20 Change Practice Questions & Answers

Every Change practice question from the ECBA Practice Test, with the correct answer and a short explanation.

1. An analyst is describing the current state before a payments change. Which item is an external influencer on the enterprise rather than an internal factor?
- A.The reporting rules issued by the industry regulator✓ Answer
- B.The internal policy that governs manual payment overrides
- C.The skill mix of the staff who run the payments operation
- D.The approval hierarchy used inside the payments department
External influencers are pressures that originate outside the enterprise, such as the political and regulatory environment, competitors, customers, suppliers, industry structure, technology and the wider economy. The regulator's reporting rules arise outside the organisation and it cannot change them, whereas the approval hierarchy, staff skills and internal policy are parts of the current state the organisation itself owns and can alter.
Source: BABOK Guide — Analyze Current State: external influencers versus internal factorsReport a problem with this question
2. While analysing the current state, an analyst notes that a rival has launched a cheaper service and that borrowing costs across the economy have risen sharply. Which pair of external influencer categories do these two notes belong to?
- A.Competitors and macroeconomic factors✓ Answer
- B.Suppliers and the technology environment
- C.Industry structure and direct suppliers
- D.Customers and the political environment
A rival's product launch is a competitor influence, while a change in borrowing costs across the whole economy is a macroeconomic factor. Industry structure describes how the industry as a whole is organised and how participants relate, and the supplier category covers the upstream organisations that provide inputs, so neither fits these two observations.
Source: BABOK Guide — Analyze Current State: categories of external influencersReport a problem with this question
3. A new claims system passes every test, but the claims team has never used a digital workflow and supervisors fear losing oversight of the work. What is the analyst describing?
- A.A limitation in the surrounding enterprise, caused by culture and readiness✓ Answer
- B.A delivery risk that belongs to the supplier of the new claims system
- C.A design constraint that should be added to the approved requirements baseline
- D.A limitation inside the solution, caused by a missing system capability
Enterprise limitations are the factors outside the solution that restrict the value it can deliver: culture, organisational structure, stakeholder impact and the readiness of operational assets. Because the system itself behaves as specified, the restriction lies in the surrounding organisation, not in a defect or missing capability inside the solution.
Source: BABOK Guide — Assess Enterprise Limitations: enterprise culture and operational readinessReport a problem with this question
4. Before a shared service centre goes live, an analyst is asked to look at how the change will affect the people who must work with it. Which question best fits that assessment?
- A.Whether the change alters stakeholders' daily work and what they value✓ Answer
- B.Whether the supplier contract covers support after the warranty ends
- C.Whether the solution meets every functional requirement in the baseline
- D.Whether the delivery team has the capacity to finish by the agreed date
Assessing how an enterprise limits value includes a stakeholder impact assessment, which examines the issues, risks and concerns a change raises for stakeholders and the value they perceive in their own ability to do their job. Requirement conformance, team capacity and contract terms are legitimate concerns but they do not describe the human impact of the change.
Source: BABOK Guide — Assess Enterprise Limitations: stakeholder impact assessmentReport a problem with this question
5. An analyst joining a heavily regulated initiative must decide how much documentation and review the analysis work will need. Which factors most directly shape that decision?
- A.The technical design of the system that will eventually be delivered
- B.The analyst's own preference for the documents they find easiest to write
- C.The order in which the stakeholders were first identified and listed
- D.The complexity and risk of the change and the governance the organisation requires✓ Answer
How business analysis work is planned is driven by the nature of the change itself: its complexity and risk, the approach being followed, and the governance, approvals and traceability the organisation demands. Personal writing preferences, the eventual technical design and the sequence of stakeholder identification do not determine how formal the analysis work has to be.
Source: BABOK Guide — Plan Business Analysis Approach: factors that shape formalityReport a problem with this question
6. A company decides to move customer support from phone lines to self-service. Using the core concepts of business analysis, which statement identifies the change itself?
- A.The value customers receive when their questions are answered faster
- B.The transformation the organisation makes in response to a need✓ Answer
- C.The solution the delivery team will eventually put in place
- D.The context in which the support organisation operates today
In the core concept model, change is defined as the act of transformation made in response to a need, and it is deliberately distinct from value, context and solution, each of which is a separate concept understood through its relationships to the others. Naming the transformation itself, rather than its benefit or its vehicle, is what identifies the change.
Source: BABOK Guide — Business Analysis Core Concept Model: definition of changeReport a problem with this question
7. A stakeholder requests a change to an approved requirement and the analyst is asked to assess it. Which set of considerations belongs in that assessment?
- A.The seniority of the requester and how firmly the request was made
- B.The benefit, cost, impact, schedule and urgency of the proposed change✓ Answer
- C.The technical effort alone, since the delivery team will build it
