1. Critical Success Factors Analysis
COM333 – IS3
Critical Success Factors Analysis

2. Information requirement analysis
Identifying the information that is needed in order to operate and mange the organisation so that the organisation can identify what IS should deliver. What IS need to developed – IS strategy

3. Determining the IS Demand
One way is to ask each area of the business their requirements.
Provide a wish list,
No genuine priorities associated with the list
No knowledge of the inherent demand in the business strategy.

4. Another way is a group charged with defining or updating the IS/IT strategy to
Absorb every written strategy statement
Interpret them into relevant IS/IT principles and CSFs, application requirements associated with major planned initiatives, and a set of supply criteria to deliver the service demanded by the business.
Issues
Strategy is not well documented all the time
Inability to feed into the development of strategy

5. The best option is to develop the IS demand parallel with the business strategy.
Feeding trends, ideas opportunities into the top level business strategy
Working closely with the areas of business in building up a set of achievable business and associated IS/IT initiatives that will deliver the targeted performance.

6. Need to obtain a profound understanding of the drivers for change, derived from
Needs and objectives
The current situation (where we are)
Articulate the situation being sought (where we want to be)
Start to propose how the gaps might be closed (how to get there).
These are achieved through a mixture of fact finding and analysis focused on the elements of the business and technical environments.

7. Determine the IS demand
SWOT CSFs Value Chain Business Model
Current and Expected Business and Technical Environments
Business Strategy
Current Status of IS/T
Determine the IS Demand
Potential Status of IS/T
IS//IT Opportunities
Proposed business initiatives
Proposed IS/IT initiatives
Impact from IS//IT
Determine the IS demand

8. Identify the components and associated information needs
Determine how IS/IT can contribute to strengthening the business’s competitive positioning
Understand the relevant organisational characteristics, SWOTs and other factors
Crystallise the essential characteristics of success in meeting the objectives stated in strategy
Identify the most important information flow through the business and across its value chain partners
Bring into focus the potential opportunities for improving the value delivered by the information
Determine the inventory of the ISs in use, in development and assess their contribution and potential.
Analysis of business strategy
Analysis of current and expected future business environment
Analysis of internal business environment
Identification of Critical Success Factors of the business
Identification and analysis of the internal and external value chain
Further value chain analysis
Evaluation of the current application portfolio

9. Critical Success Factors (CSFs)
“things must go right” (Rockart, 1979) for the business to flourish
“are those handful of things that within someone’s job must go right for the organisation to flourish. They are the factors that the manager wishes to keep a constant eye upon.” (Robson)
“An internal or external business-related result that is measurable and that will have a major influence on whether a business segment meets its goals.” (Martin)
“The limited number of areas in which results, if they are satisfactory, will ensure successful competitive performance for the organisation ... If the results in these areas are not adequate, the organisation’s efforts for the period will be less than desired.” (Rockart)

10. It can be used in number of different ways and for different purposes.
CSF analysis is a popular and powerful in IS/IT strategy planning and business planning.
It can be used in number of different ways and for different purposes.
Most effective technique in
involving the senior management in IS planning, because it is wholly rooted in business issues
and in gaining their commitment to proposed IS actions that contribute achievement in critical areas
Enables linking of candidate IS projects through CSFs to objectives
In individual interviews with senior management , it is a good catalyst in unearthing their own individual information needs
By providing a link between objectives and information requirements, the CSF can play an important role in prioritising candidate schemes
It is particularly useful in IS planning when the business strategy has not been progressed beyond objectives by focussing attention on the most critical aspects of the business that need action taken to improve their performance.
It is extremely powerful when used alongside value chain analysis in identifying the most critical processes, and enabling ownership of the CSF and is associated actions to be accurately pinpointed.

11. CSF analysis is used for the purpose of interpreting the business objectives, tactics and operational activities in terms of key information needs of the organisation and its managers, and strengths and weaknesses of the existing systems.

12. Corporative Objectives
Corporative CSFs
Business Unit Objectives
Business Unit CSFs

13. So there are five influential factors to consider
CSFs differ from industry to industry, between organisations within the same industry, and from one time period to another in the same organisation.
So there are five influential factors to consider
the industry or sector – all the organisation within one industry will share this
the competitive strategy or industry position – large players may determine these for the smaller players
environmental factors – the economy, country or politics etc
temporal factors – those are not ‘normally’ of concern but are so ‘for a time’
managerial position – CSF will vary with the level in the hierarchy.
The higher up the management triangle more likely it is that CSF will be of the building variety – tracking the progress of changes.
Lower level of management have CSFs relating to monitoring of current operations.

