What is the purpose of stakeholder analysis in business analysis?

The purpose of stakeholder analysis in business analysis is to identify and assess the influence and interest of stakeholders. This process involves recognizing all parties involved or impacted by a project and understanding their expectations, requirements, and potential influence on project outcomes.

By conducting this analysis, a business analyst can prioritize stakeholders based on how much they can impact the project's success and how much they are affected by it. This helps in strategic decision-making, enabling effective communication and engagement strategies tailored to each stakeholder group. Understanding both the interest and influence allows the project team to mitigate risks, gain support, and ensure that the project's objectives align with stakeholders' needs and concerns.

The other options do not accurately reflect the core purpose of stakeholder analysis. While assessing profitability, defining timelines, and conducting competitor analysis are important tasks within business analysis, they do not focus specifically on the identification and evaluation of stakeholders or their impact on projects.