Pearson ITIL-4-Foundation New Attempt

You need to use all of your resources as effectively and efficiently as you can. This means that you should automate wherever you can, and use people only for tasks that can’t be automated. It also means that you need to think carefully about what you can automate and about the circumstances where only a person will do; and about simplifying those processes you do decide to automate to eliminate wasteful or inefficient steps.

You should always optimize the work BEFORE you automate it, as automating something that is inefficient or ineffective may just result in you doing the wrong thing faster!

The ITIL continual improvement model, which provides organizations with a structured approach to implementing improvements

In ITIL 4, the ‘improve’ value chain activity is part of the service value chain within the service value system. Its official purpose is to ensure continual improvement of products, services, and practices across all value chain activities and the four dimensions of service management.

Option A matches the core wording of this purpose:

“Ensure the continual improvement of practices across all value chain activities.”

Even though the full ITIL statement also mentions products, services, and the four dimensions of service management, this option is the only one that directly reflects the continual improvement focus of the improve activity across the value chain.

Why the other options are not correct:

B. Ensure services continually meet expectations for quality, costs, and time to marketThis is more aligned with design and transition, obtain/build, and deliver and support, which focus on planning, building, and delivering services that meet agreed requirements, costs, and time constraints.

C. Ensure a shared understanding of the improvement direction for services across the organizationThis sounds closer to guiding principles or governance, and to some aspects of service level management and continual improvement planning, but it is not the formal purpose statement of the improve value chain activity.

D. Ensure continual engagement and good relationships with all stakeholdersThis aligns strongly with the engage value chain activity, whose purpose is about understanding stakeholder needs, ensuring transparency, and maintaining relationships.

Therefore, A is the correct option because it directly reflects the official purpose of the ‘improve’ value chain activity in ITIL 4.

References (ITIL 4 Foundation):

ITIL® Foundation: ITIL 4 Edition – Service Value System, Service Value Chain – Improve activity (purpose)

ITIL® Foundation: ITIL 4 Edition – Overview of service value chain activities

Organizations maximize co-creation of value with their customers by facilitating the outcomes they want to achieve. The four dimensions of service management have shown that a holistic approach is the best way for an organization to:

Achieve its goals in delivering quality and cost effective services

Meet the needs of its customers

Satisfy the requirements of its stakeholders