Business Case Information

Synthesis - drawing together information to build a business case. 

For DuPont, the business case of sustainability lies in it being a growth engine. Sustainability is the driver of innovations, both technical and in delivery to the market. Finding solutions to global societal needs, such as access to clean energy, safe food, shelter, and information, presents new business opportunities for DuPont and the industry. 

In pursuing investment to start a business, one needs a business plan, ideally in a nice glossy brochure, with revenue projections. When the promised revenues look enticingly large, some qualitative justification may suffice in the form of a succinct lists of driving factors, the value propositions, and the key benefits of the particular approach taken. With that in mind, let us review the business case for information technology based medicine. 

Note that in defining the system one should be careful not to use overly commercial language. The safety case is not the place to extol the virtues of efficiency gains, improved productivity, return on investment, etc. These are all important facets of product management, the business case and marketing but in the safety case these factors could be perceived as being an ill-informed means of justifying the clinical risk. Any text which is reused from other materials should have subjective elements removed so that a plain and factual system description is articulated. 

The commercial/business case for the project given the information available at that point... 

For further information on the business case for better health and safety management see www.hse.gov.uk. This site also contains up to date information on current legislation as well as guidelines for best practice in the construction industry. 

The virtual (intangible) encounter with and electronic based structure, which is often visually connected via its internal or external business Web site—in both cases information flows from customer to business, and business responds sourcing relevant, allowable (non-sensitive), correct information... 

Ron Craig is professor of business in the Operations and Decision Sciences area of the School of Business Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada). His research interests cover small business and information systems he has published several articles and cases in these areas. 

Risk assessments are carried out for each site when changes occur and every 5 years even with no changes. The crane business requires that a lifting plan be made for each time lifting is done. All safety-related requests from the client are also noted and considered in the individual lifts. So far Havator has not encountered any major accidents and internal research has always been enough when accidents do occur. All investigations are documented and most of them have to do with the Nordic climate, e.g., snow and ice-related slips and falls. Hazardous incidents are also reported and presented in the meetings of the safety committee. In serious cases, information is spread and preventive actions are taken. Some of the cases are... 

Since different stakeholder groups have different expectations and different information requirements about the corporate sustainability , it is essential to investigate the practical ways that corporations can best implement its initiatives to promote the corporate sustainability with respect to their many target stakeholders. For example, Kujala (2010) in the Finnish study concluded that in order to enforce corporate responsibility, it should be possible to assure managers that there is a business case for stakeholder inclusion, and that stakeholder collaboration can create business models that are beneficial for all parties the corporation and its owners, other stakeholders and society as a whole. 

Focus on business needs before technology implementation. When a firm introduces CRM without a clear connection to its business needs, it falls into a trap. The salespeople do not populate the database with the required customer information and other functions struggle to get data into a usable form for their needs. To be successful, the company must take the time to present the compelling business case behind the CRM effort and clearly articulate to the sales and service people involved in execution how the improved methodology will help them in the execution of their work. With the business needs identified and the objectives tied to personal benefits, the technology or software can be installed in a way that will assist the people and make more money for everyone. Without these ingredients, most efforts fail. 

Karat, C.-M. A Business Case Approach to Usability Cost Justification. In Bias, R., Mayhew, D. (eds.) Cost-Justifying Usability, pp. 45-70. Academic Press, London (1994) Klein, H.K., Myers, M.D. A Set of Principles for Conducting and Evaluating Interpretive Field Studies in Information Systems. MIS Quarterly 23(1), 67-94 (1999)... 

Creating a team charter and identifying the key personnel who will champion (mentor) the project ensures that the problem statement is clearly defined, problem/defect definitions are developed and that a written charter and deliverables for the project are established (The Process Improvement Notebook,TQLO Publication No. 97-01, n.d.). Team charters include the business case analysis such as problem and goal statements (injury and/or damage reduction), project scope,bench-marks/milestones, and the roles and responsibilities of the team. One key element in the team charter is a plan for communicating information to leadership team on the status of each stage of the project (Waddick, n.d.). 

While accident investigations may have their negative side, there are far more positive aspects, and it is an often overlooked tool for reducing future losses and for cutting costs in the workplace. Accident investigation is a means of determining the obvious and direct causes and costs of an accident, but, even more importantly, it seeks to find the hidden and indirect causes and costs as well. (See the Business Case for Safety chapter of this manual for more information on injury costs.)... 

The company seeking to toll internationally in this case will benefit from selecting an experienced team of reviewers with international experience. Tollers seeking business from foreign companies would benefit by recognizing these new aspects may present difficulties when their capabilities are being assessed. The candidate tollers could prepare information in advance that helps respond to these potential concerns. 

Management buy-in for the PSM system depends on how clearly executives understand how the system supports corporate goals and business strategies. It is your job to make these correlations, as you did in your initial selling (Chapter 2). The difference is that you now have more tangible information to support your case. 

Don t violate confidentiality during a referral. Be careful not to allow information about your client to be accessible to people who have no business with that information. One way to inadvertently violate confidentiality is to leave a phone message that may be picked up by a secretary rather than by the professional for which it was intended. Another way is to informally contact an insurance provider to check on benefits. Yet another way is to discuss the case in public places. Consider whether the information being shared has the capacity to find its way to unintended hands, eyes, or ears. If so, then modify the way you are sharing the information. 

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