A benefit dependency network (BDN) is a diagram of cause and effect relationships. It is drawn according to a specific structure that visualizes multiple cause-effect relationships organized into capabilities, changes and benefits. It can be considered a business-oriented method of what engineers would call

goal modeling A goal model is an element of requirements engineering that may also be used more widely in business analysis. Related elements include stakeholder analysis, context analysis, and scenarios, among other business and technical areas. Principles Go ...

and is usually read from right to left to provide a one-page overview of how a business generates value, starting with the high level drivers for change, such as found with Digital Initiatives or cross-organizational ERP management. First proposed by Cranfield School of Management as part of a Benefits Management approach the original model has developed to encompass all the domains required for Benefits Management A look at existing methods by Torsten Langner, LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/look-existing-methods-torsten-langner namely Why, What, Who and How. Recent development has added weights to the connections to create a

weighted graph This is a glossary of graph theory. Graph theory is the study of graphs, systems of nodes or vertices connected in pairs by lines or edges. Symbols A B ...

so that causal analysis, sometimes referred to as

causality Causality (also referred to as causation, or cause and effect) is influence by which one event, process, state, or object (''a'' ''cause'') contributes to the production of another event, process, state, or object (an ''effect'') where the cau ...

, is possible on the represented

value chain A value chain is a progression of activities that a firm operating in a specific industry performs in order to deliver a valuable product (i.e., good and/or service) to the end customer. The concept comes through business management and was firs ...

s so different strategies can be compared according to value and outcome. These chains provide a way to construct a compelling story or message that shows how the benefits proposed can be realized from the changes being considered. In software engineering, Jabbari et al. report the use of BDN for the purpose of software process improvement. They use BDN to structure the results of a systematic review on DevOps.

References

{{Reflist Value (ethics) Causal diagrams Information technology management