2018) The Practice of Enterprise Architecture: A Modern Approach to Business and IT Alignment. Melbourne, Australia: SK Publishing.
• Goodhue, D.L., Quillard, J.A., and Rockart, J.F. (1988). Managing the Data Resource: A Contingency Perspective. In: MIS Quarterly, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 373-392.
• Lederer, A.L., and Sethi, V. (1988). The Implementation of Strategic Information Systems Planning Methodologies. In: MIS Quarterly, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 445-461.
• Lederer, A.L., and Sethi, V. (1992). Meeting the Challenges of Information Systems Planning. In: Long Range Planning, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 69-80.
• Goodhue, D.L., Kirsch, L.J., Quillard, J.A., and Wybo, M.D. (1992). Strategic Data Planning: Lessons from the Field. In: MIS Quarterly, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 11-34.
• Terms and Conditions
• Privacy Policy
• Advisory Board

Business Systems Planning

• Small Business
• Business Planning & Strategy
• Business Plans
• ')" data-event="social share" data-info="Pinterest" aria-label="Share on Pinterest">
• ')" data-event="social share" data-info="Reddit" aria-label="Share on Reddit">
• ')" data-event="social share" data-info="Flipboard" aria-label="Share on Flipboard">

Typical IT Project Milestones for Controls

Importance of acquisition logistics, the advantages of the multiview framework model.

• Theory of Constraints for Small Businesses
• The Importance of Business Analysis for a Project Manager

Business systems planning looks at the whole organization to determine what information systems the business requires to fulfill its goals. For large businesses, this can be an expensive process involving consultants and specialists, but smaller businesses can often perform the analysis and planning in house. Prerequisites for effective business systems planning are the existence of a business plan that details the goals and strategies of the company and the communication of the plan to the people responsible for implementing the plan.

Goals and Strategies

The requirements for a company's information systems can only be integrated into a plan when it is clear where the company wants to go and how it plans to get there. A strategic plan lays out the company goals and the strategies it intends to implement to achieve them. In small businesses, such strategies often focus on financial goals and corresponding marketing plans. These business plans are the initial input for the information systems plan and influence the types of systems that the company will consider.

Corporate Processes

Once the overall orientation of the information system is clear from the strategic plan, the business systems planning process has to look at what the company does. If the company has manufacturing, the information system has to include production planning. If it is service oriented, the software has to have hourly billing and cost assignment features. The key corporate processes are a second step in defining the requirements for the proposed information systems. Sometimes the processes themselves require re-engineering to let them work with information systems.

Corporate Data

A key question for the planning of information systems is the nature of the company's data processing requirements. Large volumes of complex data need different systems than flat, simple databases or mailing lists. A company's data is a valuable asset and its nature can't easily be changed. As a result, the data has a major influence on the kind of information systems that are required.

Constraints

The strategies, company processes and data represent the major inputs to the planning of the information systems, but the systems themselves are subject to constraints. The most important limitation, especially for small businesses, is the cost. Other constraints may include technical, space, time and operational factors. The information system planning process has to consider that the ideal system may not be a realistic possibility, and alternatives must be situated within the constraints.

End-user Input

Once the planning process has established the overall concept and requirements for the information systems, it is important to involve the end users in the design for the interface. The people who carry out the work have the best knowledge of what is required to do their job. Not supplying what is required is a frequent planning failure, and getting end user input at this stage is vital to the success of the business systems plan.

Implementation

The final step for an information system is to plan for implementation. At this stage the plan becomes a project and the planners have to assign responsibilities and resources, ensure that the project plan matches the strategic and business plans and set completion, budget and performance targets. At this stage the business can expect to have functioning information systems at the project completion date, fulfilling the identified needs.

• Journal of Information Technology Management: From Strategic Business Planning to Strategic Information Systems Planning: The Missing Link
• State of Tennessee: Information Systems Planning Process

Bert Markgraf is a freelance writer with a strong science and engineering background. He started writing technical papers while working as an engineer in the 1980s. More recently, after starting his own business in IT, he helped organize an online community for which he wrote and edited articles as managing editor, business and economics. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from McGill University.

Related Articles

What is 'systems thinking' in business, concepts of corporate planning, how to remove hp data protector, the three fundamental roles of information systems in business, analysis and design of a human resource information system, operational system vs. strategic information, production planning principles, what is iso 90001, how to assemble a project management plan, most popular.

• 1 What Is 'Systems Thinking' in Business?
• 2 Concepts of Corporate Planning
• 3 How to Remove HP Data Protector
• 4 The Three Fundamental Roles of Information Systems in Business

A better way to drive your business

Managing the availability of supply to meet volatile demand has never been easy. Even before the unprecedented challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, synchronizing supply and demand was a perennial struggle for most businesses. In a survey of 54 senior executives, only about one in four believed that the processes of their companies balanced cross-functional trade-offs effectively or facilitated decision making to help the P&L of the full business.

That’s not because of a lack of effort. Most companies have made strides to strengthen their planning capabilities in recent years. Many have replaced their processes for sales and operations planning (S&OP) with the more sophisticated approach of integrated business planning (IBP), which shows great promise, a conclusion based on an in-depth view of the processes used by many leading companies around the world (see sidebar “Understanding IBP”). Assessments of more than 170 companies, collected over five years, provide insights into the value created by IBP implementations that work well—and the reasons many IBP implementations don’t.

Understanding IBP

Integrated business planning is a powerful process that could become central to how a company runs its business. It is one generation beyond sales and operations planning. Three essential differentiators add up to a unique business-steering capability:

• Full business scope. Beyond balancing sales and operations planning, integrated business planning (IBP) synchronizes all of a company’s mid- and long-term plans, including the management of revenues, product pipelines and portfolios, strategic projects and capital investments, inventory policies and deployment, procurement strategies, and joint capacity plans with external partners. It does this in all relevant parts of the organization, from the site level through regions and business units and often up to a corporate-level plan for the full business.
• Risk management, alongside strategy and performance reviews. Best-practice IBP uses scenario planning to drive decisions. In every stage of the process, there are varying degrees of confidence about how the future will play out—how much revenue is reasonably certain as a result of consistent consumption patterns, how much additional demand might emerge if certain events happen, and how much unusual or extreme occurrences might affect that additional demand. These layers are assessed against business targets, and options for mitigating actions and potential gap closures are evaluated and chosen.
• Real-time financials. To ensure consistency between volume-based planning and financial projections (that is, value-based planning), IBP promotes strong links between operational and financial planning. This helps to eliminate surprises that may otherwise become apparent only in quarterly or year-end reviews.

An effective IBP process consists of five essential building blocks: a business-backed design; high-quality process management, including inputs and outputs; accountability and performance management; the effective use of data, analytics, and technology; and specialized organizational roles and capabilities (Exhibit 1). Our research finds that mature IBP processes can significantly improve coordination and reduce the number of surprises. Compared with companies that lack a well-functioning IBP process, the average mature IBP practitioner realizes one or two additional percentage points in EBIT. Service levels are five to 20 percentage points higher. Freight costs and capital intensity are 10 to 15 percent lower—and customer delivery penalties and missed sales are 40 to 50 percent lower. IBP technology and process discipline can also make planners 10 to 20 percent more productive.

When IBP processes are set up correctly, they help companies to make and execute plans and to monitor, simulate, and adapt their strategic assumptions and choices to succeed in their markets. However, leaders must treat IBP not just as a planning-process upgrade but also as a company-wide business initiative (see sidebar “IBP in action” for a best-in-class example).

IBP in action

One global manufacturer set up its integrated business planning (IBP) system as the sole way it ran its entire business, creating a standardized, integrated process for strategic, tactical, and operational planning. Although the company had previously had a sales and operations planning (S&OP) process, it had been owned and led solely by the supply chain function. Beyond S&OP, the sales function forecast demand in aggregate dollar value at the category level and over short time horizons. Finance did its own projections of the quarterly P&L, and data from day-by-day execution fed back into S&OP only at the start of a new monthly cycle.

The CEO endorsed a new way of running regional P&Ls and rolling up plans to the global level. The company designed its IBP process so that all regional general managers owned the regional IBP by sponsoring the integrated decision cycles (following a global design) and by ensuring functional ownership of the decision meetings. At the global level, the COO served as tiebreaker whenever decisions—such as procurement strategies for global commodities, investments in new facilities for global product launches, or the reconfiguration of a product’s supply chain—cut across regional interests.

To enable IBP to deliver its impact, the company conducted a structured process assessment to evaluate the maturity of all inputs into IBP. It then set out to redesign, in detail, its processes for planning demand and supply, inventory strategies, parametrization, and target setting, so that IBP would work with best-practice inputs. To encourage collaboration, leaders also started to redefine the performance management system so that it included clear accountability for not only the metrics that each function controlled but also shared metrics. Finally, digital dashboards were developed to track and monitor the realization of benefits for individual functions, regional leaders, and the global IBP team.

A critical component of the IBP rollout was creating a company-wide awareness of its benefits and the leaders’ expectations for the quality of managers’ contributions and decision-making discipline. To educate and show commitment from the CEO down, this information was rolled out in a campaign of town halls and media communications to all employees. The company also set up a formal capability-building program for the leaders and participants in the IBP decision cycle.

Rolled out in every region, the new training helps people learn how to run an effective IBP cycle, to recognize the signs of good process management, and to internalize decision authority, thresholds, and escalation paths. Within a few months, the new process, led by a confident and motivated leadership team, enabled closer company-wide collaboration during tumultuous market conditions. That offset price inflation for materials (which adversely affected peers) and maintained the company’s EBITDA performance.

Our research shows that these high-maturity IBP examples are in the minority. In practice, few companies use the IBP process to support effective decision making (Exhibit 2). For two-thirds of the organizations in our data set, IBP meetings are periodic business reviews rather than an integral part of the continuous cycle of decisions and adjustments needed to keep organizations aligned with their strategic and tactical goals. Some companies delegate IBP to junior staff. The frequency of meetings averages one a month. That can make these processes especially ineffective—lacking either the senior-level participation for making consequential strategic decisions or the frequency for timely operational reactions.

Finally, most companies struggle to turn their plans into effective actions: critical metrics and responsibilities are not aligned across functions, so it’s hard to steer the business in a collaborative way. Who is responsible for the accuracy of forecasts? What steps will be taken to improve it? How about adherence to the plan? Are functions incentivized to hold excess inventory? Less than 10 percent of all companies have a performance management system that encourages the right behavior across the organization.

