Explanation

Composing a compelling business case requires the proposer to write in the language of the approvers. Generally, approvers are business executives or important shareholders whose major interest is the profitability of the firm. Business case proposer may embed the following contents:

- Return on investment: according to Investopedia, Return on Investment (ROI) is a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or compare the efficiency of a number of different investments. ROI tries to directly measure the amount of return on a particular investment, relative to the investment’s cost. A business case would seem more attractive if the proposal is expected to have high ROI.

- Time to market: Time-to-market (TTM) refers to the time from which a company initially con-ceives a product or service idea to the point when the actual product or service is accessible to buyers in the market (Afonso et al., 2008). The speed at which companies can introduce products into the market is critical for sustaining competitive advantage, and the reduction of product development cycle time has become a strategic objective for many technology-driven firms.

- Customer satisfaction: Keeping existing customer to stay in the business can affect greatly on the profit margin of a firm. A new proposal that finds the way to innovate while keeping the current customers satisfied may gain the interest of senior management.

- Improving productivity: Productivity is the measure of how efficient and effective a firm is. Im-proving the productivity means that with the same or lesser input, better output is generated. In-creasing productivity also improves the profitability of a company.

- Risk management: Any business activity contains inherent risks. For example, for a mining company to be truly responsible, it must keep all of its workers safe, healthy and motivated, meet the expectations of the local community and government for the region in which it is operating, ensure it impacts on the environment positively if at all, as well as achieve the financial objectives set by its investors for both the short and long term. Managing risks well improves the production throughput and maintains customer satisfaction.

In the scenario, Robert is trying to convince the senior management to adopt e-procurement system by insisting on potential productivity improvement. This is the right approach. A business plan should engage and please senior management and directors. An appealing business case tells them how important things to the business (such as productivity, return on investment, customer satisfaction or costs) are affected by the plan.

Explanation

A responsibility assignment matrix[1] (RAM), also known as RACI matrix[2] (/ˈreɪsi/) or linear responsibility chart[3] (LRC), describes the participation by various roles in complet-ing tasks or deliverables for a project or business process. RACI is an acronym derived from the four key responsibilities most typically used: responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed.[4] It is used for clarifying and defining roles and responsibilities in cross-functional or departmental projects and processes.[5] There are a number of alternatives to the RACI model.

Role distinction[edit]

There is a distinction between a role and individually identified people: a role is a descriptor of an associated set of tasks; may be performed by many people; and one person can perform many roles. For example, an organization may have ten people who can perform the role of project manager, although traditionally each project only has one project manager at any one time; and a person who is able to perform the role of project manager may also be able to perform the role of business analyst and tester.

R = Responsible (also recommender)Those who do the work to complete the task.[6] There is at least one role with a participation type of responsible, although others can be delegated to assist in the work required (see also RASCI below for separately identifying those who participate in a sup-porting role).

A = Accountable (also approver or final approving authority)The one ultimately answerable for the correct and thorough completion of the deliverable or task, the one who ensures the prerequi-sites of the task are met and who delegates the work to those responsible.[6] In other words, an accountable must sign off (approve) work that responsible provides. There must be only one accountable specified for each task or deliverable.[7]

C = Consulted (sometimes consultant or counsel)Those whose opinions are sought, typical-ly subject-matter experts; and with whom there is two-way communication.[6]

I = Informed (also informee)Those who are kept up-to-date on progress, often only on completion of the task or deliverable; and with whom there is just one-way communication.[6]

Very often the role that is accountable for a task or deliverable may also be responsible for com-pleting it (indicated on the matrix by the task or deliverable having a role accountable for it, but no role responsible for its completion, i.e. it is implied). Outside of this exception, it is generally recommended that each role in the project or process for each task receive, at most, just one of the participation types. Where more than one participation type is shown, this generally implies that participation has not yet been fully resolved, which can impede the value of this technique in clarifying the participation of each role on each task.

Explanation

The Performance Specifications define what the system being designed must do, and not how it must do it. In this step a list of needs and wants should be created. The needs are customer requirements, while the wants are engineering desires. If a buyer adopts performance specification, the supplier will be free to choose how to make and deliver the product.

A technical specification document outlines how you’re going to address a technical problem by designing and building a solution for it.

A design specification is a detailed document providing a list of points regarding a product or pro-cess. For example, the design specification could include required dimensions, environmental fac-tors, ergonomic factors, aesthetic factors, maintenance that will be needed, etc. It may also give specific examples of how the design should be executed, helping others work properly (a guideline for what the person should do).

With conformance specification the buyer says what they want and how they want it and the supplier has to meet this

Explanation

Printing and office supplies are often considered as low risk, low value items. Consolidation low value, low risk items into a broader range will dramatically increases the value of the contract and leverage of buying organisation in the negotiation.