Contemporary Issues in Business Analysis
Overview
This unit provides students with an understanding of how the strategic and operational priorities of business inform decisions regarding how best to collate and prioritise requirements used to develop a technology solution for organisations. The unit examines the tools and techniques used by business analysts to support different project methodologies, both traditional and modern. Concepts are introduced of how the outcomes of business analysts’ documentation support the justification of Information Technology (IT) investments. The unit enables students to test their understanding of these techniques by relating it to case studies and organisations that they work for, or are familiar with.
Requisites
01-June-2025
02-November-2025
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Demonstrate coherent and advanced knowledge of business problems and position information systems analysis within complex organisational contexts
- Demonstrate advanced knowledge of the major, contemporary problem solving and project methodologies in business information systems analysis, and their application to business analysis and information analysis
- Critically analyse business analysis methodologies as the means of identifying, clarifying and defining business information requirements
- Critically evaluate tools and techniques used in organisations to support different problem solving and analytical approaches
- Communicate proficiently in professional practice to a wide range of audiences and operate as a member of leader of a team
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-campus Class | 2.00 | 12 weeks | 24 |
| Online Lecture | 1.00 | 12 weeks | 12 |
| Unspecified Activities Independent Learning | 9.50 | 12 weeks | 114 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assignment 1 | Individual | 25 - 35% | 1,2,3,4 |
| Assignment 2 | Individual | 25 - 35% | 1,2,3,4 |
| Assignment 3 | Group | 30 - 50% | 1,2,3,4,5 |
Content
- Nature of problems in organisations and the organisational context of business
- Nature of systems, and systems analysis for organisational problem solving
- Business analysis and systems development methodologies
- Tools, techniques and skills for business & information analysis: communication, recording, assessment
- Hard vs soft approaches to intervening in organisational problem contexts
- Soft Operations Research approaches, and their relevance to business and information analysis
- Sociotechnical theory and its relevance to business and information analysis
- Issues & challenges in business and information analysis, and the criticality of these initial phases to solution success
- Information as social/cultural /political symbol, plus systems development and acquisition
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.