Business Analysis and Consulting Practices

Overview

This unit develops advanced capabilities in business analysis and consulting within complex organisational environments. It focuses on how professionals identify, structure, and address business problems through effective stakeholder engagement, requirements analysis, and solution design. Drawing on recognised frameworks such as Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK), students will apply consulting approaches to analyse organisational contexts, manage competing stakeholder interests, and support change initiatives. The unit emphasises communication, facilitation, and advisory skills, enabling students to develop and present evidence-based recommendations that create value and support organisational transformation. The unit also considers consulting practice in digital and AI-enabled contexts, including ethical decision-making and the integration of business analysis with AI-driven solutions and organisational change.

Unit learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

1. Analyse and conduct advanced requirements analysis in complex and ambiguous organisational contexts.
2. Collaborate within teams to design and facilitate stakeholder engagement activities, including workshops, negotiations, and conflict resolution in organisational contexts.
3. Apply consulting frameworks and evidence-based inquiry to structure problems and develop defensible solution options.
4. Analyse organisational readiness for change and design appropriate interventions in digital and AI-enabled contexts.
5. Communicate and present evidence-based recommendations professionally to diverse stakeholders in organisational environments.

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Assessment

Content

• Business analysis frameworks and practices (e.g., BABOK)
• Advanced requirements elicitation and analysis
• Stakeholder identification, engagement, and conflict management
• Consulting frameworks and structured problem-solving
• Value proposition design and solution articulation
• Organisational change and readiness assessment
• Business analysis in digital and AI-enabled contexts 
• Operating model design for digital and AI-enabled organisations
• Consulting ethics and decision-making in complex organisational environments