Organization Analysis

The business analyst needs to understand how a business is structured and how that structure contributes (or hinders) the attainment of the business goals and objectives.  In addition to analyzing the organizational hierarchy, it is important to assess the business culture and the "sub-cultures" in each organizational "silo".

That are many different organizational models used.  Some businesses adopt a very flat structure while others have many organizational levels.  Some organizations are centralized and are modeled around key business functions.  Others are organized geographically.  Matrix organizations are also popular.

The business analyst needs to be sensitive to the people assigned to each role in the organization.  An organization is its people and each person has different motivations.  Sometimes a person's motivation is well aligned with the goals and objectives or the businesses.  In other cases, the two can be at odds.

The education, skills and experience of each individual will also determine how well a person contributes to the organization's goals and objectives.  In a perfect world, all people are well suited to their jobs and contribute more than they receive in benefit.  In the real world, however, some individuals manage to rise to the level of their incompetence and become "weak links". The business analyst is in a unique position to find the "stars" and "weak links" in an organization.

The stars are frequently often the ones most supportive of business analysis initiatives, the ones most willing to share information and the ones most willing to accept change.