Question 5 - BCS BAPv5 Real Exam Questions [Feb 2026 Update]

Q: 5

Bessant Co.manufactures and sells clothing. The company is every profitable and the IT director would like to invest some of these profits into improving the technical infrastructure of the company, which would help the organic growth of the company. However, the finance director would like to use the profits to acquire one of its competitors. Shelly is the business analyst on this project and she recognises that the IT and finance director do not agree on the future direction of the business. Once prefers organic growth and the other, growth by acquisition. What technique COULD Shelly use to improve her understating ot these two different perspectives?

Options

Correct Answer:

Explanation

CATWOE is a technique derived from Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) designed specifically to understand and analyze different stakeholder perspectives on a business system or problem situation. The 'W' in CATWOE stands for 'Weltanschauung' or 'worldview,' which directly addresses the conflicting perspectives of the IT and finance directors. By creating a CATWOE definition for each director's viewpoint, Shelly can formally articulate and compare their underlying beliefs and assumptions about the company's future direction. This provides a structured way to understand why they disagree and what each hopes to achieve, which is the core of the problem she faces.

Why Incorrect

B. The power/interest grid is for stakeholder classification and management, not for understanding the details of their differing perspectives.

C. SWOT analysis evaluates the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a strategy, not the underlying worldviews of the people proposing it.

D. The POPIT model analyzes the different areas of a business system impacted by change, rather than exploring conflicting stakeholder viewpoints.

References

1. Paul, D., Cadle, J., & Yeates, D. (Eds.). (2014). Business Analysis (3rd ed.). BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. In Chapter 5, 'Investigating the business situation', the text explains that CATWOE is used to help understand different stakeholders' perspectives on a business system (pp. 90-92).

2. Checkland, P. (1999). Soft Systems Methodology: A 30-Year Retrospective. John Wiley & Sons. This foundational text on SSM explains that the methodology, including CATWOE, is designed for "messy" problem situations where different actors have conflicting worldviews ('Weltanschauungen') about the purpose of a system (Chapter 2, 'The Established Form of SSM').

3. Rose, J. (2013). Soft systems methodology (SSM). In Wiley Encyclopedia of Management. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This academic source confirms that SSM and its associated techniques like CATWOE are "particularly useful in dealing with ill-structured or 'messy' problems, which involve multiple stakeholders with conflicting objectives and priorities." (Section: 'The Methodology'). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118785317.weom120149

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