- D.The cost and schedule, the only dimensions that can be measured
A proposed change is weighed against benefit, cost, impact, schedule and urgency together, because a change that is cheap may still be damaging and one that is expensive may still be worth making. Judging the request by one dimension, or by who asked for it, produces an assessment the approver cannot rely on.
Source: BABOK Guide — Assess Requirements Changes: impact analysis dimensionsReport a problem with this question
8. A proposed change touches one requirement, and the analyst must find everything else the change would affect. What makes that search possible?
- A.The approval signatures gathered when the requirements were baselined
- B.The priority ranking applied to the requirements in the current release
- C.The glossary of business terms agreed with stakeholders at the outset
- D.The traceability links recorded between requirements and related items✓ Answer
Tracing records how a requirement relates to other requirements, designs, components and test cases, so following those links reveals what else a change would disturb. Priority rankings, approval records and a glossary are all useful, but none of them shows which other items are connected to the requirement being changed.
Source: BABOK Guide — Trace Requirements: traceability as the basis for impact analysisReport a problem with this question
9. A team working in an adaptive way receives a change request in the middle of an iteration. How is such a change normally assessed?
- A.By deferring it until the requirements baseline is next reopened
- B.Through a formal written impact assessment completed before approval
- C.By discussing it with the team and adjusting the backlog priorities✓ Answer
- D.By implementing it at once, because adaptive work welcomes change
The formality of a change assessment follows the approach being used: predictive work tends to require a fuller documented assessment before approval, while adaptive work discusses the change with the team and reflects the outcome by re-prioritising the backlog. Welcoming change does not mean skipping assessment, and an adaptive team does not wait for a baseline to be reopened.
Source: BABOK Guide — Assess Requirements Changes: assessment formality in predictive and adaptive approachesReport a problem with this question
10. A proposed change has been assessed and the designated approver has accepted part of it. What must happen next?
- A.The change is added to the next release without any further communication
- B.The decision and its reasons are documented and shared with those affected✓ Answer
- C.The analyst updates the requirement silently so the delivery team is not disturbed
- D.The requirement is reopened for further discussion with the original requester
Resolving a change is not finished when the decision is made: the outcome and the reasoning behind it are recorded and communicated to every stakeholder the change affects, so that everyone works from the same understanding of scope. Making the edit quietly leaves the team and the requester working from different versions of the truth.
Source: BABOK Guide — Assess Requirements Changes: impact resolution is documented and communicatedReport a problem with this question
11. Midway through delivery, a stakeholder asks for a report that no approved requirement covers. What is the analyst's best first action?
- A.Ask the delivery team to estimate it before anyone else is informed
- B.Tell the stakeholder that the scope is fixed and the request is refused
- C.Add it to the current iteration, because a report is quick to produce
- D.Record it as a proposed change and assess it against the approved scope✓ Answer
A request that no approved requirement covers is a proposed change, and an entry-level analyst's role is to capture it and assess it against the agreed scope so the designated decision-maker can rule on it. Accepting it, refusing it, or quietly sizing it with the team all substitute the analyst's judgement for the approval that the change route requires.
Source: BABOK Guide — Assess Requirements Changes: proposed changes and approved scopeReport a problem with this question
12. A change will alter how orders move between three departments, and the analyst must show which steps and handoffs are affected. Which technique fits best?
- A.Brainstorming with the three departments to collect improvement ideas
- B.Process modelling of the order workflow and its departmental handoffs✓ Answer
- C.Data modelling of the order entities the system stores at present
- D.A lessons learned session covering the previous order initiative
Process modelling depicts the sequence of steps, the roles performing them and the points where work passes between groups, which is exactly the view needed to see which parts of a workflow a change touches. Brainstorming generates ideas, data modelling describes stored information, and a lessons learned session looks backwards at a completed effort.
Source: BABOK Guide — Process Modelling: showing steps, roles and handoffsReport a problem with this question
13. An entry-level analyst notices that renaming one field on a form would reduce confusion for users. What is the appropriate way to proceed?
- A.Ask a developer to include it quietly in the next scheduled release
- B.Hold the idea until the initiative closes and list it as a lesson learned
- C.Make the change directly, since it is small and clearly beneficial
- D.Raise it through the agreed change route with its benefit and effort✓ Answer
At this level the analyst suggests and helps implement improvements within clear guidelines, which means routing even a small idea through the defined change path with its expected benefit and effort so the right person approves it. Small size is not an exemption: an unassessed edit bypasses the traceability and approval that keep everyone's understanding of the solution aligned.
Source: BABOK Guide — Plan Business Analysis Governance: the defined change request routeReport a problem with this question
14. An analyst records that a payment requirement can be delivered only if an identity-check requirement is delivered as well. Which traceability relationship is that?
