Decision Making and Business Analysis Masterclass

Week 1

• ​The principles of decision making
  • The standard decision-making model
  • The decision-making spectrum
  • Townsend’s rules
  • The RAPID model
    • Recommend
    • Agree
    • Perform
    • Input
    • Decide
• Using data for better and informed decisions
  • Lewin’s force field analysis of support and opposition
    • Supporting forces
    • Restricting forces
  • Scenario analysis and charting possible futures
    • Risk factor
    • Cost factor
  • Mapping stakeholders’ reactions 
  • Level of stakeholder power
  • Level of stakeholder interest
  • Dealing with the politics of decisions
• Risk-based decision making
  • Risk impact/probability chart
    • The two primary dimensions
      • Probability
      • Impact
    • Creating the chart using excel
    • Decision tree analysis
  • Decision points
  • Chance points
  • Application exercise
• Financial literacy for decision makers
  • Capital budgeting and cost of capital
  • Accounting Rate of Return (ARR)
  • Payback Period (PP)
  • Net Present Value (NPV)
  • Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
• Implementing your decisions successfully
  • Round’s Trap model
    • Task
    • Resources
    • Arithmetic
    • Priorities
  • Shewhart’s PDCA model
    • Plan
    • Do
    • Check
    • Act
  • Lessons learned

Week 2

• Business analysis overview
  • Business analysis scope of work
  • Your role as an internal consultant
  • Active data gathering
  • Generating creative solutions
  • Intelligence versus creativity
  • Choosing between alternatives
• Thinking strategically
  • The three big strategic questions
  • Key elements of a successful strategy
  • Strategy and the quest for competitive advantage
  • Porter's 5 forces impact Potential Industry Earnings (PIE)
  • Creating and capturing value
  • Conducting SWOT analysis
  • Fundamentals of PEDESTL framework
• Structuring problems
  • The importance of structuring problems
  • Defining the right issue
  • Dividing issues into manageable parts
  • The use of logic trees in problem solving
  • Prioritizing and planning
  • Eliminating non-essential issues
  • Prioritization methodologies
  • Building an effective work plan
• Conducting analyses
  • Getting the right data
  • Types of research
  • Primary research development
  • Secondary research development
  • Data analysis
• Communicating and presenting
  • Turning data into findings
  • Building effective arguments
  • Communicating findings by telling a 'story'
  • Story telling elements
  • Designing powerful presentations
  • Presenting to senior management