BCS PC-BA-FBA-20 BCS Foundation Certificate in Business Analysis V4.1 Exam Practice Test

To identify the categories of costs and benefits described in the extract, we need to analyze the content carefully:

Extract Analysis:

" New business policies and processes will be introduced, which may temporarily reduce productivity " :

This refers to a cost associated with implementing new policies and processes.

Productivity is an intangible factor because it cannot be directly measured in monetary terms.

Category: Intangible costs .

" It will ensure our products remain in the marketplace and be the first to receive compliance certification, which will enhance our reputation as the market leader " :

This refers to a benefit related to maintaining market presence, achieving compliance, and enhancing reputation.

Reputation and market leadership are intangible factors because they are qualitative and not directly quantifiable in monetary terms.

Category: Intangible benefits .

Evaluation of Each Option:

A. Tangible costs: Tangible costs are measurable financial expenses (e.g., equipment, labor). The extract does not mention any specific financial costs. Conclusion: This is not relevant .

B. Intangible costs: The temporary reduction in productivity is an intangible cost. Conclusion: This is relevant .

C. Tangible benefits: Tangible benefits are measurable financial gains (e.g., increased revenue). The extract does not mention any specific financial benefits. Conclusion: This is not relevant .

D. Intangible benefits: Enhanced reputation and market leadership are intangible benefits. Conclusion: This is relevant .

E. Irregular costs: Irregular costs refer to one-time or infrequent expenses. The extract does not describe such costs. Conclusion: This is not relevant .

To determine which measures are appropriate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the Critical Success Factor (CSF) " provide excellent customer service, " we must first understand the relationship between CSFs and KPIs:

Critical Success Factors (CSFs): These are the essential areas or activities that an organization must excel at to achieve its goals. In this case, " provide excellent customer service " is a CSF.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): These are measurable metrics used to evaluate progress toward achieving a CSF. KPIs should directly align with the CSF and provide actionable insights.

Now, let’s evaluate each option to determine whether it is an appropriate KPI for the CSF " provide excellent customer service " :

A. The number of customers who make use of their in-room mini bar

This measure tracks customer behavior related to a specific hotel amenity (the mini bar). While it may indicate customer satisfaction with the room ' s offerings, it does not directly measure the quality of customer service.

Conclusion: This is not an appropriate KPI for the CSF " provide excellent customer service. "

B. The percentage of customers who use the leisure facilities

This measure tracks how many customers utilize the hotel ' s leisure facilities (e.g., gym, pool, spa). While it may reflect customer engagement with the hotel ' s amenities, it does not directly assess the quality of customer service.

Conclusion: This is not an appropriate KPI for the CSF " provide excellent customer service. "

C. The number of customers who complain

Customer complaints are a direct indicator of dissatisfaction and can highlight areas where customer service needs improvement. A high number of complaints suggests poor customer service, while a low number indicates better service quality.

This measure is closely aligned with the CSF " provide excellent customer service " because it provides actionable feedback on service performance.

Conclusion: This is an appropriate KPI for the CSF.

D. The percentage of customers who join the hotel loyalty scheme

Customers are more likely to join a loyalty scheme if they have had a positive experience with the hotel, including excellent customer service. This measure reflects customer satisfaction and loyalty, which are outcomes of good service.

Conclusion: This is an appropriate KPI for the CSF.

E. The percentage of customers who return

Repeat customers are a strong indicator of customer satisfaction and loyalty, which are directly influenced by the quality of customer service. If customers return to the hotel, it suggests they were satisfied with their previous experience, including the service they received.

Conclusion: This is an appropriate KPI for the CSF.

To identify the stakeholder groups represented in the scenario, we need to analyze the relationships and roles described:

Stakeholder Groups in the Scenario:

Owner: The two founders of AlpineTrails, who each own 50% of the business, are clearly stakeholders as owners. They have a vested interest in the success of the business and its partnerships.

Partner: WalkNation is described as a partner organization that collaborates with AlpineTrails to offer special holidays for its members. This partnership involves shared responsibilities (marketing and booking by WalkNation, holiday organization by AlpineTrails).

Supplier: AlpineTrails books hotels, transport, and equipment to create bespoke holidays. These entities (hotels, transport providers, equipment suppliers) are suppliers to AlpineTrails and play a critical role in delivering the holidays.

