Business Intelligence Issues - Example

Business Intelligence Customer Inserts His/Her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 21st October, 2015. Executive Summary The process of developing and implementing and developing business intelligence dashboard for an organization involves various activities. These activities include the utilization of data from internal and external sources. In the process of designing the dashboard it is imperative to ensure proper data collection and verification is undertaken. Since an appropriate dashboard considers factors such as accuracy, virility, efficiency and performance. Consequently, data used in the design of a dashboard are sourced from different areas such internal data from Samsung or external data from customer surveys. Data utilized in the design had to be accurate and verified through a rigorous process. Dashboard design process was fraught with several challenges emanating from the data utilized in its design. Challenges such as inaccurate data, lack of proper planning and compatibility issues in relation to data format. Moreover, the utilization of this data was meant for use by different users including designers and production team based at the Samsung headquarters. These challenges could be significantly reduced due to proper planning within the use and analysis of data. For instance, future work with BI tools or applications should consider use of accurate and verifiable data. Real time data from trusted sources ensure easy planning and manipulation of data through these BI tools and applications. Challenges The process of developing the dashboard for use within the Samsung network involves the collection of data from numerous sources. Samsung is a huge company with a huge product range. As a result, the process of data collection involved searching the company’s internal and external sources and thus this proved challenging. Moreover, the process was fraught with technical and procedural conditions that affect the design the dashboard. The dashboard design and implementation process relies heavily on data to ensure proper mapping and development (Rud 2012). In the case of Samsung, the company utilizes its research and development (R&D team) in sourcing for requirements and other prerequisites to be utilized in the development of its products. Therefore, all data that has to be utilized has to be accurate, up to date and focus on its products. Therefore in the design of the dashboard, we encountered several challenges such as; a) Design of the survey to be utilized in the sourcing the data was challenging due to limited production data. b) The process of implementing the survey took due to selection of participants and collection of data or results to be used in the study. c) Unwilling participants and collection of unfinished questionnaires contributed to poor results for the survey. d) Time constraints since data had to be collected from different departments and regions for a conglomerate (Samsung) and other participants for external data. e) Data accuracy for modelling within the BI applications and tools f) Complexity in utilizing BI applications and tools Types of Users The data collected from the company focussed on updating the company’s production process by ensuring proper data is collected in the process of designing and enhancing the company’s systems. For instance, the use of survey from the company’s customers in sourcing for external data was undertaken in order to collect views on features or systems that need to be included in development of new products. An external survey has be capability of soliciting views and requirements from customers or individuals on data concerning production processes at Samsung. As a result, data collected through the use of BIA tools shall be intended for; a) Designers: Production data postulates that all units shall eventually meet consumer demand and as a result, it is imperative for BI data to be utilized for the purpose of designing innovative products (Biere 2013). b) Production managers: Data collected point towards a certain trend which could be utilized by production managers in forecasting and planning activities for the company. c) Sales & marketing teams: Sales depend on the demand and supply which relies heavily on production data. As a result, this team could use this data in planning and implementing sales strategy (Moss 2014). All these users are decision makers and impact the activities related to production within the organization. BI users are usually made up of teams or individuals who could influence decision or activities of an organization based on BI data. Data Used & Usefulness Data collected internally from Samsung divisions such as the marketing, production and sales teams highlight trends related to its products. Data usually point to a certain phenomena and thus data collected shall be used in designing products suited for the market. For instance, internal data outline trends such as growing sales; market share per region and production unites and segments within the company driving sales and production. Data used in this scenario was useful to the intended audience as outlined; a) Planning: the data used ensured that proper planning could be undertaken in the implementation of organization activities such as production or sales b) Decision support: Data used in this scenario would assist in the process of undertaking decisions such as planning, production or control (Sabherwal 2011, p. 104). For instance, a production decision to produce certain number of units shall be supported by data c) Efficiency management and control: Data has the capability of ensuring that activities are supported by proven and accurate data. Therefore, control can be exercised in various processes such as production or sales (Rud 2012, p. 97). d) Report generation: reports generated from data point to certain scenarios such as the units produced or sold. Consequently, these reports ensure that proper planning is undertaken and sales or production forecasting is undertaken (Moss 2014, p. 129). Recommendations The utilization of BI tools and applications for an organization portends several benefits and advantages over its competitors. BI tools are very effective in ensuring complex and voluminous data is presented in an organized manner. As a result, organizations and companies should increase their investment in these tools leading to higher efficiency within their operations. Due to the importance of these BI tools and applications, various recommendations are outlined to ensure better more benefits are accrued as outlined; a) Increased efficiency: BI tools allow the collection of data from several sources and the easier analysis or the same through use of data analyzing techniques. For instance, in this case Samsung can collect data from diverse sources and aggregate this data into