Which statement most accurately describes the relationship between the service value chain activities and value streams?
ITIL 4 Foundation, objective 5. The service value chain hard
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The options
Correct Value streams are specific combinations of value chain activities, and different value streams combine the same activities in different sequences
Correct. The value chain is an operating model, not a pipeline. Each value stream selects and orders activities to suit its scenario, and an activity may be visited more than once or omitted.
Not correct The six activities always execute in the fixed order plan, improve, engage, design and transition, obtain/build, deliver and support
No such fixed order exists. Listing the activities is not the same as sequencing them; the flexibility to recombine them is the whole point of the model.
Not correct Each value stream maps to exactly one value chain activity, so the organization has six value streams
An organization can define many value streams, each drawing on several activities. There is no one-to-one mapping and no fixed count.
Not correct ITIL defines a standard set of value streams that every organization adopts unchanged
ITIL defines the six value chain activities, not the value streams. Each organization designs its own value streams for its own scenarios, which is exactly why the same activities appear in different combinations.
Why
The service value chain is a flexible operating model. Its six activities are combined into value streams — specific sequences of activities for a given scenario, such as handling a user request or developing a new product — and different streams use different combinations and orders. This is why the model is drawn as interconnected activities rather than a linear chain of stages.
Where this comes from
- Cited
- ITIL 4 syllabus clause 5.1
- What it says
- Value chain activities are combined into value streams; different streams combine the activities in different sequences rather than a fixed order.
Practise this
Reading one question is not practice. The trainer will draw a set from objective 5 and space the ones you get wrong.