CCBA® and CBAP® Certifications Study Guide

Element 1: Business needs

What is a business need and where does it come from?

Business needs are problems and opportunities of strategic importance experienced by the organization.

They can come from different levels within the organization. Here, we consider the different perspectives or directions these needs can come from within the organization:

From the top down: These are strategic goals that have been identified and need to be achieved.

In our motor vehicle manufacturer example, the board members of the motor vehicle manufacturer have identified a need to reduce operational costs within the dealerships.

From the bottom up: This is when a problem is identified with the current state of a process, function, or system.

Using our example, ...