By contrast, at the most effective organizations, IBP meetings are all about decisions and their impact on the P&L—an impact enabled by focused metrics and incentives for collaboration. Relevant inputs (data, insights, and decision scenarios) are diligently prepared and syndicated before meetings to help decision makers make the right choices quickly and effectively. These companies support IBP by managing their short-term planning decisions prescriptively, specifying thresholds to distinguish changes immediately integrated into existing plans from day-to-day noise. Within such boundaries, real-time daily decisions are made in accordance with the objectives of the entire business, not siloed frontline functions. This responsive execution is tightly linked with the IBP process, so that the fact base is always up-to-date for the next planning iteration.

A better plan for IBP

In our experience, integrated business planning can help a business succeed in a sustainable way if three conditions are met. First, the process must be designed for the P&L owner, not individual functions in the business. Second, processes are built for purpose, not from generic best-practice templates. Finally, the people involved in the process have the authority, skills, and confidence to make relevant, consequential decisions.

Design for the P&L owner

IBP gives leaders a systematic opportunity to unlock P&L performance by coordinating strategies and tactics across traditional business functions. This doesn’t mean that IBP won’t function as a business review process, but it is more effective when focused on decisions in the interest of the whole business. An IBP process designed to help P&L owners make effective decisions as they run the company creates requirements different from those of a process owned by individual functions, such as supply chain or manufacturing.

One fundamental requirement is senior-level participation from all stakeholder functions and business areas, so that decisions can be made in every meeting. The design of the IBP cycle, including preparatory work preceding decision-making meetings, should help leaders make general decisions or resolve minor issues outside of formal milestone meetings. It should also focus the attention of P&L leaders on the most important and pressing issues. These goals can be achieved with disciplined approaches to evaluating the impact of decisions and with financial thresholds that determine what is brought to the attention of the P&L leader.

The aggregated output of the IBP process would be a full, risk-evaluated business plan covering a midterm planning horizon. This plan then becomes the only accepted and executed plan across the organization. The objective isn’t a single hard number. It is an accepted, unified view of which new products will come online and when, and how they will affect the performance of the overall portfolio. The plan will also take into account the variabilities and uncertainties of the business: demand expectations, how the company will respond to supply constraints, and so on. Layered risks and opportunities and aligned actions across stakeholders indicate how to execute the plan.

Would you like to learn more about our Operations Practice ?

Trade-offs arising from risks and opportunities in realizing revenues, margins, or cost objectives are determined by the P&L owner at the level where those trade-offs arise—local for local, global for global. To make this possible, data visible in real time and support for decision making in meetings are essential. This approach works best in companies with strong data governance processes and tools, which increase confidence in the objectivity of the IBP process and support for implementing the resulting decisions. In addition, senior leaders can demonstrate their commitment to the value and the standards of IBP by participating in the process, sponsoring capability-building efforts for the teams that contribute inputs to the IBP, and owning decisions and outcomes.

Fit-for-purpose process design and frequency

To make IBP a value-adding capability, the business will probably need to redesign its planning processes from a clean sheet.

First, clean sheeting IBP means that it should be considered and designed from the decision maker’s perspective. What information does a P&L owner need to make a decision on a given topic? What possible scenarios should that leader consider, and what would be their monetary and nonmonetary impact? The IBP process can standardize this information—for example, by summarizing it in templates so that the responsible parties know, up front, which data, analytics, and impact information to provide.

Second, essential inputs into IBP determine its quality. These inputs include consistency in the way planners use data, methods, and systems to make accurate forecasts, manage constraints, simulate scenarios, and close the loop from planning to the production shopfloor by optimizing schedules, monitoring adherence, and using incentives to manufacture according to plan.

Determining the frequency of the IBP cycle, and its timely integration with tactical execution processes, would also be part of this redesign. Big items—such as capacity investments and divestments, new-product introductions, and line extensions—should be reviewed regularly. Monthly reviews are typical, but a quarterly cadence may also be appropriate in situations with less frequent changes. Weekly iterations then optimize the plan in response to confirmed orders, short-term capacity constraints, or other unpredictable events. The bidirectional link between planning and execution must be strong, and investments in technology may be required to better connect them, so that they use the same data repository and have continuous-feedback loops.

Authorize consequential decision making

Finally, every IBP process step needs autonomous decision making for the problems in its scope, as well as a clear path to escalate, if necessary. The design of the process must therefore include decision-type authority, decision thresholds, and escalation paths. Capability-building interventions should support teams to ensure disciplined and effective decision making—and that means enforcing participation discipline, as well. The failure of a few key stakeholders to prioritize participation can undermine the whole process.

Decision-making autonomy is also relevant for short-term planning and execution. Success in tactical execution depends on how early a problem is identified and how quickly and effectively it is resolved. A good execution framework includes, for example, a classification of possible events, along with resolution guidelines based on root cause methodology. It should also specify the thresholds, in scope and scale of impact, for operational decision making and the escalation path if those thresholds are met.

Transforming supply chains: Do you have the skills to accelerate your capabilities?

In addition to guidelines for decision making, the cross-functional team in charge of executing the plan needs autonomy to decide on a course of action for events outside the original plan, as well as the authority to see those actions implemented. Clear integration points between tactical execution and the IBP process protect the latter’s focus on midterm decision making and help tactical teams execute in response to immediate market needs.

An opportunity, but no ‘silver bullet’

With all the elements described above, IBP has a solid foundation to create value for a business. But IBP is no silver bullet. To achieve a top-performing supply chain combining timely and complete customer service with optimal cost and capital expenditures, companies also need mature planning and fulfillment processes using advanced systems and tools. That would include robust planning discipline and a collaboration culture covering all time horizons with appropriate processes while integrating commercial, planning, manufacturing, logistics, and sourcing organizations at all relevant levels.

As more companies implement advanced planning systems and nerve centers , the typical monthly IBP frequency might no longer be appropriate. Some companies may need to spend more time on short-term execution by increasing the frequency of planning and replanning. Others may be able to retain a quarterly IBP process, along with a robust autonomous-planning or exception engine. Already, advanced planning systems not only direct the valuable time of experts to the most critical demand and supply imbalances but also aggregate and disaggregate large volumes of data on the back end. These targeted reactions are part of a critical learning mechanism for the supply chain.

Over time, with root cause analyses and cross-functional collaboration on systemic fixes, the supply chain’s nerve center can get smarter at executing plans, separating noise from real issues, and proactively managing deviations. All this can eventually shorten IBP cycles, without the risk of overreacting to noise, and give P&L owners real-time transparency into how their decisions might affect performance.

P&L owners thinking about upgrading their S&OP or IBP processes can’t rely on textbook checklists. Instead, they can assume leadership of IBP and help their organizations turn strategies and plans into effective actions. To do so, they must sponsor IBP as a cross-functional driver of business decisions, fed by thoughtfully designed processes and aligned decision rights, as well as a performance management and capability-building system that encourages the right behavior and learning mechanisms across the organization. As integrated planning matures, supported by appropriate technology and maturing supply chain–management practices, it could shorten decision times and accelerate its impact on the business.

Elena Dumitrescu is a senior knowledge expert in McKinsey’s Toronto office, Matt Jochim is a partner in the London office, and Ali Sankur is a senior expert and associate partner in the Chicago office, where Ketan Shah is a partner.

Explore a career with us

Related articles.

To improve your supply chain, modernize your supply-chain IT

Supply-chain resilience: Is there a holy grail?

Operations Research ’93 pp 491–494 Cite as

Solving the “Business System Planning”-Problem Using Specialized Branch & Bound Algorithms

• Dieter M. Spahni 4  
• Conference paper

115 Accesses

IBM’s Business Systems Planning (BSP) (cf. IBM (1980)) is the best known method for strategic IS planning which is proposed as a first step in the information engineering concept. It primarily uses matrices which show associations between processes and data classes. The elements of the BSP-matrix show the symbol C for processes creating and U for those using data classes (Fig. la).

• Enumeration Tree
• Node Evaluation
• Engineering Concept
• Independent Subsystem

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution .

Buying options

• Available as PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Unable to display preview.  Download preview PDF.

Balas E (1965) An Additive Algorithm for Solving Linear Programs with Zero-One Variables. Operations Research 13: 517–546

CrossRef   Google Scholar  

IBM (1980) Business Systems Planning: Handbuch zur Planung von Informationssystemen, IBM–Form GE 12–1400–1, IBM Germany

Google Scholar  

Knolmayer G (1993) The Application of Mixed Integer Programming to the ‘Business Systems Planning“-Problem, Paper presented at the DGOR/NSOR Conference, Amsterdam.

Kusiak A, Chow W.S (1987) An Efficient Cluster Identification Algorithms. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics 17: 696–699

Martin J (1982) Strategic Data-Planning Methodologies. Englewood Cliffs. Prentice-Hall

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik, Universität Bern, Hallerstrasse 6, CH-3012, Bern, Switzerland

Dieter M. Spahni

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

Mathematisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Weyertal 80, D-50931, Köln, Germany

Professor Dr. Achim Bachem

Lehrstuhl für Wirtschaftsinformatik, Universität zu Köln, Pohligstraße 1, D-50969, Köln, Germany

Professor Dr. Dr. Ulrich Derigs

Institut für Informatik, Universität zu Köln, Pohligstraße 1, D-50969, Köln, Germany

Professor Dr. Michael Jünger & Professor Dr. Rainer Schrader & 

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 1994 Physica-Verlag Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper.

Spahni, D.M. (1994). Solving the “Business System Planning”-Problem Using Specialized Branch & Bound Algorithms. In: Bachem, A., Derigs, U., Jünger, M., Schrader, R. (eds) Operations Research ’93. Physica, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-46955-8_123

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-46955-8_123

Publisher Name : Physica, Heidelberg

Print ISBN : 978-3-7908-0794-3

Online ISBN : 978-3-642-46955-8

eBook Packages : Springer Book Archive

Share this paper

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Find a journal
• Publish with us

Successwise

What are business systems and do they benefit your company? Starting, building and growing a business is exciting. But often things get out of control. Balls get dropped and what was once fun and exciting can become a dreary chore. Why? Because of a lack of business systems .

