Lesson 5.1 — What is a Business Case? Purpose, Structure & EAFIP Fit
What is a Business Case? Purpose, Structure & EAFIP Fit
Use this visual foundation to understand why a business case is needed, where it fits in the innovation-procurement pathway and which evidence management needs before approving an investment.
Why build a business case?
A business case converts procurement intent into a management decision. It brings together evidence on the problem, available solutions, expected value, affordability and risk so that decision-makers can approve, revise, defer or stop the proposed investment.
Jozef KubinecInnovation procurement practitioner and INPROCAP trainer. Introduces the business-case framework and connects it with the EAFIP preparation pathway.
What you will learn
- Explain the management purpose of a business case
- Locate business-case development after needs, SOTA and OMC evidence
- Frame the core cost-benefit question
- Describe the financial and strategic cost of doing nothing
- Use status-quo evidence as the baseline for comparison
The business case is an evidence gate
It consolidates evidence from earlier preparation steps and converts it into a management decision.
Start with the status quo—not the proposed solution
A credible business case first establishes what happens without intervention. Otherwise, future benefits have no defensible comparison point.
Do-nothing is not cost-free: model how cost, performance and risk are likely to change over the same period used for the investment option.
Key terms
| Business case | A structured justification used to support a management investment decision. |
|---|---|
| CBA | Cost-Benefit Analysis: systematic comparison of expected costs and benefits. |
| Baseline | The measured status quo against which the proposed change is assessed. |
| Do-nothing scenario | The future cost, risk and performance expected if no intervention is made. |
Core question
Are the financial, operational, social and strategic benefits worth the full investment, effort and risk?
Before you continue
Foundation check: What evidence would your management need before accepting that “doing nothing” is more costly or risky than acting?
Optional resource: S5-L1 — concise foundation slides explaining the management purpose, EAFIP evidence chain, baseline and do-nothing scenario. No video is required for this lesson.
