What to do when a business case is denied

by Nicki Carruth | Oct 11, 2022 | Business Case Assurance

When we sink precious hours, expertise and effort into a piece of work only for it to be knocked back, it’s hard to take. In the world of project and programme portfolio management, business cases for new investments are one such artefact that goes through a process of intense review and either acceptance or not. The business case requires considerable research, consultation and writing. It’s therefore in the best interest of everyone involved for business cases to reach the presentation stage with the best chance of success.

In this article, we’re going to talk about those situations where a business case gets knocked back – at any stage – and offer some advice for the next steps to take.

Take the time to learn why decision-makers have said no

So you’ve submitted a business case, it’s been considered and the decision makers have decided not to progress with the initiative. Don’t fall into the assumption of believing that’s the end of the line. At this point it’s incumbent on you to find out the reasons why the business case wasn’t a green light – the reasons can vary wildly and each of these reasons come with a level of ability to be addressed in a follow up business case submission.

Once the business case has been turned down, it’s likely there will be some high-level feedback as to why it doesn’t meet the threshold for acceptance. You and the team working on the business case may find you have to do some further digging into the reasons why. This may require a number of meetings and written correspondence. An organisation with good governance around projects and business cases should have a formal process for providing feedback so that learnings can be shared and in some cases, changes made for resubmission.

Some good initial questions to ask of decision-makers are:

Was the proposed activity simply not a high priority but otherwise valid in its approach and outcomes?
Is there concern over the budget required to deliver this project?
What was missing from the business case in your view?
What would you change in the approach?
Are there specific parts in the business case that, if different, would have resulted in approval?

Relationship Between Programmes and Projects IQANZ

Determine if the business case has the opportunity to be accepted

With more intel around the reasons for the business case failing to gain acceptance, you should be able to determine if the initiative ends here or indeed requires some adjustments before putting it back to the decision makers. It’s absolutely crucial that you get confirmation that approval is a possibility before sinking more time into the business case. At this stage the business will be aware of the effort and time expended, so making refinements for a version two will need to be done so with the right approval and support.

Run the business case through the five case model

At this stage it’s a good idea to do a full review of the business case with fresh eyes and the feedback gained from the leadership team. Here you can start to identify the areas where a stronger case could be made. One of the most useful reference points is the five case model, popular with the NZ public sector via Treasury’s guidelines, the Better Business Cases™ model.

The five case model explores some key areas of a business case, and while designed more for the public sector, there are plenty of useful tips that could be applied to the private sector. In the five case model, you can reference the business case against some important considerations from the strategic alignment of the proposed investment to the logistics around management and delivery.

Run through the five case model and make a note of any omissions your own denied business case has. Then work on a version 2 draft where these are addressed.

Engage more key stakeholders to fill gaps

Oftentimes business cases that get turned down are a result of not having a complete picture of the organisation and variables at play that would make a project feasible or not. It can be hard in a large business to know where these blind spots exist. If the proposal was unsuccessful through the lack of information or context, make a point of consulting with stakeholders who can provide that missing input.

Stakeholders such as leads of business units, are more likely to provide valuable contributions to a business case if they can connect the outcomes to their own work and area of the business. These additions from stakeholders can also serve as advocacy for the business case itself.

Even if there are not written sections provided by stakeholders, their insight into risks, other activities and resources can prove invaluable when reworking the approach. Ideally this due diligence is done prior to submitting the case in the first instance, but it’s definitely worthwhile spending time with more stakeholders in the follow up.

Consider rescoping the business case to meet financial and resource constraints

If the business case was a no go due to budget or people restrictions, it can be very hard to influence change quickly in these areas. Large programmes may have more sway here, but those are likely to involve leadership team members closely in the discovery and business case phase anyway.

For typical projects that are denied due to these issues, you’ll need to reimagine the scope to fit within the suggested budget and resource capabilities. This may require you to break up the business case / project into a number of smaller projects and spread them across a longer period of time – achieving the same outcome ultimately.

As this rework is done, we’d suggest liaising with the financial and operations teams to make sure the revised business case takes into account all the moving parts here.

Clearly address the concerns or feedback in version 2 – and hold decision makers to account

When you’re submitting a business case for the second time, the last thing you want to end up doing is not addressing the feedback provided initially. This will show a lack of understanding around the issues and may halt an otherwise good project opportunity completely.

Within the business case version 2, ensure that every piece of feedback is expressly stated and consequently addressed somewhere in the document. This may require a new summary section that covers the issues and introduces the changes made accordingly.

It’s important to note that the feedback may come verbally, in emails, or annotated against the original business case document. You’ll need to compile this and may even benefit from circulating the feedback in isolation back to the decision makers to confirm it’s all captured. From there, you can address it in the follow up. This process doesn’t just ensure you make the right changes, but it holds leadership to account for their feedback. If you’ve fully addressed the issues and had indication that there’s still potential for the investment to be made, you need this reference point to help approval be granted.

Give your business case the best chance at success

We help organisations with developing business cases by providing our assurance services. We can help identify and fill gaps in an existing business case to help it align with the expectations of decision makers. If you’ve had challenges with your business case, Chat to our team to learn more about how we approach business case assurance.