Better Business Cases: celebrating 10 years and 20,000 exams

We’re delighted to be celebrating a pair of major milestones for our Better Business Cases training and certification program. In just ten years since we launched the program, over 20,000 exams have now been completed.

The learning and certification process equips participants with best practice knowledge and expertise for the effective development and review of business cases and investment proposals.

Huge sums of money are invested in projects, programmes and change initiatives across all sectors and industries. Business cases or spending proposals typically act as the catalyst for change and investment.

There’s no shortage of research available that points to alarmingly high rates of project failure, with many failures attributed to poor scoping and investment decisions. The cost of failure can be huge; think money invested in the initiative, results/outputs not delivered, reputational damage and impacts on related projects/programmes.

Without a carefully developed, carefully scrutinized business case or investment proposal, projects, programmes and other major change initiatives are at risk of failure (time, scope, cost, benefits realization, etc.) if the business case fails to accurately scope the initiative. Whilst this is applicable to projects in any sector or industry, it’s perhaps more vital in the public sector where taxpayer funds are at stake.

Creating effective business cases and spending proposals is therefore critical to securing funding, management buy-in, and ensuring initiatives are setup to succeed and deliver the intended outcomes and benefits. Accordingly, it’s vital that individuals involved in the development and review of business cases and investment proposals are able to develop their capabilities.

Better Business Cases training and certification are underpinned by The Green Book – guidance issued by HM Treasury and the Welsh Government on how to appraise policies, programmes and projects. It also provides guidance on the design and use of monitoring and evaluation before, during and after implementation.

Refined and tested over many years, it provides a clear framework for thinking about spending proposals and a structured process for appraising, developing and planning to deliver best value for money.

At the heart of the guidance is the Five Case Model which aims to address five fundamental questions concerning decisions to invest:

• The strategic case: Is there a compelling case for change?
• The economic case: Does the preferred investment option optimize value for money?
• The commercial case: Is the proposed deal commercially viable?
• The financial case: Is the spending proposal affordable?
• The management case: How can the proposal be delivered successfully?

The Five Case Model provides the framework and tools to enable effective decision-making when scoping and planning spending proposals in a robust and thorough manner and can be used at strategic, programme and individual project levels.

The model provides a step-by-step guide to developing a business case that:

• Establishes a clear need for intervention (a case for change).
• Sets clear objectives in terms of return on investment.
• Considers a wide range of potential solutions ensuring an optimal balance of benefits, cost and risks.
• Sets out arrangements to ensure successful delivery of the proposal.

Click here for more information and to download the HM Treasury Green Book and supporting project and programme management guidance.

Working with HM Treasury and the Welsh Government, APMG launched the Better Business Cases accredited training and certification program in 2013.

Individuals attending training courses learn how to apply the Green Book guidance and Five Case Model, enabling the effective development and review of business cases and spending proposals that give initiatives a greater chance of success.

>> VIEW/DOWNLOAD: Better Business Cases training and certification infographic

Organizations and departments adopting this proven approach can expect a reduction in unnecessary spending and improved decision-making processes, whilst project teams have a greater chance of securing necessary funding and support for change initiatives.

The guidance and training/certification program are well established in the public sector. More recently we’re seeing ever-increasing numbers of private sector enterprises adopting the guidance and their employees undergoing training.

As part of our campaign to celebrate these major Better Business Cases milestones, we conducted a survey of Better Business Cases training and certification candidates to seek their feedback.

Responses were overwhelmingly positive. Here are a few standout results: 

• When asked if individuals involved in the development and scrutiny of business cases/investment proposals should consider Better Business Cases training and certification to boost their ability, over 98% of respondents selected "Strongly Agree" or "Agree".
• Over 97% of respondents felt the learning/certification experience has enhanced their ability to develop and/or scrutinize business cases and investment proposals.
• Over 96% of respondents said the learning/certification experience equipped them with skills and knowledge they could apply immediately.

For more, click here for our blog reviewing the survey findings.