- A.Validation, because a test case confirms the requirement is met
- B.A dependency of necessity, because one is meaningless without the other✓ Answer
- C.Derivation, because one requirement was drawn from the other one
- D.Satisfaction, because a component implements the stated requirement
A dependency of necessity exists when it only makes sense to implement one requirement if another is implemented too; the related subtype, a dependency of effort, applies when one requirement merely becomes easier if another is done first. Derivation links requirements across levels of abstraction, satisfaction links a requirement to what implements it, and validation links it to a test case.
Source: BABOK Guide — Trace Requirements: dependency relationships of necessity and effortReport a problem with this question
15. After a new process goes live, the team compares the handling time it expected with the handling time actually recorded. What is that difference called?
- A.A risk, because the difference may threaten the intended benefit
- B.An assumption, because the expected figure was set before go-live
- C.A performance variance between the expected and the actual result✓ Answer
- D.A trend, because a single measurement shows the direction of travel
A performance variance is precisely the gap between the result that was expected and the result that was observed, and identifying it is what prompts the analyst to investigate a cause. A trend cannot be read from one comparison, since it requires several observations over a sufficient period before the direction of movement is meaningful.
Source: BABOK Guide — Analyze Performance Measures: performance variancesReport a problem with this question
16. Two weeks after launch, a single weekly figure is below target and a stakeholder concludes the solution is failing. How should the analyst respond?
- A.Replace the measure with one that is currently showing better results
- B.Recommend withdrawing the solution until the figure returns to target
- C.Explain that a trend needs enough data over a long enough period✓ Answer
- D.Agree, because the first measurement after launch is the most reliable
Judging a trend requires an adequate number of observations over a long enough period, otherwise an anomaly or a settling-in effect is mistaken for a pattern. Acting on one early data point risks withdrawing a working solution, and swapping in a flattering measure destroys the comparability that makes performance analysis meaningful.
Source: BABOK Guide — Analyze Performance Measures: trends require adequate data over timeReport a problem with this question
17. Usage data for a new service has now been collected for a full quarter. What is the next step in evaluating the solution?
- A.Replace the measures with new ones chosen by the delivery team
- B.Collect a further quarter of data before any conclusion is considered
- C.Report the raw figures to stakeholders without any interpretation
- D.Interpret the measures against the value the change was meant to deliver✓ Answer
Measuring solution performance gathers the data; analysing it is the separate step that interprets those measures against the value the change was intended to deliver, along with risks, trends, accuracy and variances. Raw figures handed over without interpretation leave stakeholders no basis for deciding whether the change is working.
Source: BABOK Guide — Measure Solution Performance and Analyze Performance MeasuresReport a problem with this question
18. An entry-level analyst supporting a rollout finds that two departments have been given different go-live dates. What should the analyst do?
- A.Ask the two departments to settle a date between themselves privately
- B.Wait until one of the departments raises a formal complaint about it
- C.Raise the discrepancy with the person leading the rollout for a decision✓ Answer
- D.Decide which date is better and tell both departments what was agreed
Supporting a change under direction means surfacing conflicts promptly to the person who owns the decision, rather than resolving them personally or letting them sit until someone complains. Escalating through the defined path keeps the decision with the accountable person while still giving the teams a single, consistent message.
Source: BABOK Guide — Plan Business Analysis Governance: escalation through the defined pathReport a problem with this question
19. At the close of a delivery, the team meets to review what went well, what went badly and what could be done better next time. Which technique is being used?
- A.Lessons learned, held as a blame-free review of successes and failures✓ Answer
- B.Brainstorming, held to generate as many new ideas as the team can list
- C.Process analysis, held to redesign the workflow the team has been using
- D.Root cause analysis, held to trace a single defect back to its origin
A lessons learned session compiles successes, failures and opportunities for improvement, and it works only as a blame-free forum, because people stop contributing honestly once the discussion turns to fault. Root cause analysis targets the origin of one specific problem, process analysis improves a particular workflow, and brainstorming is about generating options rather than reviewing experience.
Source: BABOK Guide — Lessons Learned: a blame-free review of successes, failures and improvementsReport a problem with this question
20. Invoices are corrected by hand after posting every month, and a colleague proposes adding a correction screen. What should the analyst suggest instead?
- A.Measure how many invoices are corrected each month and report that
- B.Train the staff to make the corrections more quickly and consistently
- C.Investigate why the invoices are wrong before proposing any fix✓ Answer
- D.Build the correction screen, since it removes the manual workaround
Root cause analysis looks for the origin of a problem rather than its symptom, and a correction screen would industrialise the symptom while leaving the faulty invoices being produced. Training and measurement make the workaround smoother or more visible, but neither removes the source of the errors.
Source: BABOK Guide — Root Cause Analysis: addressing the origin rather than the symptomReport a problem with this question

