Business Analysis Notes

Systems thinking

Goal Trees

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In short Rakitov and co-authors make one rule central to analytical work: begin any study of an economic, social or organizational issue by building a goal tree. Their version has three linked planes (the client’s goals, the analyst’s goals, and the goals of outside players), and it pairs with a clear statement of what exactly the study focuses on.

Based on: A. I. Rakitov et al., Systems Analysis and Analytical Research: A Guide for Professional Analysts (in Russian), sections 2.2–2.3.

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Key ideas#

Goals and tasks#

The authors see no difference in kind between a goal and a task, but find the distinction useful. A goal is an idea of the desired result. A task is a goal made fully concrete: exact resources, firm deadlines, defined operations. A goal counts as reached when all the tasks that make it up are done.

Three planes of goals#

In a technical project the goal tree usually has two levels: goals of design and goals of delivery. The goal tree of an analytical study is built in three connected planes:

  1. Management plane — the goals and tasks of the client, usually senior management.
  2. Analysis plane — the analyst’s own goal tree, subordinate to the management plane.
  3. External-actors plane — organizations and people the client cooperates or competes with. They are not passive objects of study; they have goals of their own.

Links between the planes describe the whole information cycle. Management assigns work to analysts. Analysts gather information from the external plane. Analysts return draft decisions to management. The external plane reacts.

The tree grows downward#

The tree starts from the main goal and its branches (sub-goals, then tasks) grow down from it, not up from a pile of activities. In a stable system the tree changes little. In a developing one it needs constant revision, and so do the analyst’s own goals.

Structure or activity: object and focus#

An analyst can study the structure of an organization (for example, a bank’s divisions) or the activity it performs (the same bank’s lending and investment). These are different systems that need different tools, and the research task decides which one you take. The authors formalize this as the difference between the object of research, everything you are studying in general, and its subject, the specific aspect or process in focus. For scoping, ask not only “what are we studying?” but “which part of it is this piece of work about?”

How to apply it#

  1. Write the client’s main goal at the top of the management plane, in their words, and break it down into sub-goals and tasks.
  2. Draft your own analysis tree. Every analysis goal should trace up to a management goal; drop or challenge any that do not.
  3. List the external actors (suppliers, competitors, regulators, key customers) and write down what each is trying to achieve.
  4. Draw the links: what you are asked for, where you collect information, what you hand back, and how outside actors might react.
  5. Turn the lowest goals into tasks with resources, deadlines and named operations.
  6. State the object and the focus of the study in one sentence each, and put both in the scope statement.
  7. Review the tree whenever the client’s situation changes.

Example#

The Workshop’s owner wants to “raise revenue per shop by getting more repairs through each week”.

  • Management plane: more repairs per mechanic-day; fewer customers lost to waiting; better parts availability.
  • Analysis plane: measure current turnaround by repair type; find where jobs wait; assess booking demand by day and hour; estimate the effect of online booking. Each item traces to a management goal. A proposed study of shop interior design does not, so it is dropped.
  • External-actors plane: the parts supplier wants larger, less frequent orders; a competing chain is opening nearby; customers want certainty about pick-up time. The supplier’s goal conflicts with the owner’s wish for faster parts, which becomes a key question.
  • Object and focus: the object is the chain of 12 workshops. The focus is the process from booking to pick-up for standard repairs.

Pitfalls#

  • Building the tree bottom-up from activities you already planned → start from the main goal.
  • Letting the analysis tree drift from the client’s goals → trace every analysis goal upward.
  • Treating competitors and suppliers as background → map their goals; they will act on them.
  • Scoping by “object” only → name the specific focus as well.

Sources and further reading#

  • A. I. Rakitov, D. A. Bondyaev, I. B. Romanov, S. V. Egerev, A. Yu. Shcherbakov. Systems Analysis and Analytical Research: A Guide for Professional Analysts (in Russian). Moscow, 2009, sections 2.2 and 2.3.