Manager: While managers may exist within AlpineTrails, they are not explicitly mentioned in the scenario. Therefore, this group is not represented.

Competitor: Competitors are not mentioned or implied in the scenario, so this group is not represented.

Evaluation of Each Option:

A. Owner: The two founders of AlpineTrails are explicitly described as owners. Conclusion: This is a relevant stakeholder group .

B. Partner: WalkNation is explicitly described as a partner. Conclusion: This is a relevant stakeholder group .

C. Supplier: Hotels, transport, and equipment providers are implicitly described as suppliers. Conclusion: This is a relevant stakeholder group .

D. Manager: Managers are not explicitly mentioned in the scenario. Conclusion: This is not a relevant stakeholder group .

E. Competitor: Competitors are not mentioned or implied in the scenario. Conclusion: This is not a relevant stakeholder group .

One of the core principles of business analysis is the continuous need for negotiation and consensus building, particularly when dealing with conflicting stakeholder perspectives and requirements. Business analysis actively seeks to negotiate and resolve these conflicts rather than avoiding them, which is a key part of establishing a shared understanding of the problem and the proposed solution. The other options contradict established BA principles: the principle is to find root causes, not symptoms (leading to superficial and ineffective solutions); to investigate and evaluate multiple options, not just solutions (ensuring the optimal change is selected); and to focus on business improvement as the driver for any necessary IT system change, not the other way around. The BA role necessitates working across competing interests to reach a successful outcome, making negotiation a fundamental principle.

(Reference: BCS Business Analysis Practice – Principles of Business Analysis / Analysing and Managing Stakeholders)

A benefits plan outlines how the anticipated benefits of a project or change initiative will be achieved, tracked, and managed. Its primary purpose is to ensure that benefits are realized as planned.

Key Considerations:

Tracking Changes to Requirements: A benefits plan focuses on benefits realization, not changes to requirements.

Quantifying Intangible Benefits: While intangible benefits may be included, the primary focus is on managing all benefits, tangible and intangible.

Tracking and Managing Benefits Realisation: The benefits plan provides a structured approach to monitor progress and ensure benefits are delivered.

Publishing to Shareholders: While stakeholders may review the plan, its primary purpose is internal management, not external communication.

Evaluation of Each Option:

A. It provides a firm basis for tracking the benefits of making changes to requirements: The benefits plan focuses on overall benefits realization, not specifically on changes to requirements. Conclusion: This is not correct .

B. It quantifies intangible benefits that could not be quantified when the business case was presented: While intangible benefits may be included, this is not the primary purpose of the plan. Conclusion: This is not correct .

C. It provides a firm basis for tracking the business benefits and managing their realisation: This accurately describes the primary purpose of a benefits plan. Conclusion: This is correct .

D. It is published to shareholders to show that their investment made will result in tangible benefits for the organisation: The benefits plan is primarily for internal use, not external reporting. Conclusion: This is not correct .

Final Recommendation:

The primary purpose of a benefits plan is:

C. It provides a firm basis for tracking the business benefits and managing their realisation.

The project sponsor owns the business justification for the change and is accountable for ensuring that the initiative delivers the intended business value. The sponsor champions the change, secures funding, provides strategic direction, resolves high-level issues, and remains focused on benefits realisation. Scheduling tasks, monitoring task progress, managing slippage, and controlling delivery against time and budget are mainly project management responsibilities. A project manager manages the delivery plan; the sponsor is concerned with whether the change produces the expected business benefits. The business case normally defines those benefits, and the sponsor is responsible for ensuring they are achieved or appropriately managed. Therefore, the sponsor’s responsibility is best represented by delivering the specific and agreed business benefits predicted in the business case.

A use case diagram is a visual representation of how users (or systems) interact with a system to achieve specific goals. Actors represent the entities (e.g., users or external systems) that expect to receive services from the system.

Key Elements of a Use Case Diagram:

Actors: Represent individuals or systems that interact with the system to achieve a goal.

System Boundaries: Define the scope of the system being modeled.

Users: While " users " may seem similar to actors, the term " actors " is the correct technical term in use case diagrams.

Entities: Entities typically refer to data objects or components, not those receiving services.