Many founders find themselves working longer and longer hours for little pay.

You might start wondering whatever possessed you to start a business. After all the goal was freedom, wealth and independence. But now it feels like you’re treading water and going nowhere. Sadly some owners end up throwing in the towel. 

I don’t want this for you. That’s why I’m going to show you how systems can change your company for the better.  It might be just what you need.

What Is A Business System?

A business system is a series of interdependent tasks or documented procedures that outline exactly how to do something in an organization to achieve a business objective. Good business systems streamline workload, improve productivity and get results.

A  business process  (also known as a series of checklists) can be given to a new employee and implemented without training. Not only does it improve onboarding new people. It also massively improves customer service.

For example, a system could be a step-by-step guide to writing blog posts . Think of it as best practices for getting eyes on your content marketing.

• Step one, keyword research. 
• Step two, review the top five blogs ranking for that keyword. Note down which questions are routinely answered.
• Step three, write the blog post.
• Step four, place the blog into  SurferSEO  for keyword optimization.
• Step five, submit the optimized blog for editing and approval.
• Step six, submit the approved blog post to the developer to place into the blog template.
• Step seven, add imagery, include alt text, a meta description, and internal linking.
• Step eight, take the blog live and submit it to Google Console to crawl.
• Step nine, share the blog post on your social media accounts.   

Are business systems and business processes the same?

No. Business processes are what I like to call standard operating procedures. It’s a series of linked tasks, checklists, and activities—business systems—that work towards a singular business goal.

Every business owner needs systems. So, now that you understand what a business system is , let’s look at the benefits of implementing business processes. 

Why Are Systems Important In Business?

In my 1-Page Marketing Plan Course , I talk about the three E’s of business systems—expansion, escape, and exit. Without systems, the “know-how” of running the business is siloed between a few select individuals’ ears, and achieving the three E’s is impossible.

What happens if you get sick, or a vital employee leaves, does your company stop functioning optimally?

Systems negate this, and I’m going to show you how.

Here are five major benefits of implementing a business system.

• It builds a valuable asset . Investors can buy your company and know that they’ve got a committed customer base, a set way of doing things, a guaranteed annual income, that sort of stuff. Check out this article to see the types of assets  you should be building.
• You can leverage and scale your business more rapidly. Once you’ve got systems in place, you can focus your time on creating new products that cater to your different customer segments. So you increase your profit margins.
• Consistency . Systems allow you to deliver a consistent experience, which is super powerful. It means whenever a customer interacts with your business, they get a world-class experience. And happy customers make for happy business owners. A business system can also be useful for managing multiple sites . By creating a documented procedure for each site, you can ensure consistency and quality across all locations. This is especially important if your business is expanding rapidly, as it can be difficult to maintain control without clear guidelines. With a system in place, you can easily onboard new employees and ensure that everyone is following the same processes, improving productivity and results.
• Lower labor costs . You can reduce your staff number because technology can handle most of the more mundane and repetitive tasks. 
• I t can improve efficiency . Your employees are more productive because they have a set way of doing things which really makes business activities a synch. 

To recap, systems are essential for expanding your organization, improving business functions, adding new people and products, growing your revenue, improving profit margins , escaping your business and taking a well-deserved holiday, and potentially exiting your organization one day.

Note: Tools are vital for building a productive, efficient, and connected team. Learn more about the tools we love at Successwise here. 

If you want to learn how you can find and hire great remote talent, check out this  blog post .

Why You Need To Systemize Your Business?

If you’re wondering why many small businesses don’t adopt systems, it’s because they’re considered back-office functions or boring.

It’s not something that requires your attention today, particularly when you’re in the startup phase. You’re so focused on building your company that there are other more pressing tasks that you need to deal with. 

So there’s a perceived lack of urgency. 

Thing is, without business systems, you don’t own a business – you ARE the business. If you want to double revenue, you need to double the hours you work. Since you only have so many hours in a day, that limits how fast and how big you grow.

By automating, delegating, and systemizing your business activities and business functions, you gain leverage, which is the key to creating and scaling a high growth organization.

Even if you’re starting out, you need to get into a systems mindset long before hiring your first employee or subcontractor. It’s the critical difference between being self-employed and being an entrepreneur.

Don’t wait until your organization is in crisis mode and spinning out of control. It’s much easier to begin creating your systems from the start than retrofit your business later.  

Are you  building a coaching business ? Click the link to learn how to start and scale your coaching business.

Getting Started With Systems

Before we can transition from self employed to entrepreneur, we first need to create a subtle but vital mindset shift. Self-employed people ARE the business, whereas entrepreneurs OWN the business.

If you’re ever going to experience financial freedom in your company, the key ingredient is leverage. If I had to pick only one thing that sets apart wealthy business owners from average ones, leverage would be it. You can find out more about  The Best Kept Secret Of The Rich  here. 

Perhaps the only thing more important to an entrepreneur than financial success is freedom. Are you setting up your business in a way that facilitates that kind of freedom? You can read up on  Why A Lack Of Systems Is Stunting Your Business Growth And Costing You A Fortune .

Building Your Systems So You Can Be Free

Now that you’ve made the mindset shift from self-employed to entrepreneur, it’s time to start actually building the business systems that are going to run your organization and set you free.

If we’re going to create the kind of speed that’s necessary for a high growth business, we need to  eliminate all bottlenecks  – starting with you. 

You shouldn’t be working non-stop, day and night. Build a team and delegate. Try these top   time management strategies for better productivity.  

What Are Examples Of Business Systems

One of the poster children for good systems is McDonald’s. 

McDonald’s is a multibillion-dollar operation run by young teenagers who can’t even be trusted to make their beds. How does that happen? It happens with business systems.

Their operation manuals cover everything from hiring to product delivery to customer interaction. What these systems do is allow McDonald’s to provide a consistent experience. 

You know that when you walk into a McDonald’s, The Big Mac, the fries, the nuggets will always be the same. And it’s because they’ve got those systems in place. 

Whether you like the food or you don’t, you always know that any McDonald’s you go to will deliver a consistent experience. 

How Many Types Of Business Systems Are There?

While virtually anything can be systematized, there are four main  types of business systems that you need to build. Getting these running is like adding rocket fuel to your startup. I’m going to touch on these below, but you can find out more in this article:  Products Make You Money, Systems Make You A Fortune .

• There’s your marketing system , and you use this to generate a consistent flow of leads into the business.
• Then there’s your sales system ; this is what you use to nurture leads, follow up with them, and hopefully convert them into paying customers.
• The third system is your fulfillment system , and this is the actual thing you do in exchange for the customer’s money.
• Lastly, there’s your administration system , which encompasses accounts, reception, human resources, etc. It supports all the other business functions.

If you had to start with just one of these systems, the one which will give you the biggest returns on time and money would be your marketing system. Click here to learn how to  build your marketing infrastructure  and assets.

How To Write A Business System In 4 Easy Steps?

So now we’re going to cover the best practices for writing a business system. I’ve built systems in all of my businesses. These are companies I eventually exited for a tidy profit so I like to think I’m qualified to share my expertise. 

When you’re building systems there are three questions you need to think about:

• Who is going to do it? 
• What are they going to do? 
• When are they going to do it? 

Some processes will be handled by people, for example outreach to journalists, podcasts, responding to LinkedIn connections, website maintenance, writing emails, how to order equipment, etc. Some will be handled by technology and automation, so a CRM will send an automated series of emails, Google Analytics will track website visitors and opt-ins

Knowing this early on is important because it influences the processes you create and how you write your business systems. 

But before I get into writing your business processes or standard operating procedure, I want to focus on how you can document your systems.

• You can use  text and imagery . For instance, you can use a Google or Word document to list the various steps that someone needs to follow. I like to add screengrabs to illustrate my point. So if I am writing a best practice document for  writing a LinkedIn post , I’ll take screengrabs of some of my top-performing posts. This graphically shows what emojis to include, how to write a question that draws attention, the position of hashtags, etc.
• You can use audio (where appropriate). 
• Or you can document your system with an instructional video . I particularly like using a screen-sharing program like Loom to explain how to do something. I just hit record and can walk through the process step-by-step. 

Now that you know how to document your business systems, it’s time to map out your process or workflow. And really, there are four stages to writing a standard operating procedure. 

Here is what I like to do.

Step 1: Come up with a process.

My team and I will get together, and we will try to define what the best method is. So what is the gold standard? During this brainstorming session, we want to identify who does what. Who is going to compile the data? Who will design the document? Who will film an instructional video? That sort of thing.

Step 2: Document It.

For instance, my copywriter will note down in a document exactly how to pitch media on Haro or SourceBottle. She’ll write the process, taking screen grabs of each step. Then my designer might create visuals to illustrate each step. And my marketing assistant will take all of this information and compile it into a branded SOP document.

STEP 3: Implement It.

Let’s say my copywriter leaves, and I hire a new copywriter. They can take the media pitching business system, read it, and hit the ground running. I can also share it with my 1:1 clients, and they can implement the same process into their organization, so that becomes very powerful.

Step 4: Adjust when necessary.

So sometimes we find, “Hang on, there is a better way of doing it,” and then we adjust and course correct. 

For best results, show your employees and clients how to put a business system together, then let them do it. Make sure you watch them and provide guidance when needed. 

Virtually everything in your business can and should be documented in a business process.

You might think that as a solopreneur you don’t need to build systems. You’d be wrong. I show you  how to start systemizing as a one person business . 

Four People Business Systems Are Valuable To

Now   that you know how to put a  business system together let’s look at the strategic advantages it gives your organization and who values your systems.

A system is valuable to:

1. Business Owners Value Systems

A business system is valuable to you, the business owner, solopreneur or startup founder.  

• With systems, you’re not reliant on people. 
• You can expand and escape your business. 
• You can franchise or license your company which is an additional cash injection that you can look forward to. 

2. Employees & Incoming Staff Value Systems

You or management want to be able to pass something over to a recruit and say, “This is how we do it here, this is our checklist, this is our process, this is our procedure,” and it’s very, very important that you’re able to do that. 

You don’t have to train employees up. All they need to do is follow the procedure outlined in the document. And because you’ve mapped it out, it’s easier to pick up and run with. 

• This removes unnecessary frustration. 
• It improves the quality of work delivered. 
• And it means you’re not people reliant. 