different formats for the purposes of planning and monitoring of organizational data (Biere 2013, p. 112). Therefore, it is imperative that companies adopt the use of BI tools and application in increasing efficiency. b) Easy Reporting: BI tools and application ensure that organizations and companies can easily organize their data into diverse formats for easy reporting. For instance, organizational data could be easily organized into charts, graphs and other formats that allow for easy reporting. These reports are suited for different users such as shareholders, engineers, marketers or executives since they are prepared to suite the different preferences and needs of different users (Rud 2012). c) Better Decisions: The utilization of BI tools allow organizations to organize data from diverse sources into segmented and systematized data thus empowering decision makers to understand, analyse, forecast and impact business performance. As a result, the process of decision making process becomes timely and accurate leading to better decisions. It is recommended that organizations adopt the use of these BI tools in the process of business decision making at the strategy and operational levels. d) Automation of Organizational Processes: The proliferation of BI tools has ensured that businesses become efficient since big data and other organizational database or information is sourced easily. As a result, all the activities of an organization become automated and easy in the process of implementing (Sabherwal 2011). For instance, BI tools have been adopted within ERP and CRM systems for the purpose of analyzing organizational data. Implementation Recommendations The utilization and implementation of business intelligence tools constitutes business re-organization and change management practices. As a result, the process is usually filled with numerous challenges which include lack of capacity to utilize these tools or compatibility issues (Brijs 2012, p. 87). Consequently, the utilization of BI tools and application might limit the implementation of several functions within an organization. These limitations could be overcome through the use of various ideas such as; a) Prior planning: it is imperative to ensure the activities or data to be worked on with BI tools or applications have been checked. Planning involves selection of appropriate BI tools or application in terms of cost and data planned. b) Data to be utilized within BI tools and applications has to be verified against several factors and well established sources for accuracy and virility (Biere 2013). c) Users of BI tools and applications should posses certain levels of skills in the manipulation and analysis of data. d) Compatibility issues should be established before acquisition of BI tools or applications since many BI tools do not allow integration with third party software. Since there are numerous third party software used in the process of data collection and manipulation such as SPSS, Eviews and other open source software. Unplanned challenges will be preset in the implementation of BI applications and therefore, it is imperative that expertise and online resources are sought for these challenges. Since solutions to the numerous challenges could be sorted with ease. Recommendation for Future Work The production of a dashboard has to be undertaken following a methodical process that involves the manipulation and analysis of data using different methods. The current dashboard was designed through use of data from various sources leading to errors and inaccurate view of the company activities. Although, data processing and analysing procedures are the same, the data to be utilized in the process of designing and mapping the dashboard should be accurate and from verified sources. Therefore, in the design of future dashboard it is imperative to collect enough information and from verified sources to enable the easy analysis and modelling within BI tools or applications (Brijs 2012). Moreover, in the process of analysing or manipulating voluminous data requires segregation of data. Therefore, in the process of dealing with huge data, it is advisable that these data is separated into section for easily analysis and manipulation. Future use of BI tools will involve collecting and analysing real time data and sharing this information online through establishment of database connections (Moss 2014). Given that BI tools allows the manipulation and analysis of real time data due to its fast processing times allowing reduction of errors as a result of sourcing data from different sources. Dashboard Screenshots From the data collected and modelled in relation to production units and sales; the following dashboard outlines the story for Samsung in relation to production and sales. The data utilized in this modelling exercise was sourced from internal Samsung departments and from suppliers and resellers of Samsung products. The external data sourced from suppliers and other resellers was limited due to the accuracy and difficulty in obtaining this data from these sources. Dashboard 1 outlines the sales per 1 million units for the different segments within Samsung Electronics Company from the year 2010 through to 2012. This data outlines that the bulk of the company sales were from the IT and Mobile segment which outsold all other company segments. However, in relation to market share, the Semiconductors segment has a larger market share since the company dominates this segment as outlined by Dashboard 2. Dashboard 3 outlines the sales of Samsung Electronics per region from the year 2010 to 2012 based on 1 Trillion Korean Won. This data was sourced internally from Samsung and its subsidiaries based in different regions. Dashboard 4 outlines the sales of specific Samsung products per region; this data has been sourced externally. The data was sourced from major suppliers and resellers of Samsung products. The data outlines that Samsung Mobile products such as Samsung Galaxy 5 & 6 are popular among consumers. Dashboard 1: Outlining the Samsung Sales per Sector Dashboard 2: Outlining the Samsung Market Share per Sector Dashboard 3: Outlining Samsung Sales per Region Dashboard 4: Outlining Samsung sales per product (External Data) References Biere, M., 2013. Business Intelligence for the Enterprise. Boston, MA: Springer. Brijs, B., 2012. Business Analysis for Business Intelligence. New York, NY: Pelshiver. Moss, L. and Atre, S., 2014. Business Intelligence Roadmap: The Complete Project Lifecycle for Decision-support Applications. London: Addison-Wesley Professional. Rud, O., 2012. Business Intelligence Success Factors: Tools for Aligning Your Business in the Global Economy. Lowell, MA: John Wiley and Sons. Sabherwal, R. and Becerra-Fernandez, I., 2011. Business Intelligence: Practices, Technologies, and Management. Chicago, IL: John Wiley & Sons. Read More