Online Discussion

Business Case and Investment Governance: What It Actually Takes to Get Capability Investment Approved and Keep It Approved

What would it take to build a capability investment case that finance actually finds credible — one that gets approved, stays approved, and holds the programme accountable to what it promised?

Oct 21, 2026 15:00
16:00
BST
·
Online (MS Teams)
For senior supply chain leaders only
How this meeting works
  • Practitioner-led working session
  • No pitches
  • Small-group, facilitated discussion
  • Works best when you can engage actively
  • Chatham House Rule
  • Limited places to preserve quality

Suggested Discussion Points

  • What makes capability investment cases structurally difficult for finance — and what a CFO actually needs to recommend approval
  • How to build the resilience business case when benefits are probabilistic and the value is in events that don't happen
  • What it means to treat a business case as a living document rather than an approval artefact
  • How to agree shared accountability for value realisation with vendors and internal stakeholders before commitment
  • What cost categories are consistently underestimated and how to account for them without losing board appetite

Discussion Host(s)

To be confirmed.

Discussion Co-Host(s)

To be confirmed.

Moderator(s)

To be confirmed.

Why this session exists

The cycle is familiar: an ambitious investment case gets approved on the strength of projected benefits, the programme scope expands, hidden costs emerge, and by the time anyone looks back at the original case it is no longer recognisable. Each failed or disappointing cycle makes the next case harder to land.

This session examines what makes capability investment cases structurally difficult for finance to approve, how to build a case that accounts for the costs that reliably get missed, and what shared accountability for value realisation looks like when it is agreed before commitment rather than retrospectively.

What you'll leave with

  • A clearer understanding of what makes capability investment cases structurally different from other capital investment decisions
  • Peer perspective on what has and hasn't worked when making the case to finance and the board
  • Practical approaches to building a living business case that holds investment logic integrity across a multi-year programme
  • A sharper view of how to structure shared accountability for value realisation before commitment rather than after

Who this meeting is for

This meeting is designed for people working through real operational and innovation decisions, rather than those seeking presentations or general inspiration.

Who for

  • Supply chain leaders building or preparing to defend an investment case for capability improvement
  • Transformation leaders who have had a business case rejected or diluted and want to understand why
  • Directors and VPs who need to translate capability investment into language that resonates with the CFO or board

Who not for

  • Teams primarily looking for technology demonstrations or vendor comparisons
  • Anyone seeking a passive, webinar-style session rather than a peer discussion

How the online session works

Each session is designed as an online equivalent of a small, in-room roundtable discussion — not a passive, webinar-style presentation.

The format adapts to the topic and the experience in the room:

  • Where participants already have strong knowledge, we typically start by inviting individuals to expand on specific points they have shared in advance. This helps surface real-world context quickly and anchors the discussion in practical experience.
  • Where the topic is less familiar or more specialised, we may begin with a short explainer to establish a shared baseline before opening up the discussion.

To support productive dialogue, we often invite a subject-matter expert to join the session. This may be someone from a vendor, consultancy, or independent background — sometimes from within the community, sometimes external.

Their role is not to pitch or present a solution. Instead, they listen carefully to the discussion and reflect back:

  • how similar challenges have been approached in comparable organisations
  • what has worked (and what hasn’t) in practice
  • concrete examples that help translate discussion into action

This balance is deliberate. Without it, sessions can drift into abstract debate or problem-sharing. With it, discussions stay grounded and participants leave with tangible ideas they can apply in their own context.

The emphasis throughout is on shared learning, practical insight, and forward progress, rather than polished presentations or predetermined answers.

What happens next

Participation is confirmed through a short, staged process designed to ensure a good fit and a productive discussion for everyone in the room.

Step 1: Register interest

You start by entering your details and answering a short set of questions about your current context and the decisions on your radar.

Step 2: We sense-check fit and composition

We may follow up to clarify a few details. This is about making sure the discussion works for everyone in the room.

Step 3: You receive a personal invitation

Once confirmed, you will receive a personal invitation with the session agenda, who else will be joining, and clear joining instructions.