Someone can decide to leave, and your business won’t stop functioning. The recruit can pick up where the last person left off, and that’s a great place to be in. 

3. Your Customers Value Systems

Customers want consistency. When you implement systems in your business, each process ensures you deliver consistent results with every interaction. 

Your customers know what to expect, and that builds loyalty. 

But you can also use your systems document as a byproduct which a coaching client, for example, can implement into their business. 

So you’re not only advising your client, but you’re saying, “look, this is how we’ve done this. It’s our gold standard. We’ve had great success using this methodology, and you can too.” 

So that’s a big motivator for clients to choose you over, say, a competitor.

4. Potential Investors Value Systems

They’re not just buying the customer base, which is really a historical document, or the revenue, which again, is a historical metric. They’re buying a system that generates new leads, prospects, and customers, and a process for delivering products and services. Now that makes the business dramatically more valuable to prospective purchases.

And this is your  ultimate customer . It’s the person who puts you out of business and writes you that big check that makes you leave and do something else. 

Some of the biggest fortunes have been created when owners have sold or licensed their companies. 

But if management depends on you to be present to get things done,  it’s really a self-made job and  worthless to investors. 

So   Start With The End In Mind  and  r emember, technology has created more millionaires and billionaires than anything else. 

Click here to learn  How Smart Entrepreneurs Use Technology   to create value in your organization.

Systems provide solutions for common organisational problems. 

The startups and small businesses that win in marketing are the ones that do the simple things consistently. They get them done not because of willpower but because of a business system.

I want you to think of systems as your secret weapon—your Iron Man suit that will help you punch above your weight.  Systems let you put much of the repetitive and tedious tasks on autopilot, and that’s exciting because it frees up your time to focus on coming up with a new vision, a new way of doing things, a new market to serve, whatever.

So like Jim Rohn says, “Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines practiced every day. Failure is a few errors in judgment repeated every day.”

Don’t repeat your errors of judgment daily.

Just put in those few simple disciplines: start documenting your processes, start putting together your marketing system. Make sure you’re using technology to reduce friction, create a more consistent experience for your clients, and  deliver a wow experience .

Those systems will free you. They’ll help you expand, escape, and eventually exit your SME and that, to me as an entrepreneur, is super exciting.

Every team needs business processes. And every entrepreneur needs a team.  Learn why, here .

7 thoughts on “Business Systems: How To Create A High Growth Business Without Burning Out”

Really helpful post – thanks for sharing. I am fairly new in my business journey but already looking at documenting systems so I can work on my business and not in it. Tough to know when to start hiring people for roles.

Hey Adam, congrats on beginning your entrepreneurial journey. Welcome to the club. Remember, you don’t have to hire someone full time. Allan started with a marketing manager two hours a day. She massively freed up his time and has been instrumental in scaling Successwise. So if you’re slammed, then look at getting someone in a couple of hours a day or even a week.

That’s right, a good thing in my life. I have started my new business and this system has been helpful in growing my business to some extent. Thanks CANDICE For Sharing This Important Information.

Great article Allan, I really needed this today. I grew my business from 200k per year to now over a million in revenue and my systems are non existent. I constantly work in my business as opposed to being an entrepreneur. I can only imagine where I would be today if I had great systems in place. Looking forward to reading more articles on your site. Thank you for this.

Appreciate the simplicity of explanation of it. Any organization wants to function with the highest efficiency need to have a proper system.

Hi there, where do you recommend documenting these systems?

Hey Cameron, start as soon as possible. You’ll always be refining your systems, but you need to have them documented to take them off your plate.

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

• * First Last
• Email Address *
• Phone Number *
• Tell us a bit about your business and your goals in the next 6-12 months. *

Get Certified Work with a Certified Coach

• Nem Talált Eredményt

BUSINESS SYSTEMS PLANNING

Business systems planning (BSP) is an IBM proprietary technique devised initially for IBM internal use; later it was sold as a service to its customers in the mid-1970s.

BSP was perhaps the earliest formal IS planning method and is now the most widely known. In fact, a number of firms use methods which are similar to BSP. For

X CHAPTER 5 INFORMATION SYSTEM STRATEGIC PLANNING

example, Arthur AndersonÊs METHOD/1 and MartinÊs Information Engineering are predominant methods which are similar to BSP.

BSP offers a structured approach to IS planning via a number of fairly rigorously defined stages that lead from the identification of business processes to a definition of required data structures. Data are tracked as they flow throughout the organization by the business activity support or from which they result.

The objectives of BSP are:

• To translate business strategy into IS strategy (as shown in Figure 5.3).

• Impartially determining IS priorities.

• Planning long-life information systems based on enduring business processes.

• Managing IT resources to support business goals.

• Assigning IT resources to high-return projects.

• Improving relationships between the IS department and users by providing systems that meet their requirements.

• Improving understanding of the need for IS planning.

Figure 5.3: Translating business strategy into IS strategy

Top-down planning and bottom-up implementation. The major premise of BSP is that organization-wide information systems should be planned from the top-down and implemented piece-by-piece from the bottom-up. Top-down planning employs a study team consisting of managers, professionals, and IT experts with the broad strategic objectives of an organization, as well as other important information. The study team systematically decomposes them into an IS architecture that will support the organizationÊs strategy. Once this architecture has been defined, the bottom-up implementation of specific IS applications is carried out by the IS

CHAPTER 5 INFORMATION SYSTEM STRATEGIC PLANNING W 149

department and the organizationÊs users. Bottom-up implementation involves the users in operational decisions about new systems. Top-down planning establishes a sequence of implementation consistent with both long- and short-term issues. The combination of top-down planning and bottom-up implementation enables the organization to select IS projects with the highest payoffs and implement them with the full support of their future users, thus ensuring the best use of the organizationÊs limited IS resources.

Figure 5.4 shows how the business mission determines business objectives, which in turn establishes functions and processes. The processes determine the required data, which forms the basis for an architecture of information systems and sub-systems. The architecture determines computer databases containing the required data to be processed by the appropriate IS applications (such as accounting, marketing, etc.). The IS applications serve the functions that support the objectives and the organizationÊs mission.

Figure 5.4: Top-down planning with bottom-up implementation

5.3.1 Major Activities in BSP

The BSP methodology consists of four major activities:

• documenting the business activities

• defining the business processes

• defining the data necessary to support the business processes

• defining the information architecture.

Documenting the business objectives. This activity entails determining business direction so that the IS strategy can support it. Figure 4.3 illustrates the way in which the IS strategy is derived from the business strategy.

Defining the business processes. This activity is undertaken to identify business processes, which are defined as groups of logically related decisions and activities required to manage the resources of the business (IBM 1984, 29). This is important because it establishes the prime long-term basis for IS support in the organization.

Defining the data necessary to support the business processes. This activity involves identifying the information elements that are basic to the organization and that will not change unless the organization changes. These information elements are called business process support data because business processes identified during the previous activity use them.

Defining the information architecture. This final activity refers to relating the business processes to the appropriate business process support data. This activity reveals the relationships between business areas and the associated data to be managed. Thus, the relationships define an information architecture of individual IS application modules, which can be assigned priorities and built as scheduled in the IS plan.

5.3.2 BSP Study Steps

There are 13 major steps to perform in carrying out a BSP study (IBM 1984, 10):

1. Gaining executive commitment 2. Preparing for the study

3. Starting the study

4. Defining business processes

5. Defining business entities and data classes 6. Analysing current IS support

7. Determining the executive perspective 8. Defining findings and conclusions 9. Defining the information architecture 10. Determining architectural priorities

11. Reviewing information resource management 12. Developing recommendations and an action plan 13. Reporting results

CHAPTER 5 INFORMATION SYSTEM STRATEGIC PLANNING W 151

Steps 1 and 2 precede the study itself. All the steps are important, and although some can be carried out to varying degrees, none can be completely eliminated.

1. Gaining executive commitment. A BSP study must not begin without a commitment from a top executive sponsor. In addition, other executives must be willing to become involved in it. Success depends on the degree to which these executives can supply the study team with their views of the organization and its data needs. A key part of this first step is the concurrence of all parties regarding the studyÊs purpose and scope. Differing expectations are common and can lead to disappointing results and unmet expectations.

Furthermore, the purpose of the study is to commit the organization to a course of action based on recommendations made at the studyÊs end;

therefore, early expectations are critical.

2. Preparing for the study. All executives on the study team should be provided with proper orientation. Everyone should know the BSP plans and procedures before the study is conducted so that the executive can provide optimal input and the study team can make optimal use of the input. Study team interviewees should be identified as soon as possible so that their interviews can be scheduled. Information on the organizationÊs basic business functions and its current IT configuration should be compiled during this phase to facilitate the team training and orientation. The team should be given exclusive use of a conveniently located control room, where study activities can be conducted. By the end of this phase, the team should produce a study control book containing (IBM 1984, 19–28):

• a study work plan

• an interview schedule

• a schedule for reviews with the executive sponsor at certain checkpoints

• an outline of the final study report

• business and IS data analysed, charted, and ready for use in the study.

The executive sponsor should review the accomplishments made during this phase before actually beginning the study.

3. Starting the study. The BSP study begins with three presentations to the study team:

• The executive sponsor repeats the purpose of the study and its anticipated output.

• The team leader reviews business facts already collected so that each team member is thoroughly up-to-date.

• The senior IS executive discusses the departmentÊs recent activities and problems so that study team members understand its current role in the organization.

4. Defining business processes. This is the most important phase of the BSP study. In this phase, the study team identifies the business processes which form the basis for the executive interviews, the definition of the future information architecture, and various other subsequent study activities. A business process relates to a specific act that has a definable start and stop. A process has identifiable inputs and outputs (Martin and Leben 1989, 146). A process is not based on organizational structures, and it identifies what is done, not how. Often the name of a process begins with an action verb such as: ÂCreate purchase requisitionÊ, ÂSelect supplierÊ, ÂFollow up orderÊ, ÂAnalyse supplier performanceÊ (see Table 5.4).

This step is important because failure to define the process properly will be reflected in all that follows. During this step, team members record a list of the business processes, highlighting the most significant ones. In view of the importance of this step, you must have a thorough understanding of business process definition. You should, therefore, read the relevant portion of the BSP manual now to understand this step in detail.