Practice questions based on the IIBA ECBA Exam Blueprint, The Business Analysis Standard and the BABOK Guide. ECBA, IIBA and BABOK are marks of the International Institute of Business Analysis; this site is not affiliated with or endorsed by IIBA. The exam was restructured around nine domains, so older preparation material organised by the previous knowledge areas is out of date — study the current blueprint on IIBA's site. IIBA publishes no passing score, so the threshold used here is our own practice target, not an official one. Based on the IIBA ECBA Exam Blueprint

1. An analyst is describing the current state before a payments change. Which item is an external influencer on the enterprise rather than an internal factor?

2. While analysing the current state, an analyst notes that a rival has launched a cheaper service and that borrowing costs across the economy have risen sharply. Which pair of external influencer categories do these two notes belong to?

3. A new claims system passes every test, but the claims team has never used a digital workflow and supervisors fear losing oversight of the work. What is the analyst describing?

4. Before a shared service centre goes live, an analyst is asked to look at how the change will affect the people who must work with it. Which question best fits that assessment?

5. An analyst joining a heavily regulated initiative must decide how much documentation and review the analysis work will need. Which factors most directly shape that decision?

6. A company decides to move customer support from phone lines to self-service. Using the core concepts of business analysis, which statement identifies the change itself?

7. A stakeholder requests a change to an approved requirement and the analyst is asked to assess it. Which set of considerations belongs in that assessment?

8. A proposed change touches one requirement, and the analyst must find everything else the change would affect. What makes that search possible?

9. A team working in an adaptive way receives a change request in the middle of an iteration. How is such a change normally assessed?

10. A proposed change has been assessed and the designated approver has accepted part of it. What must happen next?

11. Midway through delivery, a stakeholder asks for a report that no approved requirement covers. What is the analyst's best first action?

12. A change will alter how orders move between three departments, and the analyst must show which steps and handoffs are affected. Which technique fits best?

13. An entry-level analyst notices that renaming one field on a form would reduce confusion for users. What is the appropriate way to proceed?

14. An analyst records that a payment requirement can be delivered only if an identity-check requirement is delivered as well. Which traceability relationship is that?

15. After a new process goes live, the team compares the handling time it expected with the handling time actually recorded. What is that difference called?

16. Two weeks after launch, a single weekly figure is below target and a stakeholder concludes the solution is failing. How should the analyst respond?

17. Usage data for a new service has now been collected for a full quarter. What is the next step in evaluating the solution?

18. An entry-level analyst supporting a rollout finds that two departments have been given different go-live dates. What should the analyst do?

19. At the close of a delivery, the team meets to review what went well, what went badly and what could be done better next time. Which technique is being used?

20. Invoices are corrected by hand after posting every month, and a colleague proposes adding a correction screen. What should the analyst suggest instead?