Business Impact Analysis Report

Business Impact Analysis Report: The Measure of Company’s Success

The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy,’ Isaac Asimov wrote. Really with the expansion of the company, the number of management levels increase and, correspondingly, the cooperation between them becomes anfractuous. The anfractuosity results in the increased paper-flow between departments. Control, quality, marketing and so on have to be specified and agreed. A pile of useless analysis reports is stored at the office; most probably they will not be ever read.

But of course there are documents, which are crucial for any company, whether it is a small one or a multinational enterprise. A business impact analysis report is one of such documents. In point of fact the business impact analysis report states the company’s results: whether it managed to reach its goals or not; whether the strategy is fulfilled or not; what has to be done in future. Thus the report generally consists of the analysis. In order to handle this complicated task, the structure of the business impact analysis report has to be clear.

The structure of the business impact analysis report

The report consists of chapters and paragraphs, their number is unique in each case. There is no single pattern for writing the business impact analysis report. Therefore all following elements are recommendations, and they can be changed if you consider so.

• SWOT-analysis. It is the abbreviation of the words: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Obviously you should concentrate on these aspects when you perform the SWOT-analysis. Perspective directions for the development, improvements are the opportunities for the company. Factors that could become obstacles for the company’s development or cause its bankruptcy are meant by the threats. In the SWOT-analysis chapter a value chain and a business process analysis are often included.
• Business market analysis. The business market analysis is an analysis of the business environment, in which the company operates. Sometimes the company is in the loss because of the situation on the market or force major. Crisis and recession in the sector, natural catastrophes, change of consumer attitude and etc. must be taken into account and analyzed in the business impact analysis report.
• Analysis of competitors. The analysis of competitive companies and possible impact of their actions is usually the topic of separate chapter. Since the company is not isolated from others on the market, it is also essential to make a forecast of competitors’ future possible actions.

Writing the business impact analysis report is a painstaking job. Mistakes, wrong conclusions and forecasts could lead to the wrong strategy choice, what in its turn could result in the loss of competitive positions. The recommendations in the article will help you to avoid these mistakes.