The process view of an organization conceptualizes the business as a collection of end-to-end processes that create and deliver value. The primary driver and beneficiary of these processes is the customer. This perspective shifts the focus from internal departmental functions to the horizontal, cross-functional flow of work required to satisfy a customer's request or need. Therefore, a process-oriented view is fundamentally customer-centric, as the success of each process is measured by its ability to deliver a valuable outcome to the customer.

B. It focuses solely on the internal view of the organization.

This is incorrect. The process view explicitly considers external actors, such as customers who trigger processes and receive outputs, and suppliers who provide inputs.

C. It focuses on the functions of an organization.

This describes the traditional functional or "silo" view, which the process view directly contrasts by emphasizing cross-functional, end-to-end workflows instead of departmental activities.

D. It focuses on the organizational structure.

This describes the hierarchical view, typically represented by an organization chart. The process view is concerned with how work gets done, not the formal reporting structure.

---

1. Dumas

M.

La Rosa

M.

Mendling

J.

& Reijers

H. A. (2018). Fundamentals of Business Process Management (2nd ed.). Springer. In Chapter 1

Section 1.3

"The Process-Centered Organization

" it is stated: "In a process-centered organization... they have a customer-oriented mindset. They know who their customers are and how their work contributes to the value that these customers receive." (p. 15).

2. Hammer

M.

& Champy

J. (1993). Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution. HarperBusiness. The foundational concept of reengineering is built on redesigning business processes to achieve dramatic improvements

with a core principle being to organize around outcomes (which benefit the customer)

not tasks. (Chapter 2

"Reengineering—The Path to Change").

3. Kohlbacher

M. (2010). The effects of process orientation: a literature review. Business Process Management Journal

16(1)

135-152. https://doi.org/10.1108/14637151011017985. The paper synthesizes literature showing that process orientation is characterized by a strong customer focus

stating

"Customer focus is a central element of process-orientation." (Section: "Elements of process-orientation

" p. 138).

The 'Source' attribute in a requirements catalogue is used to identify the origin of the requirement. This is crucial for traceability, allowing analysts and developers to understand where the requirement came from. The source is typically the specific business user, stakeholder, group, or even a source document (e.g., a business case or policy document) that initiated the request. Recording the source ensures that the original requester can be consulted for clarification or during the validation process.

A. Owner: The 'Owner' is the individual or group responsible for the requirement's validation and ensuring it is met, not the person who originally requested it.

B. Justification: The 'Justification' or 'Rationale' explains why the requirement is necessary by linking it to business objectives, not who requested it.

C. Author: The 'Author' is the person who documented the requirement, which is typically the business analyst, not the business user who originated the need.

---

1. Sommerville

I. (2016). Software Engineering (10th ed.). Pearson. In Chapter 4

Section 4.5.2

"Requirements traceability

" the text emphasizes the importance of tracing requirements back to their source

which includes the stakeholders who proposed them.

2. Robertson

S.

& Robertson

J. (2012). Mastering the Requirements Process: Getting Requirements Right (3rd ed.). Addison-Wesley Professional. The widely-used Volere Requirements Specification Template

detailed in Appendix A

explicitly includes "Source" (Attribute #7) to record the originator of the requirement.

3. Pohl

K. (2010). Requirements Engineering: Fundamentals

Principles

and Techniques. Springer. In Chapter 1

Section 1.2.2

"Requirements Attributes

" the 'Source' is defined as a fundamental attribute for documenting the origin of a requirement to ensure traceability. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12578-2

4. University of Toronto

Department of Computer Science. (2020). CSC301: Introduction to Software Engineering

Lecture 3: Requirements. Course materials discuss the attributes of a good requirement

listing 'Source' as a key element for traceability to the stakeholder or document of origin. (See slide on "Documenting Requirements").

Michael Porter's Value Chain model categorizes a firm's activities into two types: primary and support. Support activities provide the infrastructure that allows the primary activities to occur. The four generic support activities are Procurement, Technology Development, Human Resource Management, and Firm Infrastructure. Option C is the only choice that lists activities belonging exclusively to this support category. These activities, such as purchasing inputs, managing personnel, and developing new technologies, underpin the entire value chain but are not directly involved in the physical creation, sale, or transfer of the product to the buyer.

A. This option incorrectly includes "service" and "marketing and sales," which are primary activities directly related to the customer.

B. This list consists entirely of primary activities (inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics) that are directly involved in creating and delivering the product.

D. This option incorrectly includes "service," which is a primary activity focused on enhancing or maintaining the product's value after sale.

1. Porter

M. E. (1985). Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. Free Press. In Chapter 2

"The Value Chain and Competitive Advantage

" Porter defines the support activities as procurement

technology development

human resource management

and firm infrastructure (pp. 40-45).

