BCS Foundation Certificate in Business Change

The course is for those candidates who are wishing to follow the individual topic in detail, or for those who are from other disciplines, including business domains, and are interested in the subject.

Candidates who pass this qualification will be able to demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the underlying principles and philosophies of Business Change, including those that relate to business and IS strategy, business improvement definition, designing and implementing business change, and business change management. They should also have an appreciation of the key techniques that can be employed to support the business change life-cycle. The syllabus reflects general and well-established best practice for business change work.

Photographic evidence is a must for this exam and failure to produce one may result in the candidate not being allowed to sit the exam. BCS allows extra time for the differently abled candidates and those who have a native language different from that of the examination.

Business and IT Alignment

Objective: To understand the importance of aligning the organisation with external and internal influences and the approaches to do this.

• The external and internal business environments for organisations Organisational cultures
• National cultures
• The implications of culture for business change projects
• Corporate and IT governance and the relevance to benefits management and risk management
• Elements of an Enterprise Architecture

Business Improvement Definition

Objective: to understand the business analysis approach and techniques used to identify business improvements.

• Investigating the business situation: rationale and techniques
• Holistic approach and systems thinking
• Gap analysis: purpose and approach
• Business requirements elicitation and approach
• The contents of the business case
• Stakeholder responsibilities and the business case
• The business case lifecycle
• Programme definition

Business Change Design

Objective: to design the inter-related elements required to implement successful business change.

• Aspects of organisational change
• Aspects of people change
• Aspects of process change
• Information analysis and modelling
• Aspects of information technology

Business Change Implementation

Objective: to understand the processes that should be employed to deploy business change effectively.

• Planning the acquisition, deployment and acceptance
• Acquiring the solution
• Deploying the solution
• Ensuring acceptance
• Reviewing the change

Benefits Management and Realisation

Objective: to manage the classification, review and realisation of benefits.

• Benefits Measurement in the business change lifecycle
• Classifying benefits
• Investment appraisal techniques
• Benefits and the Balanced Business Scorecard, CSFs and KPIs
• Roles and responsibilities in benefits management
• The purpose, conduct and outcomes of a benefit review
• Benefits realisation: purpose and challenges.

Format of the Examination

• Type: 40 Question Multiple Choice
• Duration: 1 hour
• Supervised/Invigilated: Yes
• Open Book: No
• Delivery: Paper based examination only

Related Certifications

This course forms part of the following certification: The BCS International Diploma in Business Analysis

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