CHAPTER 5 INFORMATION SYSTEM STRATEGIC PLANNING W 153

Table 5.4: Examples of Processes Groups and Processes by Industry (Based on Information in IBM 1984, 87–103)

Processes common to many businesses Policy and Goals

Establish Corporate Policy Develop Goals

Determine Product Cost Control Operations

Facilities Management Acquire Capital Equipment Maintain Facilities and inventory Production Planning

Plan Production Capacity Allocate Production Capacity Schedule Production

Plan Material Requireents Marketing Planning

Conduct Marketing Research Analyse Market Place Forecast Product

Establish Sales Objectives Price Product

Advertise and Promote Product

Processes in the Health Care(Hospital) Industry Health Care Delivery

Admit Patient

Determine PatientÊs Health Status

Determine Required Tests and Treatments Order and Schedule Diagnostic Studies, Treatments

and Reevaluations

Perform and Report Diagnostic Studies Administer and Record Treatments Provide Necessities and Amenities Evaluate Care

Interface with Referring Physician Discharge Patient

Personnel Planning

Establish Personnel Policies Develop Personnel Programmes Determine Personnel Requirements Determine Training Requirements Determine Personnel Development Needs

Product Planning, Development, Manufacture and Distribution

Develop Technology Develop Product

Track Product Performance Manage Plant Operations Manufacture Product Distribute Product Financial Planning and Control

Forecast Cash Requirements Forecast Capital Requirements Forecast Profitability Analysis Create Budget

Prepare Financial Alternatives Acquire and Manage Funds Control Finances

Sales Sell Product

Develop New Business Service Policyholders

Cyclical Planning

Establish five-year Business Plan Develop Annual Operating Plan Develop Quarterly Operating Plan

Customer Order Control

Entry and Control Customer Order Service Customer Order

Invoice Customer

Financial Operations

Analyse and Report Financial Performance Manage Risk

Manage General Accounts

Purchase Supplies/Equipment/Raw Materials Facilities Planning

Determine Facility Requirements Establish Facility Acquisition Policies Management Support

Provide Legal Support

Maintain Stockholder Relations Comply with Government Regulations Maintain Public Relations

Processes in the Insurance Industry(Group Life) Product Development

Monitor Regulatory / Legislative Activity Develop Product

Price Product

Establish Dividend Formula Marketing Support

Prepare Prospect Proposal Underwrite Policy Issue and Maintain Policy Product Administration Maintain Employee Life File Pay Claim

Manage Claims Accounting Bill and Collect Premium

Analyse and Report on Premiums / Claims Produce Dividend

Genaral Administration Calculate Compensation

Calculate and Pay Incentive Compensation Managed Personal

Resrarch( General) Develop Proposal Approve Research Study Assign Resources Budget Research Project

CHAPTER 5 INFORMATION SYSTEM STRATEGIC PLANNING W 155

5. Defining business entities and data classes. During this phase, business entities and data classes and their relationships are identified. A business entity is something of lasting interest to an organization · something which can be uniquely identified and about which the organization wishes to keep data. Entities may be internal or external to an organization, and can be categorized as one of the following: person, place, thing, concept, or event. For example, ÂjobÊ is an entity because it is a concept of interest to an organization.

A data class is a logical grouping of data related to entities that are significant to the organization. Data classes are identified in order to:

(a) determine data sharing requirements across processes;

(b) determine data that are necessary but either unavailable or insufficient for business use; and

(c) establish the groundwork for data policy formulation (including data integrity responsibility).

To enable assignment of responsibility for data integrity, data classes must be defined so that there is one and only one process that creates each data class.

In this step data are grouped into related data classes. The future IS architecture will include databases that would contain these data. The organization of these databases should minimize the need for future revisions of the architecture. Criteria for data categorization are the relationships of the data to the business processes identified in the fourth study phase. Charts (matrices) are used to reflect these relationships clearly. A detailed description of this step is given in the BSP manual, which you should read now.

6. Analysing current IS support. In this phase, the study team identifies how information systems currently support the organization. Final recommendations will be based partly on the environment. The team develops charts (matrices) showing organizational processes during this phase to facilitate and document its analysis. These activities help the team prepare for its executive interviews and aid in defining requirements for information support for the various organizational areas. A detailed description of this phase and the charts to be drawn is given in the BSP manual, which you should read now.

7. Determining the executive perspective. The major purpose of this phase of the study is to validate the understanding that the team has developed thus far.

Another major purpose is to achieve the commitment and support of executives not yet deeply involved in the study. Executive perspective is gained by conducting interviews with executives from the top levels of management. The executive interviews conducted during this phase are used to validate processes and data classes and provide the study team with the basic understanding of the business problems that the future IS architecture should solve. This phase is described in detail in the BSP manual, and it would be useful for you to read it now.

8. Defining findings and conclusions. The major objective of this phase is to confirm that the BSP study team understands the information provided by the executives. In this step, the study team develops categories of findings and conclusions, and then assigns previously identified problems to the categories.

This classification becomes the basis for future recommendations. The details of this step are described in the BSP manual, which you should look at now.

9. Defining the information architecture. In this phase the BSP study team uses the business processes identified above in the fourth phase and the data classes identified in the fifth phase to design the databases of the future information architecture. Various charts (matrices) are prepared which show the relationship between business processes and data classes. The team also identifies major systems and subsystems and determines if some subsystems

CHAPTER 5 INFORMATION SYSTEM STRATEGIC PLANNING W 157

must be completed before others. An information architecture flow diagram is drawn which reflects the relationship of systems and subsystems. This is a very important step in BSP, and you should now look at the details given in the BSP manual.

10. Determining architectural priorities. It would be impossible in most organizations to implement the entire information architecture all at the same time. Therefore, the BSP team must set priorities developing information systems and databases that will make up the final architecture. In determining selection criteria, the team considers potential financial and non-financial benefits, the likelihood of success, and the extent of the organizationÊs demand for each subsystem. The team sets priorities by listing the subsystems of the information architecture and using the criteria to rank each one. For details of this step, you should now refer to the BSP manual.

11. Reviewing information resource management. The objective of this phase is to ensure that the management of IT is under the direction and control of top management. A steering committee is established to set policy and control the function. The study team examines the current IS organization to find its strengths and weaknesses.

12. Developing recommendations. The BSP study recommendations centre on information architecture and information resource management. They are made not only for information systems, subsystems, hardware, and software but also for adjustments to systems under development and to systems currently in production. Another major area of recommendation includes strengthening IS management with improved planning and control mechanisms identified in the previous step. An action plan reflects priorities and identifies the means of delivering the future information architecture.

13. Reporting results. The BSP study team completes its mission by preparing the BSP study report and preparing and delivering an executive presentation. A brief executive summary covers the purpose of the study, its methodology, its conclusions, and its recommendations. A more detailed and comprehensive report expands these topics. In addition, an oral presentation to executives should include the result reporting process. Potential topics to be included in the BSP study report are given in Table 5.5 (based on information in IBM 1984, 130–31).

Table 5.5: Potential Topics for BSP Study Report Executive Summary Report Reasons for conduction study Level of organisation selected Objectives of the study team

Financial Budgets

Justification and funding processes

Method of Study BSP concepts

Overview of study approach Study team members

Findings and Conclusions Definition of data classes

Relationship of data class to current systems (matrix)

Relationship of data class to business processes (matrix)

Analysis of current system support Process relationships (diagram)

Process / organisation / system relationships (matrix)

Application support of organisation (matrix) Application support of processes (matrix) Business Perspective

External environment Economic, government, competition

Technology, customers, suppliers Internal environment

Policies, practices, constraints Business planning

Statement of Findings and Conclusion Objectives

Organisation Planning

Measurement and Control Operations

Current IS support Recommendations

Changes to current IS development projects Acceptance of information architecture Satisfying architecture priorities Sub-system packages

End-user tools (information centre) Sub-system development

CHAPTER 5 INFORMATION SYSTEM STRATEGIC PLANNING W 159

Major charges to existing systems Management systems changes

Changes in information resource management Action Plan for Follow-On Projects

(For the above recommendations) Description(s)

External environment

Technology, customers (users), vendors

Internal environment

Policies, practices, strategies Resources, project schedules

Narrative descriptions – processes Narrative descriptions – data classes Narrative descriptions – current ISs Problem analysis

Supporting statistics

5.3.3 Evaluation of BSP

The major strength of BSP is its ability to involve top management in the study, providing improved communication among top management, users, and IS departments and an increased awareness of the long- and short-term capabilities and cost of information systems. The methodology is highly structured and well documented. Another major strength is the continued evolution and adaptation to the changing IT environment. The latest subset of BSP, called the Information Quality Analysis (IQA), is similar to BSP but takes considerably less time and is supported by an integrated set of computer programs.

Compared with the stages-of-growth approach, BSP is business-oriented, and not theory-driven. BSP recommendations derive from the construction of an empirical model of a particular business enterprise and its information sources.

The most common criticism of BSP may be that the results of the BSP study are not easy to implement, because the study is not quickly translatable into the technical specifications that the IS department may require. Furthermore, the study depends

• NATURE OF BUSINESS ORGANISATION
• FUNCTIONAL AREAS AND BUSINESS FUNCTIONS
• MANAGEMENT PROCESSES AND BUSINESS PROCESS RE- RE-ENGINEERING
• BUSINESS MISSION AND VISION
• BUSINESS OBJECTIVES AND GOALS
• CHAPTER LEARNING OUTCOMES
• STRATEGIC PLANNING
• X Strategic Use of Information
• EVOLUTION OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS
• RISKS OF USING IT STRATEGICALLY
• STRATEGIC OPTIONS GENERATOR
• FEEDBACK ON ACTIVITIES
• STAGES OF GROWTH MODEL
• AN EXTENDED ENTERPRISE
• Fifth Generation: Integrated Methodologies
• BENEFITS OF IS PLANNING
• WHAT MAKES A GOOD IS PLANNER?
• CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS ANALYSIS
• BUSINESS SYSTEMS PLANNING (You are here )
• EARL’S MULTIPLE METHODOLOGY
• CHOOSING METHODOLOGIES FOR IS PLANNING
• RECOMMENDATIONS ON IS STRATEGIC PLANNING METHODOLOGIES

KAPCSOLÓDÓ DOKUMENTUMOK

Válassza ki az Ön nyelvét

A weboldal a kiválasztott nyelvre lesz lefordítva.