2. MIT OpenCourseWare. (2006). 15.902 Strategic Management I

Fall 2006. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Session 5 Lecture Notes

"Industry Analysis II: The Value Chain

" explicitly diagrams and lists Procurement

Technology Development

Human Resource Management

and Firm Infrastructure as the four support activities. (Available at: ocw.mit.edu).

A mind map is a visual diagram used to organize information around a central subject. It is an effective tool for documenting the outcomes of a workshop because it can capture and structure ideas, discussion points, decisions, and their relationships in a non-linear, graphical manner. This visual representation helps stakeholders understand the connections between different elements discussed and provides a clear, consolidated summary of the workshop's results, making it an excellent documentation technique for collaborative sessions.

B. Brainwriting: This is a technique for silent and parallel idea generation during a workshop, not a method for documenting the final, consolidated outcomes.

C. Round-robin: This is a facilitation technique used during a workshop to elicit contributions from all participants sequentially, not a tool for documenting the overall results.

D. Stepwise refinement: This is a top-down design strategy used in software engineering to break down a system into detailed components; it is not a workshop documentation method.

1. de Oliveira

O. H. B.

de Oliveira

T. C.

& do Prado Leite

J. C. S. (2009). Using Mind Maps to Elicit and Model Crosscutting Requirements. In Proceedings of the 2009 ACM Symposium on Applied Computing (pp. 599–600). Association for Computing Machinery. This paper explicitly discusses the use of mind maps as a tool to "support the elicitation and modeling of requirements

" demonstrating its role in capturing and structuring information from elicitation activities like workshops. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/1529282.1529411)

2. Pohl

K. (2010). Requirements Engineering: Fundamentals

Principles

and Techniques. Springer Publishing. In Chapter 6

Section 6.3.2 "Creativity Techniques

" mind mapping is described as a technique for structuring thoughts and ideas

which is central to documenting workshop outputs. In contrast

techniques like brainwriting are categorized purely for idea generation.

3. University of Calgary

Schulich School of Engineering. (n.d.). SENG 471: Software Requirements Engineering

Lecture 6 - Elicitation. Courseware. Slide 21

"Brainstorming

" presents mind mapping as a method to organize ideas generated during brainstorming sessions

which are a core component of many workshops. It distinguishes this from idea generation techniques themselves.

The elements listed—description, impact assessment, probability, and countermeasures—are the core components of risk analysis and management. A risk is an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on a project's objectives. These components are systematically recorded in a risk register or risk log to track, analyze, and plan responses to potential threats and opportunities throughout a project's lifecycle.

A. Requirements define a need or objective to be fulfilled. While they are described, they are not events with an associated probability or countermeasures.

C. Stakeholders are individuals or groups with an interest in the project. Their influence and impact are analyzed, but they are not risks themselves.

D. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are quantifiable measures used to track progress toward a goal. They are metrics, not uncertain events requiring countermeasures.

1. Source: MIT OpenCourseWare

Course 1.040 Project Management

Fall 2006.

Reference: Lecture 15: Risk Management

Slide 11 ("Risk Register"). The slide outlines the typical columns in a risk register

which include "Risk Description

" "Probability

" "Impact

" and "Mitigation/Contingency Plan" (which are countermeasures).

Link: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/1-040-project-management-fall-2006/resources/15riskmgmt/

2. Source: University of Washington

Professional & Continuing Education

Course: Project Management.

Reference: The course curriculum on "Project Risk Management" details the process of identifying risks and creating a risk register. It specifies that each risk entry should include a description

probability

impact

and a response plan (countermeasure).

Link: (Content is generally available through course materials

but the principles are outlined in public descriptions) https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/project-management

3. Source: Chapman

C.

& Ward

S. (2004). Why is project risk management important? A B C D of an effective framework for the effective management of project risk. International Journal of Project Management

22(8)

653-663.

Reference: Section 3

"A framework for the effective management of project risk

" discusses the essential steps

including risk identification (description)

risk assessment (quantifying probability and impact)

and planning risk responses (countermeasures).

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2004.08.007

The diagram uses Crow's Foot notation to represent the relationship between entities. The symbols at the end of the relationship line indicate cardinality and modality. The notation on the Order side is a circle followed by a crow's foot (O>--), which represents "zero or many". Reading the relationship from the Customer entity to the Order entity, this means a single Customer can be associated with zero or many Orders. Therefore, the statement "A customer may place many orders" correctly interprets this one-to-many relationship. The notation on the Customer side (||) indicates that an Order must be associated with "one and only one" Customer.

A. An order may be placed by many customers.

This is incorrect. The "one and only one" symbol (||) on the Customer side of the relationship dictates that each order must be linked to exactly one customer.