Evaluation of Each Option:

A. Actors: Actors are the correct element used to indicate those who expect to receive a service from the system. Conclusion: This is correct .

B. System boundaries: System boundaries define the scope of the system but do not represent those receiving services. Conclusion: This is not correct .

C. Users: While users may interact with the system, the correct term in use case diagrams is " actors. " Conclusion: This is not correct .

D. Entities: Entities represent data objects or components, not those receiving services. Conclusion: This is not correct .

To determine the position of the head of IT services on the power-interest grid , we need to evaluate their level of power/influence and interest in the project.

Key Considerations:

Power/Influence: The head of IT services holds a senior leadership role, which implies they have significant authority and influence over IT-related decisions and resources. This places them in the " high power " category.

Interest: Despite their authority, the head of IT services has not been actively involved in the project beyond the initial start-up interviews and has not attended any project meetings. This indicates a lack of ongoing engagement or interest in the project ' s progress.

Evaluation of Each Option:

A. High power or influence but low interest: The head of IT services has significant authority (high power) but is disengaged from the project (low interest). Conclusion: This is the correct answer .

B. Some power and influence and some interest: This option suggests moderate levels of both power and interest, which does not align with the head of IT services ' senior role and lack of involvement. Conclusion: This is not correct .

C. High power or influence and high interest: While the head of IT services has high power, their lack of attendance at project meetings indicates low interest. Conclusion: This is not correct .

D. Low power and influence but high interest: The head of IT services clearly has high power due to their senior leadership role, so this option is incorrect. Conclusion: This is not correct .

Final Recommendation:

The head of IT services occupies the position of high power or influence but low interest on the power-interest grid.

The Business Analysis Service Framework identifies services that business analysts may provide across the change lifecycle. Business acceptance testing is closely aligned with business analysis because it confirms whether the delivered solution meets business requirements and is acceptable from the business perspective. The business analyst often supports acceptance criteria, test scenario preparation, traceability from requirements to tests, and stakeholder validation. Regression testing is mainly a technical testing activity used to check that existing functionality has not been broken by changes. “Business analysis testing” is not a standard testing service, and “business user testing” is less precise than business acceptance testing. The key point is that business acceptance testing validates business fitness for purpose, not merely technical correctness. Therefore, option A is the correct BASF-specific testing service.

A mind map is used to organise ideas, information, and themes visually around a central topic. In business analysis, it helps structure early thinking, capture workshop outputs, group related concepts, and identify branches of investigation. It is especially useful when information is broad, unstructured, or exploratory. Option B describes a process model or activity diagram because flows of activities and decisions are shown using process modelling notation. Option C is closer to requirements modelling, use case modelling, product backlog decomposition, or solution architecture. Option A may be a possible outcome of analysis, but it is not the main purpose of a mind map. The key feature of a mind map is organising information into related themes and sub-themes, so option D is the best answer.

A customer journey is used to understand the experience from the customer’s point of view as they interact with an organisation, product, service, or process. It helps identify customer touchpoints, expectations, frustrations, emotions, and pain points across the end-to-end journey. Although customer journey analysis may later highlight process improvements, its most direct purpose is not internal process redesign. Value chain analysis is used to understand organisational activities that create value, not customer experience. Balancing employee and customer interactions may be a secondary consideration, but it is not the core purpose. The customer journey technique is especially useful in service improvement, digital transformation, and customer experience work because it exposes what the customer sees and feels, rather than only what the organisation’s internal process model shows.

A business process model uses swimlanes to represent different roles, departments, or systems involved in a process. Hand-offs occur when responsibility for a task is transferred from one role or department to another.

Key Considerations:

Process Flow Lines Crossing Each Other: Crossing lines do not indicate hand-offs; they simply show the sequence of tasks.

Decision Point: A decision point represents a choice or branching in the process, not a transfer of responsibility.

Task Spanning Multiple Swimlanes: A single task spanning multiple swimlanes is uncommon and does not represent a hand-off.

Process Flow Crossing Swimlanes: When a process flow crosses from one swimlane to another, it indicates that responsibility for the task has been handed off to a different role or department.

Evaluation of Each Option:

A. By process flow lines crossing each other: Crossing lines are unrelated to hand-offs and may simply indicate parallel tasks. Conclusion: This is not correct .

