What document defines the business needs, identifies key stakeholders, and describes the positive impact the solution will provide on the key stakeholders?

When is stakeholder analysis performed?

Which of the following documents is described in the statement below?
"It is a type of procurement document used to request proposals from prospective sellers of products or services."

You are the business analyst for a large project in your organization. While your company prefers face-to-face communications there are many stakeholders located in different geographical locations. How can you still effectively serve as a business analyst when the stakeholders are not collocated?

A local manufacturer that serves about 1000 retail stores is experiencing a slow yet steady decrease of its customer base over the last couple of years. Attributing the situation to increased competition, management has hired a team of sales representatives to attract new clients and promote the manufacturer's products. However, after four months there is still no progress. Management has engaged a business analyst (BA) to investigate this issue.
What should the BA do first?