C. A customer may never place an order.

This statement is technically true because of the "zero" optionality (O), but it is an incomplete description of the business rule. It only addresses the optionality, not the "many" cardinality, making option B a more comprehensive answer.

D. An order need not be placed by a customer.

This is incorrect. The mandatory "one and only one" symbol (||) on the Customer side explicitly states that an order must be placed by a customer to exist.

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1. Coronel

C.

& Morris

S. (2019). Database Systems: Design

Implementation

and Management (13th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Section 4.3.3

"Connectivity and Cardinality": This section details the use of Crow's Foot notation. It explains that the crow's foot symbol represents the "many" side of a relationship

and the circle represents an optional relationship (zero). The combination (O>--) is explicitly defined as "zero or many". The double bar (||) is defined as "one and only one" (mandatory single).

2. Gillenson

M. L. (2011). Fundamentals of Database Management Systems (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

Chapter 3

"The Entity-Relationship Model"

Figure 3.13 "The Symbols Used in the Crow’s Foot Notation": This figure provides a clear legend for all Crow's Foot symbols. It shows that a circle represents "zero

" a single bar represents "one

" and the crow's foot represents "many." The combination of these symbols defines the minimum and maximum cardinality

confirming that O>-- means a minimum of zero and a maximum of many.

3. James Madison University

College of Integrated Science and Engineering. (n.d.). ERD Symbols and Meanings.

CS 350 Course Material: This university resource provides a table of ERD symbols. It defines the notation O>-- as representing "zero or many" and || as "one and only one

" which directly supports the interpretation of the relationship in the question. (Available via university courseware portals).

A rich picture is a free-form diagramming technique originating from Soft Systems Methodology (SSM). Its primary purpose is to capture the complexities of a problematic business situation in a holistic and unstructured way. It allows the business analyst to represent not only the processes and structures ('hard' facts) but also the human and social elements such as concerns, relationships, conflicts, and culture ('soft' facts). This makes it the most suitable tool among the choices for documenting the diverse range of issues that are typically uncovered during the initial investigation of a business situation, before any formal analysis or modeling is undertaken.

B. The 'to be' process model: This diagram illustrates a proposed future state of a business process. It is a solution-oriented model, not a tool for documenting existing problems.

C. The business activity model: This is a conceptual model that defines the essential activities required to fulfill a specific business perspective, not a tool for capturing existing issues.

D. The use case diagram: This UML diagram describes the functional requirements of a system by showing interactions between users (actors) and the system, not broad business problems.

1. Checkland

P.

& Poulter

J. (2006). Learning for Action: A Short Definitive Account of Soft Systems Methodology and its use for Practitioners

Teachers and Students. Wiley. In Chapter 2

the authors describe the rich picture as a key part of "finding out about the problem situation

" emphasizing its role in capturing the situation's complexity

including conflicts and issues

before it is formally defined.

2. The Open University. (2019). Diagramming for development/Diagrams for thinking. In TB871: Mastering systems thinking in practice. Section 5.1

"Rich Pictures

" states: "A rich picture is a way to explore the issues in a problematic situation... It should try to represent the 'soft' as well as the 'hard' aspects of the situation

that is

the human and cultural aspects as well as the structures and processes."

3. Avison

D.

& Wood-Harper

T. (1990). Multiview: An Exploration in Information Systems Development. McGraw-Hill. In the discussion of Soft Systems Methodology (Chapter 4)

the rich picture is presented as the primary tool for the initial "problem situation unstructured" stage

used specifically to gather and represent diverse viewpoints and issues from stakeholders.

The activity described is a classic example of gap analysis. A Business Activity Model (BAM) represents a conceptual, "to-be" or ideal state of the business activities required to achieve a specific objective or perspective. The "current business situation" represents the "as-is" state. By comparing the two, a business analyst identifies the differences, or "gaps," between the required activities and the activities that are actually being performed. This analysis is fundamental for identifying areas that need change, improvement, or development to align the current operations with the desired future state.

A. Conceptual modelling: This is the process of creating the Business Activity Model (BAM) itself, not the subsequent act of comparing it to the current situation.

B. Analysing perspective: This is a preliminary step in Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) where the analyst understands a stakeholder's worldview (Weltanschauung) to formulate a root definition, which then informs the BAM.

D. Defining CATWOE: This is a mnemonic technique (Customers, Actors, Transformation, etc.) used to structure thinking and create a robust "root definition" before building the conceptual model (BAM).

1. Paul

D.

Cadle

J.

& Yeates

D. (2014). Business Analysis (3rd ed.). BCS

The Chartered Institute for IT.