B. By a decision point: Decision points represent choices or conditions, not transfers of responsibility. Conclusion: This is not correct .

C. By a task spanning multiple swimlanes: Tasks typically belong to a single swimlane, so this is not a valid representation of hand-offs. Conclusion: This is not correct .

D. By the process flow crossing from one swimlane to another: This accurately represents a hand-off, as it shows the transfer of responsibility between roles or departments. Conclusion: This is correct .

Final Recommendation:

Hand-offs are represented:

D. By the process flow crossing from one swimlane to another.

A business analyst is responsible for understanding business needs, analysing problems, eliciting requirements, exploring options, and helping stakeholders define valuable change. Options A, B, and D are all normal business analysis responsibilities. The analyst investigates the business situation, identifies needs, supports option development, and uses elicitation techniques such as interviews, workshops, observation, and document analysis to understand requirements. Ensuring that projects are delivered within budget constraints is primarily a project management responsibility. A project manager controls project delivery, manages schedule, cost, resources, risks, and progress against the approved plan. The business analyst may contribute estimates or impact analysis, but they do not normally own budget delivery. Therefore, option C is least likely to be a business analyst responsibility.

The RACI chart is a technique used to clarify and document the roles and responsibilities for activities, tasks, or deliverables within a project or business process. It is an acronym that defines the four key types of involvement:

Responsible: The person or team who does the work to complete the task.

Accountable: The person who is ultimately answerable for the correct and thorough completion of the deliverable or task, and who approves the work. Only one person can be Accountable.

Consulted: The people whose opinions are sought, and with whom there is two-way communication.

Informed: The people who are kept up-to-date on progress, often only at the completion of the task or deliverable, and with whom there is only one-way communication.

The correct categories are therefore Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed.

(Reference: BCS Business Analysis Practice – Stakeholder Management, RACI Matrix)

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The concern of consumers about unnecessary packaging is an external factor that influences the organisation. The appropriate technique for systematically analysing these external macro-environmental factors is PESTLE analysis. PESTLE stands for Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal, and Environmental factors. The increasing consumer concern about packaging falls clearly under the Sociological or Environmental categories of the PESTLE framework. This technique helps the business analyst identify trends and issues arising from outside the organisation that may create a business need or risk, which then drives strategic change. The other options are incorrect: a Power/Interest grid is for stakeholder management; Boston Box (BCG Matrix) is for product portfolio management; and a Resource Audit is for internal analysis of resources.

(Reference: BCS Foundation Certificate in Business Analysis / BCS Business Analysis Practice – Strategic Analysis, External Environment Analysis)

Interviews are valuable in requirements elicitation because they allow the business analyst to explore stakeholder knowledge, experience, concerns, assumptions, and expectations through direct conversation. This is especially useful for uncovering tacit knowledge: knowledge that stakeholders possess but may not have formally documented. Through questioning and follow-up, the analyst can probe unclear points and understand motivations, constraints, and priorities. Option B describes observation, not interviewing. Option C describes workshops, which are better for group consensus and shared understanding. Option D describes surveys or questionnaires, which are better for collecting responses from a large population. Interviews are strongest where depth, context, and personal insight are required. Therefore, the key advantage is access to tacit knowledge through direct stakeholder dialogue.

The Business Analysis Service Framework (BASF) identifies core and auxiliary services that support business analysis activities. Auxiliary services supplement the core services and are essential for delivering value.

Key Considerations:

Strategic Analysis: Focuses on high-level organizational goals and strategies but is not an auxiliary service.

Stakeholder Engagement: Involves identifying, analyzing, and collaborating with stakeholders, which supports all aspects of business analysis.

Project Management: While important, project management is a separate discipline and not part of the BASF.

External Environment Analysis: Examines external factors (e.g., market trends) but is not an auxiliary service.

Evaluation of Each Option:

A. Strategic analysis: Strategic analysis is a core service, not an auxiliary service. Conclusion: This is not correct .

B. Stakeholder engagement: Stakeholder engagement is an auxiliary service that supports all business analysis activities by ensuring stakeholder needs are understood and addressed. Conclusion: This is correct .

C. Project management: Project management is outside the scope of the BASF. Conclusion: This is not correct .

D. External environment analysis: External environment analysis is a core service, not an auxiliary service. Conclusion: This is not correct .