Az Ön számára javasolt nyelvek:

• Get IGI Global News
• Language: English

• All Products
• Book Chapters
• Journal Articles
• Video Lessons
• Teaching Cases

Shortly You Will Be Redirected to Our Partner eContent Pro's Website

eContent Pro powers all IGI Global Author Services. From this website, you will be able to receive your 35% discount (automatically applied at checkout), receive a free quote, place an order, and retrieve your final documents .

What is Business System Planning (BSP)

Related Books View All Books

Related Journals View All Journals

The Business Planning Process: 6 Steps To Creating a New Plan

In this article, we will define and explain the basic business planning process to help your business move in the right direction.

What is Business Planning?

Business planning is the process whereby an organization’s leaders figure out the best roadmap for growth and document their plan for success.

The business planning process includes diagnosing the company’s internal strengths and weaknesses, improving its efficiency, working out how it will compete against rival firms in the future, and setting milestones for progress so they can be measured.

The process includes writing a new business plan. What is a business plan? It is a written document that provides an outline and resources needed to achieve success. Whether you are writing your plan from scratch, from a simple business plan template , or working with an experienced business plan consultant or writer, business planning for startups, small businesses, and existing companies is the same.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

The best business planning process is to use our business plan template to streamline the creation of your plan: Download Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template and finish your business plan & financial model in hours.

The Better Business Planning Process

The business plan process includes 6 steps as follows:

• Do Your Research
• Calculate Your Financial Forecast
• Draft Your Plan
• Revise & Proofread
• Nail the Business Plan Presentation

We’ve provided more detail for each of these key business plan steps below.

1. Do Your Research

Conduct detailed research into the industry, target market, existing customer base,  competitors, and costs of the business begins the process. Consider each new step a new project that requires project planning and execution. You may ask yourself the following questions:

• What are your business goals?
• What is the current state of your business?
• What are the current industry trends?
• What is your competition doing?

There are a variety of resources needed, ranging from databases and articles to direct interviews with other entrepreneurs, potential customers, or industry experts. The information gathered during this process should be documented and organized carefully, including the source as there is a need to cite sources within your business plan.

You may also want to complete a SWOT Analysis for your own business to identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and potential risks as this will help you develop your strategies to highlight your competitive advantage.

2. Strategize

Now, you will use the research to determine the best strategy for your business. You may choose to develop new strategies or refine existing strategies that have demonstrated success in the industry. Pulling the best practices of the industry provides a foundation, but then you should expand on the different activities that focus on your competitive advantage.

This step of the planning process may include formulating a vision for the company’s future, which can be done by conducting intensive customer interviews and understanding their motivations for purchasing goods and services of interest. Dig deeper into decisions on an appropriate marketing plan, operational processes to execute your plan, and human resources required for the first five years of the company’s life.

3. Calculate Your Financial Forecast

All of the activities you choose for your strategy come at some cost and, hopefully, lead to some revenues. Sketch out the financial situation by looking at whether you can expect revenues to cover all costs and leave room for profit in the long run.

Begin to insert your financial assumptions and startup costs into a financial model which can produce a first-year cash flow statement for you, giving you the best sense of the cash you will need on hand to fund your early operations.

A full set of financial statements provides the details about the company’s operations and performance, including its expenses and profits by accounting period (quarterly or year-to-date). Financial statements also provide a snapshot of the company’s current financial position, including its assets and liabilities.

This is one of the most valued aspects of any business plan as it provides a straightforward summary of what a company does with its money, or how it grows from initial investment to become profitable.

4. Draft Your Plan

With financials more or less settled and a strategy decided, it is time to draft through the narrative of each component of your business plan . With the background work you have completed, the drafting itself should be a relatively painless process.

If you have trouble writing convincing prose, this is a time to seek the help of an experienced business plan writer who can put together the plan from this point.

5. Revise & Proofread

Revisit the entire plan to look for any ideas or wording that may be confusing, redundant, or irrelevant to the points you are making within the plan. You may want to work with other management team members in your business who are familiar with the company’s operations or marketing plan in order to fine-tune the plan.

Finally, proofread thoroughly for spelling, grammar, and formatting, enlisting the help of others to act as additional sets of eyes. You may begin to experience burnout from working on the plan for so long and have a need to set it aside for a bit to look at it again with fresh eyes.

6. Nail the Business Plan Presentation

The presentation of the business plan should succinctly highlight the key points outlined above and include additional material that would be helpful to potential investors such as financial information, resumes of key employees, or samples of marketing materials. It can also be beneficial to provide a report on past sales or financial performance and what the business has done to bring it back into positive territory.

Business Planning Process Conclusion

Every entrepreneur dreams of the day their business becomes wildly successful.

But what does that really mean? How do you know whether your idea is worth pursuing?

And how do you stay motivated when things are not going as planned? The answers to these questions can be found in your business plan. This document helps entrepreneurs make better decisions and avoid common pitfalls along the way. ​

Business plans are dynamic documents that can be revised and presented to different audiences throughout the course of a company’s life. For example, a business may have one plan for its initial investment proposal, another which focuses more on milestones and objectives for the first several years in existence, and yet one more which is used specifically when raising funds.

Business plans are a critical first step for any company looking to attract investors or receive grant money, as they allow a new organization to better convey its potential and business goals to those able to provide financial resources.

How to Finish Your Business Plan in 1 Day!

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your business plan?

With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

Click here to finish your business plan today.

OR, Let Us Develop Your Plan For You

Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.

Click here to see how Growthink business plan consultants can create your business plan for you.

Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

Business Systems Planning (IBM Corporation)

Dec 19, 2019

300 likes | 546 Views

Business Systems Planning (IBM Corporation). Initial work on BSP began in the early 1970s. At first, it was for IBM internal use only; later it was made available to customers.

Presentation Transcript

Business Systems Planning(IBM Corporation) • Initial work on BSP began in the early 1970s. • At first, it was for IBM internal use only; later it was made available to customers. • Its focus on data and especially on processes was an entirely new way to view the firm and to build systems; this process approach has since been copied by many others. • BSP is very comprehensive – and thus time consuming and expensive.

Business Systems Planning Designed to define an Information Architecture for the firm. The basic building blocks of the architecture are: • Data Classes • Categories of logically related data that are necessary to support the business • Business Processes • Groups of logically related decisions and activities required to manage the resources of the business

Business Systems Planning Steps in the BSP process • Obtain authorization for the study • Assemble the study team • Define the data classes • Define the business processes • Using these data classes and business processes, define the information architecture • Compare this architecture with the present systems and identify missing and/or needed systems • Interview senior management to ensure the architecture is correct and to identify any problems • Establish priorities for each of the major systems contained in the architecture • Prepare the final study report and present it to top management • If approved, initiate the construction of the architecture

Business Systems Planning BSP, in addition to its value for I/S planning, also made two other important intellectual contributions: • It helped introduce the process view of the firm. The popular Business Process Re-engineering of the 1990s was built on this concept. • It pointed out the need to de-couple data from the applications that use these data, i.e., data independence. This supported the database approach to systems development.

BSP’s BASIC BUILDING BLOCKS Business Process • Groups of logically related decisions and activities required to manage the resources of the business. • Contributed to the process-oriented view of the firm Data Classes • A category of logically related data that is necessary to support the business. • Contributed to the need to decouple data from the applications that use these data.

Defining Business Process • Product/service And Resource Life Cycle (used to identify and group the processess) • Requirements activities that determine how much of the product of the product or resource is required, the plan for getting it, and measurement and control against the plan. • Acquisition  activities performed to develop a product/service, or to get the resource that will be used. • Stewardship  activities to form, refine, modify, or maintain the supporting resource and to store or track the product/service. • Retirement  those activities and decisions that terminate the responsibility of an organization for a product or service or the end use of a resource. • Basic Step in Defining Processes • There are three main sources for the identification of the business processes: planning and control, product/service, supporting resource. For product/service and supporting resource, the processes can be defined through their life cycle (requirement,acquisition,stewardship,retirement)

Defining Data Class • Using the business resource type approach provide data classes with the same base as business processes, namely business resources. The following figure show the life cycle of resource, and the type of data related to each stage of the life cycle. Planning data Requirement • Inventory data, which maintains the resource status, supports stewardship activities. Transaction data affect change to the inventory data caused by acquisition or disposition activities. Planning data, which represents objectives or expected levels of inventory and volume of transaction, supports requirements activities. At periodic intervals, summary data is extracted from the inventory data and transaction histories to provide feedback on how well requirements have been met. Statistical summary data Disposition Acquisition Transaction data Stewardship Transaction data Inventory data

DEFINE AN INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE • Data Classes • Business Processes

ANALYZE CURRENT SYSTEMS • Organization (people) • Business processes • Information systems • Data files

EXECUTIVE INTERVIEWS • Objectives • Critical Success Factors • Problems • Process/Data/Organization/ System Matrix

DETERMINING PRIORITIES • Potential benefits • Impact upon the business • Probability of success • Demand

FINAL STEPS • Information Systems Management -- How ready is I/S? • Recommendations and Action Plan • Report results • Follow-on activities

• More by User

2006 IBM Corporation 2002 IBM Corporation

IBM Developer Works resources. 4. Your Project,

773 views • 34 slides

Module 2 The Business Vision & Mission

Module 2 The Business Vision & Mission. Vision. “The last thing IBM needs right now is a vision.” (July 1993). “What IBM needs most right now is a vision.” (March 1996). – Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., CEO, IBM Corporation. Vision.

694 views • 37 slides

© 2011 IBM Corporation

Social Selling with IBM and SugarCRM. © 2011 IBM Corporation. Agenda. Challenges in B2B Selling Social Selling Overview Why IBM and SugarCRM? Real Results How to Get Started. © 2011 IBM Corporation. IDC 2011 Sales Barometer Survey. Top Priorities and Challenges for Sales Executives.