Section 10.2

"The purpose of gap analysis

" states: "Gap analysis is used to compare two sets of data... A common use of gap analysis is to compare a ‘current’ or ‘as is’ state with a ‘future’ or ‘to be’ state." The BAM serves as the 'to be' model for this comparison against the 'as is' current situation.

2. Checkland

P. (1999). Soft Systems Methodology: A 30-Year Retrospective. John Wiley & Sons.

Chapter 2

"The Established Form of SSM

" describes the seven-stage model. Stage 5 is the "Comparison of conceptual models with reality." The text explains this stage involves comparing the models (BAMs from Stage 4) with the real-world situation (from Stage 2) to find differences and spark debate about change. This comparison is the essence of gap analysis in the SSM context.

3. The Open University. (2019). T849 Systems thinking in practice: 4.2 The seven-stage model. OpenLearn.

In the description of Stage 5

it states: "The purpose of the comparison is to generate a debate with concerned people in the situation about possible changes which might be made to improve the situation... The comparison between the model and the 'real world' is the point in SSM at which the intuitive perception of the problem situation and the rational

explicit

systems model of a purposeful activity system are brought together." This act of bringing together the model (BAM) and the real world to find differences is gap analysis.

An avoided cost is an expense that would have been incurred if a particular course of action were not taken. In this scenario, the IT department has a mandatory, required expenditure of $2 million for a hardware upgrade if they continue with their current operating system. By choosing the alternative proposal—switching to a new operating system—the company will no longer need to spend that $2 million. Therefore, the $2 million is the "avoided cost" associated with the director's proposal. This avoided cost is treated as a financial benefit when evaluating the business case for the new project.

B. $4 million is the incremental cost of the new proposal ($6 million - $2 million), not the cost that was avoided.

C. $6 million is the total cost of the new project itself, representing a new expenditure, not an avoided one.

D. $8 million is the irrelevant sum of both figures and does not represent any standard financial metric in this context.

1. Garrison

R. H.

Noreen

E. W.

& Brewer

P. C. (2021). Managerial Accounting (17th ed.). McGraw-Hill. In Chapter 13

"Relevant Costs for Decision Making

" the concept of an "avoidable cost" is defined as a cost that can be eliminated by choosing one alternative over another. The $2 million upgrade is a cost that is eliminated by choosing the alternative

fitting this definition.

2. University of California

Office of the President. (2016). Cost Benefit Analysis Guidelines. Page 10

Section "Identify and Monetize Benefits." The guide states

"Benefits are the positive outcomes of a project... Benefits can include... cost avoidance (e.g.

avoiding the need to hire more staff by automating a process)." The $2 million hardware cost is a future expense that is avoided by implementing the new system.

3. Boardman

A. E.

Greenberg

D. H.

Vining

A. R.

& Weimer

D. L. (2018). Cost-Benefit Analysis: Concepts and Practice (5th ed.). Cambridge University Press. Chapter 2

"The Foundations of Cost-Benefit Analysis

" explains that the benefits of a project are the value of its outputs

which can include costs that are now avoided. The framework for CBA involves comparing a "with-project" world to a "without-project" world. In the "without-project" world

the $2 million cost is incurred.

The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is a fundamental metric in financial analysis and capital budgeting. By definition, the IRR is the specific discount rate at which the Net Present Value (NPV) of a series of cash flows (both inflows and outflows) equals zero. When a business case states that the IRR has been calculated, it means this break-even discount rate has been identified. Therefore, the statement that the Net Present Value is zero is inherently true at the point of the IRR. This rate is then compared to a company's required rate of return or cost of capital to decide whether to accept or reject the project.

A. The Net Present Value is not known.

Incorrect. The NPV is explicitly known to be zero at the IRR, as this is the core definition of the IRR calculation.

B. The DCF Rate is not known.

Incorrect. The IRR is the specific Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) rate that makes the project's NPV equal to zero.

D. The DCF Rate is Zero.

Incorrect. The IRR is the calculated DCF rate, which is a percentage representing the project's return; it is rarely, if ever, zero.

1. Brealey

R. A.

Myers

S. C.

& Allen

F. (2020). Principles of Corporate Finance (13th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education. In Chapter 5

Section 5-2

"The Internal Rate of Return Rule

" the text states

"The internal rate of return (IRR) is defined as the rate of discount that makes NPV = 0."

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (2009). 15.401 Finance Theory I

Fall 2008. MIT OpenCourseWare. In "Lecture 3: The NPV Rule and its Competitors

" the lecture notes define IRR as "the discount rate that sets NPV to zero."

3. Berk

J.

& DeMarzo

P. (2017). Corporate Finance (4th ed.). Pearson. In Chapter 7

Section 7.3

"The Internal Rate of Return Rule

" the IRR is defined as "the interest rate that sets the net present value of the cash flows equal to zero."