Strategy
Business Capability
Plain English
What a business is able to do.
Definition
A business glossaryCapabilityCapability refers to an organisation’s ability to perform a specific function or deliver a particular outcome.Open glossary term is an ability an organisation needs to achieve its goals.
In practice
Examples include customer glossaryServiceA service is a component or function that performs a specific task within a system.Open glossary term, glossaryDataData is raw, uninterpreted information collected and stored so it can be analysed, processed, or used to inform decisions. On its own it carries no meaning; context and interpretation are what make it useful.Open glossary term analysis, or glossaryProduct DeliveryProduct delivery is the work of turning a decided idea into a released, working product, covering building, testing, and shipping. It assumes the question of what to build has already been answered elsewhere.Open glossary term.
In context
It is the stable layer to plan against. glossarySystemA system is a collection of interconnected components that work together to achieve a specific function or outcome.Open glossary term and org charts change every few years; the need to onboard a customer does not.
The reality
glossaryCapabilityCapability refers to an organisation’s ability to perform a specific function or deliver a particular outcome.Open glossary term are often poorly defined or not aligned with glossaryStrategyStrategy is a high-level plan that defines long-term goals and the approach to achieving them.Open glossary term.
Compared with
Business Capability vs Process
A glossaryCapabilityCapability refers to an organisation’s ability to perform a specific function or deliver a particular outcome.Open glossary term is what the organisation can do. A glossaryProcessA process is a defined sequence of steps used to achieve a specific outcome.Open glossary term is one way of doing it. Capabilities are durable and useful for planning; processes are implementations and should be expected to change.
FAQ
Common questions
A few practical answers to the questions that usually come up around this term.
What is a business capability?
It is an ability a business needs to operate or succeed.
Why are capabilities important?
They define what a business can achieve.
How are capabilities used?
To plan and structure operations.
What happens with poor capabilities?
The business struggles to deliver effectively.
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