Chapter 5 DEVELOPING A BUSINESS CASE AND A DATA QUALITY ROAD MAP 69 As an example, let's say the national tax collection agency (in the United States that is the Internal Revenue Service) has built a business case for the investment of a large amount of money to reengineer its software systems, using an expected increase in tax collections as the business justification. The ROI model suggests that building a more modern application system will result in greater collections. The improved system may account for more precision in calculating and collecting taxes, but in reality the amount of taxes collected depends on more than just the computer application. A downturn in the economy might result in more people out of work, legislation may mandate a freeze on the minimum wage or lower the tax rates, or natural disasters may result in migratory populations that are difficult to track down and contact. In essence, justifying the creation of a new application system based on increased collections ignores the fact that the expected performance results depend on a number of other variables beyond the organization's control. 5.2 Developing the Business Case