Steps and theories towards more effective business case processes within existing organisations: an inter-disciplinary systematic literature review

Abstract

PurposeBusiness case (BC) analyses are performed in many different business fields, to create a report on the feasibility and competitive advantage of an intervention within an existing organisation to secure commitment from management to invest. However, most BC research papers on decisions regarding internal funding are either based on anecdotal insights, on analyses of standards from practice, or focused on very specific BC calculations for a certain project, investment or field. A clear BC process method is missing.Design/methodology/approachThis paper aims to describe the results of a systematic literature review of 52 BC papers that report on further conceptualisation of what a BC process should behold.FindingsSynthesis of the findings has led to a BC definition and composition of a 20 step BC process method. In addition, 29 relevant theories are identified to tackle the main challenges of BC analyses in future studies to make them more effective. This supports further theoretical development of academic BC research and provides a tool for BC processes in practice.Originality/valueAlthough there is substantial scientific research on BCs, there was not much theoretical development nor a general stepwise method to perform the most optimal BC analysis.