Business processes are typically organised into a three-level hierarchy to manage complexity and provide a clear line of sight from strategy to execution. The standard levels, moving from the highest to the lowest level of detail, are:

Enterprise (or Value Chain): The highest level, showing the core business functions (e.g., " Sell Product, " " Develop Product " ).

Event-Response (or End-to-End): The mid-level, showing the process triggered by a business event and concluding with an outcome (e.g., " Handle Customer Order " ).

Actor-Task (or Detailed/Procedure): The lowest level, showing the individual steps and actions taken by the actors to complete a process (e.g., " Check stock availability, " " Package item " ).

Therefore, the three key levels that define this breakdown are Enterprise, event-response, actor-task.

(Reference: BCS Modelling Business Processes / BCS Business Analysis Practice – Business Process Hierarchy)

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One of the key principles of business analysis is to present stakeholders with options rather than prescribing a single solution. This approach ensures that stakeholders can make informed decisions based on their priorities and constraints.

Key Principles of Business Analysis:

Present Options Not Solutions: Business analysts should provide multiple viable options, allowing stakeholders to choose the best course of action.

Understand Symptoms: While understanding symptoms is important, it is part of problem analysis, not a key principle.

Focus on Requirements Definition Only: Business analysis encompasses more than just defining requirements; it includes understanding problems, analyzing options, and ensuring value delivery.

Integrate IT Changes: While integrating IT changes is valuable, it is not a universal principle of business analysis.

Evaluation of Each Option:

A. Present options not solutions: This is a fundamental principle of business analysis, emphasizing stakeholder choice. Conclusion: This is correct .

B. Understand the symptoms of the problem being defined: Understanding symptoms is part of problem analysis but not a standalone principle. Conclusion: This is not correct .

C. Focus on requirements definition only: Business analysis involves more than just requirements definition. Conclusion: This is not correct .

D. Integrate IT changes together with project requirements to improve efficiency: While integration is valuable, it is not a universal principle of business analysis. Conclusion: This is not correct .

The Project Sponsor is the senior executive or manager who owns the project, champions it, secures funding, and holds ultimate accountability for the benefits. While they are the most important stakeholder and sign off on the requirements, they are typically NOT an active, day-to-day working member of the project team responsible for executing the Requirements Engineering activities. The Project Manager (A), Business Analyst (C), and Software Tester (D) are all core, active members of the project team with specific roles in managing, defining, and validating the requirements, respectively.

(Reference: BCS Requirements Engineering – Roles in Requirements Engineering)

Critical success factors define the areas where an organisation must perform well to achieve its objectives. They are broad success areas, such as improving customer service, reducing operating costs, increasing market share, or improving product quality. Key performance indicators are measurable values used to monitor whether those success factors are being achieved. Therefore, KPIs track progress against CSFs. CSFs are not sub-targets within KPIs; the relationship works the other way around. KPIs also are not measured by CSFs because CSFs are qualitative success areas, while KPIs are measurable indicators. For example, if a CSF is “provide excellent customer service,” relevant KPIs might include complaint numbers, customer satisfaction scores, repeat customer percentage, or response times. This makes option C the correct relationship.

Design thinking is a human-centered, iterative approach used to uncover innovative solutions by focusing on user needs and exploring multiple possibilities. It emphasizes creativity, collaboration, and experimentation.

Key Characteristics of Techniques:

Design Thinking: Uses an iterative process (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test) to generate innovative options.

Fishbone Diagram: A root cause analysis tool, not focused on innovation.

Rich Pictures: A visual representation of a situation, useful for understanding context but not for generating innovative options.

Mind Maps: A brainstorming tool that organizes ideas hierarchically, but it does not inherently follow an iterative approach.

Evaluation of Each Option:

A. Design thinking: Design thinking explicitly uses an iterative approach to uncover innovative options. Conclusion: This is correct .

B. Fishbone diagram: Fishbone diagrams focus on identifying root causes, not innovation. Conclusion: This is not correct .

C. Rich pictures: Rich pictures visualize complex situations but do not inherently foster innovation. Conclusion: This is not correct .

D. Mind maps: Mind maps organize ideas but do not follow an iterative, innovative process like design thinking. Conclusion: This is not correct .