580 views • 39 slides

Precision Castparts Corporation Manufacturing Planning Systems

Precision Castparts Corporation Manufacturing Planning Systems. Summer 2004 Gordon Edwards Portland State University. Presentation Outline. Problem Statement Project Definition Project Methodology Analysis Process/Project Development Comparison Study First Second Current Status

583 views • 19 slides

International business machines company

International business machines company . Kyle Beach. International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). American run multinational technology and consulting corporation One of the world’s largest technology company’s ranging from mainframe computers to nanotechnology

727 views • 23 slides

IBM Takes On The Evil Corporation

IBM Takes On The Evil Corporation. Cameron Davis. VS. IBM Supports OpenOffice.

245 views • 6 slides

Knowledge Management Systems - What in the world…?

Knowledge Management Systems - What in the world…?. Vic Toy, CIH, CSP Program Manager, Global Well-being Services IBM Corporation. Managing knowledge in the world’s largest technology company. An $81 billion corporation in 170 countries 325,000 employees with primary business units in.

490 views • 27 slides

Business Modelling

Business Modelling. Diah Priharsari [email protected] [email protected] Sumber : DEV475 Mastering Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with UML 2.0, IBM Corporation, June 2004 PTIIK – Universitas Brawijaya Malang. Yang dipelajari. Pemahaman definisi pemodelan bisnis

410 views • 29 slides

Driving Business Value with Service Orientation

IBM Corporation. Breaking New Ground IBM SOA for Line of Business Customer References. Driving Business Value with Service Orientation. SOA for LOB – Client References TABLE OF CONTENTS. IBM Corporation. Aerospace & Defense PLM supplier collaboration Automotive Dealer collaboration

1.18k views • 106 slides

Ó IBM Corporation 2004

IMS: What's New and What's Next. Barbara Klein Senior IMS Strategic Plan and Brand Manager IBM Santa Teresa Laboratory, San Jose, California [email protected]. Powering On Demand Solutions. Ó IBM Corporation 2004. Infrastructure Trends: Complex System Topology.

811 views • 65 slides

IBM Flex System 介紹 Alan Lin I/T Specialist System x, Systems and Technology Group IBM Corporation

IBM Flex System 介紹 Alan Lin I/T Specialist System x, Systems and Technology Group IBM Corporation. Built-in Expertise. Expert integrated systems. Integration by Design. Simplified Experience.

936 views • 55 slides

L’ICT proiettato nel futuro: l’opportunità del business on demand

L’ICT proiettato nel futuro: l’opportunità del business on demand. Jesi, 26 Giugno 2004. Giovanni Sgalambro Fabrizio Renzi Fabrizio Strappa IBM Italia S.p.A. IBM e’ oggi una struttura particolarmente diversificata con competenze realmente complementari. IBM Corporation.

721 views • 61 slides

Chapter 2 Business Planning and Organization

Chapter 2 Business Planning and Organization. BCN 4708 Fall 2008. Business Types. Sole Proprietorship Partnership General Vs Limited Joint Ventures Corporation S-Corporation aka Subchapter S. Sole Proprietorship. Simplest form of Business organization

225 views • 12 slides

IBM History of Computing

IBM History of Computing. By Steven Taylor. Who is IBM?. IBM stands for the International Business Machines Corporation. This corporation is known for its technology and consulting. How did they originate.

1.32k views • 11 slides

224 views • 4 slides

IBM Credit Corporation

IBM Credit Corporation. A new Information System enables one generalist to perform multi-tasking which used to be done by five specialists. Before and After BPR - Loan Application Process at IBM Credit Corp. Work Flow Using Specialists. Customer Service Receptionist. Credit

278 views • 2 slides

Business Planning

Business Planning. Introductions. INSTRUCTOR’S CONTACT INFO HERE w / l ogo were BANK ON logo is. Lesson resources provided by Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, US Small Business Administration and Purdue University Extension. Objectives.

302 views • 25 slides

IBM Corporation

IBM Corporation. An employee who is not represented by a union is not entitled to the presence of a co-worker at an interview that the employee reasonably believes will result in discipline Employer may decline employee’s request and continue to interview employee

80 views • 7 slides

270 views • 27 slides

2020 Impact Of Covid-19 On The Big Data And Analytics Services Market Growth And Trends

The major players in the global big data and analytics services market are IBM Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, SAP SE, TIBCO Software Inc., Teradata Corporation,

62 views • 6 slides

Business Analytics And Enterprise Software Market Size, Share, Statistics, Latest Trends, Segmentation And Forecast to 2

Major Players in the Business Analytics And Enterprise Software Market are SAP, SAS Institute, IBM Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Tableau Software Inc Read More @ https://bit.ly/36GdiMd

65 views • 6 slides

Search Cornell

Class Roster

Section menu.

• Toggle Navigation
• Spring 2024
• Winter 2024
• Summer 2023
• Archived Rosters

Last Updated

• Schedule of Classes - November 1, 2023 7:56PM EDT
• Course Catalog - November 1, 2023 7:32PM EDT

HADM 4770 Advanced Business Modeling

Course description.

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2023-2024 .

This course is taught in a 'flipped' environment. It focuses on organizational systems, planning, and the decision process and how information is used for decision support in organizations. Students are provided with practical skills in developing spreadsheet computer models using Microsoft Excel. Topics include business planning and forecasting, numerical methods, advanced formulas and functions, user-interface design, data protection and validation, importing external data, and output presentation.

When Offered Fall, Spring.

Permission Note Enrollment preference given to: NSHA students. Not open to: first-year students. Prerequisites/Corequisites Prerequisite: HADM 1740, HADM 2740, AEM 2010, FSAD 2880, or ILRID 2660.  Forbidden Overlaps Forbidden Overlap: due to an overlap in content, students will receive credit for only one course in the following group: HADM 4770, HADM 6770, ILRID 4699, ILRID 6990.

Comments Nolan students must take HADM 4770/HADM 6770. Please note: this course requires the use of a Windows machine. Using Mac's version of Excel is not allowed.

View Enrollment Information

  Seven Week - First.   Combined with: HADM 6770

Credits and Grading Basis

2 Credits Opt NoAud (Letter or S/U grades (no audit))

Class Number & Section Details

11269 HADM 4770   LEC 001

Meeting Pattern

• TR 12:20pm - 2:15pm To Be Assigned
• Jan 22 - Mar 12, 2024

Instructors

Tarantino, K

To be determined. There are currently no textbooks/materials listed, or no textbooks/materials required, for this section. Additional information may be found on the syllabus provided by your professor.

For the most current information about textbooks, including the timing and options for purchase, see the Cornell Store .

Additional Information

Instruction Mode: In Person Prerequisite: HADM 1740. Deadline to drop course is end of the first full week of the semester. Due to capacity restraints in the Binenkorb Lab, attendance at the first class is mandatory; no-show students are dropped to make room for stand-by students.

11296 HADM 4770   LEC 002

• TR 2:30pm - 4:25pm To Be Assigned

  Seven Week - Second.   Combined with: HADM 6770

11600 HADM 4770   LEC 003

• Mar 13 - May 7, 2024

Or send this URL:

Available Syllabi

About the class roster.

The schedule of classes is maintained by the Office of the University Registrar . Current and future academic terms are updated daily . Additional detail on Cornell University's diverse academic programs and resources can be found in the Courses of Study . Visit The Cornell Store for textbook information .

Please contact [email protected] with questions or feedback.

If you have a disability and are having trouble accessing information on this website or need materials in an alternate format, contact [email protected] for assistance.

Cornell University ©2023

Not logged in

• Create account

Social:Business system planning

Page actions.

• View source

Business systems planning ( BSP ) is a method of analyzing, defining and designing the information architecture of organizations. It was introduced by IBM for internal use only in 1981, [1] although initial work on BSP began during the early 1970s. BSP was later sold to organizations. [2] It is a complex method dealing with interconnected data, processes, strategies, aims and organizational departments . BSP was a new approach to IA; [3] its goals are to:

• Understand issues and opportunities with current applications
• Develop future technology supporting the enterprise
• Provide executives with direction and a decision-making framework for IT expenditures
• Provide information systems (IS) with a developmental blueprint

The result of a BSP project is a technology roadmap aligning investments and business strategy . BSP comprises 15 steps, which are classified into three sections by function.

• 1.1 Study authorization
• 1.2 Preparation
• 1.3 Beginning
• 2.1 Strategy
• 2.2 Processes
• 2.3 Data classes
• 2.4 Information support
• 2.5 Management discussion
• 2.6 Issue results
• 3.1 Defining information architecture
• 3.2 Establishing IS-development priorities
• 3.3 Verifying study impact
• 3.4 Proposals
• 3.5 Presentation
• 3.6 Final step
• 4 Criticism
• 5 References

Preparation

Study authorization.

The essential first step in BSP is to obtain authorization for the study from management or an interested department. A number of roles must agree on the purpose and range of the study:

• May be a sponsor or team leader
• Verifies and approves study results
• Provides financial support
• Chooses team members (four to seven people)
• Coordinates activities
• Documents and implements study (usually longer than eight weeks)
• Presents results to management
• Usually a department head
• Analyzes and determines organizational information needs
• Recommends future IS content
• Documents study
• Assists team leader

The second step is the team leader's study preparation. Its goal is to:

• Set timeframe
• Obtain documents
• Choose managers to interview
• Procure meeting and interview space
• Organizational functions
• Organizational data-processing level

A product of this step is a lead study book with the above information, a study schedule, IT documents and diagrams.

At the first meeting of the study, the sponsor explains the purpose and expected results of the study; the team leader presents the study plan, and the IT manager describes the current state and the role of IS in the organization.

The analysis is the most important part of BSP. The team searches for an appropriate organizational structure as it defines business strategy, processes and data classes [4] and analyzes current information support.

This step define strategic targets and how to achieve them within the organization:

• Adaptating to the customer´s desires
• Centrally-planned reservations, stock, payments
• Improvements in checking in, shipping, presentation, advertising, partner relations and stock management
• New customers
• Noise reduction
• Paperless processes
• Product-portfolio expansion
• Loss and cost reduction
• Simplifying customer order cycle
• Transport coordination
• Upgrade of production line
• Updating information

The team works from these strategic targets. Organizational units are departments of the organization. Each department is responsible for a strategic target.

There are about 40-60 business processes in an organization (depending on its size), and it is important to choose the most profitable ones and the department responsible for a particular process. Examples include:

• Contact creation
• Airplane coordination and service
• New-customer registration
• Service catalog creation
• Reservations
• Employee training

Data classes

There are usually about 30–60 data classes, depending on the size of the organization. Future IS will use databases based on these classes. Examples include:

• Accommodation
• Corporation
• Purchase order
• Service catalog

Information support

The purpose of this step is to check the applications used by an organization, evaluating the importance of each to eliminate redundancy.

