IIBA-AAC practice questions: Strategy Horizon

5 free questions from 65 on this area · answer and explanation for each · no sign-up

These 5 questions come from the Strategy Horizon section of our IIBA-AAC bank (65 questions on this area, which carries 10% of the real exam). Every question is original, with the correct answer explained and linked to the source it is drawn from.

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1/5 · Strategy Horizon

While analyzing strategy, a team keeps optimizing one department's throughput, yet overall customer value keeps falling because hand-offs to other departments break down. Which principle of agile analysis most directly guides the team to step back and consider the entire value stream rather than a single local optimization?

AGet Real Using Examples

BSee the Whole

CThink as a Customer

DDeliver Value

Show answer & explanation

B is correct. The seven principles of agile analysis include 'See the Whole,' which reminds analysts that optimizing one component can harm overall outcomes. When local efficiency gains erode end-to-end customer value, the principle that applies is to step back and understand the whole system and its interactions.
↗ Agile Extension to the BABOK Guide v2 — Strategy Horizon

2/5 · Strategy Horizon · hard

Early in strategy work, stakeholders have already named a specific software product they want to buy, but they have not articulated the underlying need it is meant to satisfy. What risk does the Agile Extension most caution against here, and how should the analyst respond?

ADocumenting the product's features too thoroughly; the analyst should reduce documentation to save time

BAnchoring on a solution before the problem and need are understood; the analyst should first explore the problem space and the need

CChoosing an unfashionable vendor; the analyst should benchmark against competitors' tool choices

DSpending too little on the chosen product; the analyst should increase the budget to guarantee success

Show answer & explanation

B is correct. A core stance of the Strategy Horizon is to understand the business need and desired future state before committing to solutions. Naming a product first anchors the team in the solution space and risks delivering something that does not address the real problem. The analyst's job is to draw the conversation back to the problem space and the need that any solution must satisfy.
↗ Agile Extension to the BABOK Guide v2 — Strategy Horizon

3/5 · Strategy Horizon · hard

A program manager insists the team fully analyze and document the entire multi-year strategy in exhaustive detail before any initiative begins, arguing this removes uncertainty. A business analyst pushes back, noting most of that detail will be invalidated as the team learns. Which stance best reflects how the Agile Extension expects strategy to be elaborated?

AAvoid any strategic analysis and let each initiative invent its own direction

BProduce a complete, detailed multi-year strategy up front because detail eliminates uncertainty

CElaborate strategy progressively, detailing the near term enough to act while keeping the longer term lighter and adjustable as learning emerges

DFreeze the documented strategy and forbid changes for the program's duration to protect prior effort

Show answer & explanation

C is correct. The Agile Extension treats strategy as continuous and adaptive, elaborated progressively rather than in one exhaustive up-front pass. Near-term direction is detailed enough to act, while the longer horizon stays lighter and open to revision as learning emerges. Exhaustive up-front documentation generates waste and false certainty; abandoning or freezing strategy are the opposite extremes the framework also rejects.
↗ Agile Extension to the BABOK Guide v2 — Strategy Horizon

4/5 · Strategy Horizon · easy

How do the three horizons described in the Agile Extension (Strategy, Initiative, Delivery) relate to one another?

AThey apply only to large-scale programs and are irrelevant to single-team agile projects

BThey form a continuous, iterative flow in which strategic direction cascades down while delivery insights and market changes feed back upward

CThey operate independently and rarely exchange information once each is initiated

DThey occur strictly sequentially, with the Delivery Horizon ending before the Strategy Horizon can begin

Show answer & explanation

B is correct. The three horizons are not sequential phases or independent silos. They represent concurrent, overlapping perspectives connected by continuous feedback: strategic direction shapes initiatives and delivery, while insights gained from delivering value and observing market response continually inform and adjust the strategy.
↗ Agile Extension to the BABOK Guide v2 — Strategy Horizon

5/5 · Strategy Horizon · hard

While shaping the enterprise's strategic direction, a business analyst insists on incorporating direct feedback from actual customer segments rather than relying solely on internal executive assumptions about market needs. This best exemplifies which of the seven principles of agile business analysis applied at the Strategy Horizon?

AUnderstand What Is Doable

BGet Real Using Examples

CThink as a Customer

DAvoid Waste

Show answer & explanation

C is correct. The 'Think as a Customer' principle calls for grounding decisions — even at the Strategy Horizon — in the real needs and perspectives of customers rather than relying purely on internal assumptions. Insisting on direct customer feedback when shaping strategic direction is a clear application of this principle.
↗ Agile Extension to the BABOK Guide v2 — Strategy Horizon

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Other IIBA-AAC areas

The same kind of free sample for every other section of the IIBA-AAC bank:

Initiative Horizon78 q Principles of Agile Analysis79 q Delivery Horizon79 q

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