Final Recommendation:

The technique that uses an iterative approach to uncover innovative options is:

A. Design thinking.

Personas are fictional but evidence-based representations of typical users or customer groups. They help business analysts and design teams understand user goals, behaviours, needs, frustrations, and motivations. Personas are often developed from user research and can be based on generic user roles, then enriched with characteristics that make them realistic and useful for analysis. They are not equivalent to a RACI chart because RACI defines responsibility, accountability, consultation, and information responsibilities for tasks. A single real user may also perform multiple roles, so option B is too restrictive. Personas are useful in user-centred design and requirements analysis, but they are not mandatory for decision analysis. Therefore, the true statement is that personas are taken from generic user roles.

The Use Case Diagram is a conceptual model that shows the interaction between users (actors) and the required features (use cases) of the system. In an Agile context, use cases provide a high-level view of the system ' s intended functionality, which can be directly mapped to Epics and subsequently decomposed into lower-level User Stories. The use case diagram helps the team understand the scope and the user ' s interaction paths, making it an excellent visual tool for managing and breaking down the product backlog (of user stories) into manageable chunks. The other options are too technical (A, D) or focus only on object state (B).

(Reference: BCS Requirements Engineering / BCS Agile – Use Case Modelling and Product Backlog Management)

The power/interest grid helps determine the appropriate stakeholder engagement strategy. Stakeholders with high power and high interest need constant active management because they can strongly influence the change and care about the outcome. Stakeholders with high power but low interest should usually be kept satisfied or kept onside. Stakeholders with low power and low interest are normally watched or monitored with minimal effort. “Keep informed” applies to stakeholders with low power but high interest. These stakeholders care about the change and may be affected by it, but they do not have strong authority or influence over decisions. They should receive clear communication, updates, and opportunities to understand progress. Therefore, low power/influence and high interest is the correct combination.

The Business Readiness Assessment is a key activity conducted during the Implementation or Business Change Deployment stage of the project. Its primary purpose is to determine whether the target business areas, including the People, Organisation, and Processes, are sufficiently prepared to accept the business change and begin operating the new solution in the ' To Be ' state. This involves checking factors such as whether staff have been trained, new processes are documented, communication has been effective, and necessary resources are in place. This assessment informs the ' Go/No Go ' decision for the system ' s launch, ensuring a smooth transition to the new way of working.

(Reference: BCS Business Analysis Practice – Business Change Deployment, Business Readiness)

A RACI chart defines responsibility and involvement for tasks. “Responsible” identifies the person or role that performs the work. “Consulted” identifies people who provide input, advice, or specialist knowledge before or during completion of the task. If Alice is responsible for Task A and no one else is shown as consulted, the matrix indicates that Alice performs the task without formal consultation from other team members. Option A is wrong because “a lot of help” would normally be reflected by consulted or responsible roles. Option B is wrong because RACI does not show task sequence or dependencies. Option D is wrong because RACI does not rank task importance. It only clarifies roles and responsibilities. Therefore, option C is the correct conclusion.

A change strategy outlines how an organization will move from its current state to its desired future state. Its purpose is to ensure a structured and effective transition.

Key Considerations:

Ensuring the simplest way for transition: While simplicity is desirable, it is not the primary purpose of a change strategy.

Ensuring the quickest way for transition: Speed is not the main focus; effectiveness and alignment with goals are more important.

Achieving the transition between current state and future state: This accurately describes the purpose of a change strategy, which is to bridge the gap between where the organization is now and where it wants to be.

Mapping the alternative options: While mapping options may be part of the planning process, it is not the ultimate purpose of the change strategy.

Evaluation of Each Option:

A. Ensuring the simplest way for transition: Simplicity is a consideration but not the primary purpose of a change strategy. Conclusion: This is not correct .

B. Ensuring the quickest way for transition: Speed is secondary to achieving an effective and sustainable transition. Conclusion: This is not correct .

C. Achieving the transition between current state and future state: This is the core purpose of a change strategy, ensuring the organization moves effectively toward its goals. Conclusion: This is correct .

D. Mapping the alternative options: Mapping options is part of the analysis phase, not the overarching purpose of the strategy. Conclusion: This is not correct .

Final Recommendation:

The best description of the purpose of a change strategy is:

C. Achieving the transition between current state and future state.