14. Business Unit or Function CSFs
Industry CSFs
Organisational CSFs
Business Unit or Function CSFs
Manager’s CSFs
CSFs Levels

15. Understand the mission and objectives
Determine the CSFs for each objective
Conduct a SWOT on each CSF
Develop measures
Consolidate across objectives and identify information dependencies
Result: guide for the executive information system
Result: outline plan of IS requirements

16. CSFs are needs,
They help to bridge the gap between those who can act upon information and those who can provide it.
they do not specify information systems or applications.
They identify information requirements which may be the basis of an information system.

17. CSF KD KD KD IR IR IR Identify CSF
Identify key decisions related to the CSFs KD KD KD IR IR
KDs provide bridge to the information requirements IR

18. Example
One of the objectives of an oil company is “to achieve 1% growth in market share”
Tactics
CSFs
Measures
Improve the performance across all regions at rates in excess of the industry average.
Competitive pricing
Remuneration of site managers
Distribution of sites
Company prices versus average price
Amount paid versus industry average
Proportion of top turnover sites
To improve performance in those regions which are currently under performing to match national average
Level of advertising, national and local
Site density / market size ratio
Amount spent versus industry average

19. CSFs were identified with reference to the objective and its supporting tactics.
Having determined appropriate measures, the organisation identified more activities that it needed to do to meet its CSFs
Survey prices
Review and survey salaries
Review demographics of site locations
Compare advertising expenditure against the industry average
These in turn each have information requirements and associated performance measurement activities.

20. 2 Critical success Factors
1 Business objectives
Raise shares earnings
Increase market share
Develop new business
Develop internationally
2 Critical success Factors
Create new market
Find new product
Automate factories
Develop world wide image
Improve product quality
3 information system needs
Develop customer intelligence
Install new product database
Investigate FMS
Develop profit analysis and financial control
Explore CAD link with customers
Strategy group identify and agree on the objective of the SBU
Management team interview managers, get opinions and resolve conflicts to agree. Reveal critical process and activities
Apply technology to products and process. Develop IS management support and co-ordinate and control critical activities.

21. General guidelines on CSF
CSFs are very flexible which can entice some organisations to be too casual about their use.
Casual applications can provide false results.
CSFs should used within the same precision on as formal methods
The person managing the CSF study should have a thorough understanding of the organisation’s business.
It is helpful to have a senior management champion
Educate the staff members involved in the CSF method before the actual interview
Do not link concrete information such as information needs, computer applications etc during the first round of interviews.
Try to use several management levels in order to validate the CSFs and to get a broader picture and higher organisational CSFs.

22. There are lots of derivatives of CSF analysis
All follow the top down approach
Henderson’s work on critical sets is a variant of CSF analysis.
This model suggest a three stage process can identify the IS strategy.

23. Understand the business using
Five forces model
Value chains
Identifying information needs using
Critical sets
High level data model
Ranking IS/IT opportunities
Placing onto a two by two matrix segment
Ranking is done by
Analysing the critical/key assumptions by their degree of stability and their importance to the business strategy
Then analysing the critical/key decisions by their importance to the business strategy and the scope there is for the IS/IT to enhance their decision making process

24. Critical Success Factors
Business Strategy
Feedback
Goals of Management
Critical Success Factors
CAS (Assumptions)
CIS (Information)
CDS (Decisions)
Monitor
Input
Support
EIS Analysis
MIS Analysis
DSS Analysis
CSF extended: critical information set

25. Low investment justifiable High investment justifiable
Little or no investment justifiable
Stability
Low
Low
High
Importance
Critical assumptions ranked by analysing them by their degree of stability and their importance to the business strategy

26. Low development cost justifiable High development cost justifiable
Little or no justifiable cost
Low development cost and/or higher operating cost justifiable
Scope for enhancement
Low
Low
High
Importance
Critical decisions ranked by their importance to the business strategy and the scope there is for the IS/IT to enhance their decision making process

27. Limitations
To be of value, the CSF should be easily and directly related back to the objectives of the business unit under review. From experience people found generally it loses its value when used below third level in an organisation hierarchy.
CSFs tend to be internally focused and analytical rather than creative
CSFs, partly, reflect a particular executives management style.
Needs very skilled and very perspective interviewers to do the abstracting of CSFs from senior managers
Mangers who are not really involved with strategic planning find it difficult to apply CSF analysis
It is usually impossible to build a true picture of the organisations information requirements using only CSFs.
Resultant decisions may ignore any resources constraints surrounding their management