Management discussion

In the final analytical step the team discusses its results with management to confirm (or refute) assumptions, provide missing information, reveal deficiencies in the organization and establish future priorities.

Issue results

All documents created during the analysis are collected, serving as a base for future information architecture. The organization classifies and dissects all identified problems; a list is made of the cause and effect of each problem, which is integrated into the future IS.

Defining information architecture

To define an organization's information architecture , [4] it is necessary to connect the information subsystems using matrix processes and data classes to find appropriate subsystems. The organization then reorders processes according to the product (or service) life cycle.

Establishing IS-development priorities

A number of criteria (costs and development time, for example) establish the best sequence of system implementation. High-priority subsystems may be analyzed more deeply. This information is given to the sponsor, who determines which information subsystems will be developed.

Verifying study impact

An IS planning and management study should be conducted. When the organization has finished its work on processes and data classes, it should explore the functions and goals of the system with a list of requested departmental changes and a cost analysis.

Final recommendations and plans are made for the organization during this step, which encompasses information architecture, IS management and information-subsystem development and includes costs, profits and future activities.

Presentation

This is the agreement of all interested parties (team, management and sponsor) on future actions.

The organization should establish specific responsibilities during the project's implementation. There is usually a controlling commission, ensuring consistency across the IS.

BSP, in addition to its value to IS planning, introduced the process view of a firm. The business process reengineering of the 1990s was built on this concept. It also demonstrated the need to separate data from its applications using it, supporting the database approach to software development methodology.

The effectiveness of BSP and other similar planning methodologies has been questioned:

• The historical analysis shows that BSP and subsequent enterprise architecture (EA) methodologies are "fundamentally flawed". [5] [6]
• The research concludes that "the [BSP] approach is too expensive, its benefits are too uncertain, and it is organisationally difficult to implement". [7]
• The research concludes that "given their great expense and time consumption, [...] findings seriously challenge the utility of the [BSP and similar] planning methodologies". [8]
• The research concludes that "in summary, strategic information systems planners are not particularly satisfied with [the BSP methodology]. After all, it requires extensive resources. [...] When the [BSP] study is complete, further analysis may be required before the plan can be executed. The execution of the plan might not be very extensive". [9]
• The study of BSP and similar planning methodologies concludes that "the evidence [...] presented here strongly supports the need for a fundamental rethinking of IS planning methodologies". [10]
• ↑ Gordon Bitter Davis, Gordon B. Davis (1999) The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management and Encyclopedic Dictionaries, The Blackwell Encyclopedic Dictionary of Management Information Systems . p. 173
• ↑ Antonia Albani, Joseph Barjis, Jan L.G. Dietz eds. (2009) Advances in Enterprise Engineering III: : 5Th International Workshop, Ciao! 2009, and 5th International Workshop, Eomas 2009, Held at CAiSE 2009, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, June 8–9, 2009, Proceedings. p. 57
• ↑ John Zachman 1982. "Business Systems Planning and Business Information Control Study: A comparisment . In: IBM Systems Journal , vol 21, no 3, 1982. p. 31-53. In this 1982 article John Zachman explains: Business Systems Planning (BSP) and Business Information Control Study (BICS) are two information system planning study methodologies that specifically employ enterprise analysis techniques in the course of their analyses. Underlying the BSP and BICS analyses are the data management problems that results in systems design approaches that optimize the management of technology at the expense of managing the data.
• ↑ 4.0 4.1 Business Systems Planning (IBM Corporation), paper 2 . Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University.
• ↑ "Enterprise Architecture Frameworks: The Fad of the Century" , Svyatoslav Kotusev, British Computer Society (BCS), July 2016
• ↑ Kotusev, Svyatoslav (2018) The Practice of Enterprise Architecture: A Modern Approach to Business and IT Alignment . Melbourne, Australia: SK Publishing.
• ↑ Goodhue, D.L., Quillard, J.A., and Rockart, J.F. (1988). Managing the Data Resource: A Contingency Perspective . In: MIS Quarterly, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 373-392.
• ↑ Lederer, A.L., and Sethi, V. (1988). The Implementation of Strategic Information Systems Planning Methodologies . In: MIS Quarterly, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 445-461.
• ↑ Lederer, A.L., and Sethi, V. (1992). Meeting the Challenges of Information Systems Planning . In: Long Range Planning, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 69-80.
• ↑ Goodhue, D.L., Kirsch, L.J., Quillard, J.A., and Wybo, M.D. (1992). Strategic Data Planning: Lessons from the Field . In: MIS Quarterly, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 11-34.
• Strategic management

• Add a new article
• Search in all topics
• Search in namespaces
• Search in categories
• Search using prefix
• About HandWiki
• How to edit
• Citation manager
• Formatting articles
• List of categories
• Recent pages
• Recent changes
• Random page
• Support & Donate
• Special pages
• Cite this page

User page tools

• What links here
• Related changes
• Printable version
• Permanent link
• Page information

Other projects

In other languages.

• This page was last edited on 2 December 2022, at 23:50.
• Privacy policy
• Disclaimers

Business system planning

Business systems planning ( BSP ) is a method of analyzing, defining and designing the information architecture of organizations. It was introduced by IBM for internal use only in 1981, although initial work on BSP began during the early 1970s. BSP was later sold to organizations. It is a complex method dealing with interconnected data, processes, strategies, aims and organizational departments.

Study authorization

Preparation, data classes, information support, management discussion, issue results, defining information architecture.

• Establishing IS development priorities

Verifying study impact

Presentation.

BSP was a new approach to IA; its goals are to:

• Understand issues and opportunities with current applications
• Develop future technology supporting the enterprise
• Provide executives with direction and a decision-making framework for IT expenditures
• Provide information systems (IS) with a developmental blueprint

The result of a BSP project is a technology roadmap aligning investments and business strategy. BSP comprises 15 steps, which are classified into three sections by function.

The essential first step in BSP is to obtain authorization for the study from management or an interested department. A number of roles must agree on the purpose and range of the study:

• Managing director
• May be a sponsor or team leader
• Verifies and approves study results
• Provides financial support
• Team leader
• Chooses team members (four to seven people)
• Coordinates activities
• Documents and implements study (usually longer than eight weeks)
• Presents results to management
• Team member
• Usually a department head
• Analyzes and determines organizational information needs
• Recommends future IS content
• Documents study
• Assists team leader

The second step is the team leader's study preparation. Its goal is to:

• Set timeframe
• Obtain documents
• Choose managers to interview
• Procure meeting and interview space
• Inform team members of:
• Organizational functions
• Organizational data-processing level

A product of this step is a lead study book with the above information, a study schedule, IT documents and diagrams.

At the first meeting of the study, the sponsor explains the purpose and expected results of the study; the team leader presents the study plan, and the IT manager describes the current state and the role of IS in the organization.

The analysis is the most important part of BSP. The team searches for an appropriate organizational structure as it defines business strategy, processes and data classes and analyzes current information support.

This step define strategic targets and how to achieve them within the organization:

• Adaptating to the customer´s desires
• Centrally-planned reservations, stock, payments
• Improvements in checking in, shipping, presentation, advertising, partner relations and stock management
• New customers
• Noise reduction
• Paperless processes
• Product-portfolio expansion
• Loss and cost reduction
• Simplifying customer order cycle
• Transport coordination
• Upgrade of production line
• Updating information

The team works from these strategic targets. Organizational units are departments of the organization. Each department is responsible for a strategic target.

There are about 40-60 business processes in an organization (depending on its size), and it is important to choose the most profitable ones and the department responsible for a particular process. Examples include:

• Contact creation
• Airplane coordination and service
• New-customer registration
• Service catalog creation
• Reservations
• Employee training

There are usually about 30–60 data classes, depending on the size of the organization. Future IS will use databases based on these classes. Examples include:

• Accommodation
• Corporation
• Purchase order
• Service catalog

The purpose of this step is to check the applications used by an organization, evaluating the importance of each to eliminate redundancy.

In the final analytical step the team discusses its results with management to confirm (or refute) assumptions, provide missing information, reveal deficiencies in the organization and establish future priorities.

All documents created during the analysis are collected, serving as a base for future information architecture. The organization classifies and dissects all identified problems; a list is made of the cause and effect of each problem, which is integrated into the future IS.

To define an organization's information architecture, it is necessary to connect the information subsystems using matrix processes and data classes to find appropriate subsystems. The organization then reorders processes according to the product (or service) life cycle.

Establishing IS-development priorities

A number of criteria (costs and development time, for example) establish the best sequence of system implementation. High-priority subsystems may be analyzed more deeply. This information is given to the sponsor, who determines which information subsystems will be developed.

An IS planning and management study should be conducted. When the organization has finished its work on processes and data classes, it should explore the functions and goals of the system with a list of requested departmental changes and a cost analysis.

Final recommendations and plans are made for the organization during this step, which encompasses information architecture, IS management and information-subsystem development and includes costs, profits and future activities.

This is the agreement of all interested parties (team, management and sponsor) on future actions.

The organization should establish specific responsibilities during the project's implementation. There is usually a controlling commission, ensuring consistency across the IS.

BSP, in addition to its value to IS planning, introduced the process view of a firm. The business process reengineering of the 1990s was built on this concept. It also demonstrated the need to separate data from its applications using it, supporting the database approach to software development methodology.

The effectiveness of BSP and other similar planning methodologies has been questioned:

• The historical analysis shows that BSP and subsequent enterprise architecture (EA) methodologies are "fundamentally flawed".
• The research concludes that "the [BSP] approach is too expensive, its benefits are too uncertain, and it is organisationally difficult to implement".
• The research concludes that "given their great expense and time consumption, [...] findings seriously challenge the utility of the [BSP and similar] planning methodologies".
• The research concludes that "in summary, strategic information systems planners are not particularly satisfied with [the BSP methodology]. After all, it requires extensive resources. [...] When the [BSP] study is complete, further analysis may be required before the plan can be executed. The execution of the plan might not be very extensive".
• The study of BSP and similar planning methodologies concludes that "the evidence [...] presented here strongly supports the need for a fundamental rethinking of IS planning methodologies".