Business Intelligence as a Decision-Making Tool - Research Proposal Example

Business Intelligence as a Decision Making Tool Name Institution Course Tutor Date Contents Introduction 7 Nowadays, Information technology helps organizations in numerous ways in improving the effectiveness of the organizations particularly in the process of decision making. One of the latest developments in Information technology is the Business Intelligence that uses the Decision Support System which offers imperative tools for evaluation and publishing of data to the managers to help them make knowledgeable decisions. 7 Business intelligence is a decision support system that is data driven that combines collection of data, storage of data as well as the analysis of data to be part of the decision making process. Business Intelligence gives emphasize on analyses of vast amount of data concerning the organization plus its operations which is inclusive of competitive intelligence that is competitors monitoring as a one of its compartments. 7 To implement the decisions made, this can be decided by technical plus the cultural problems, and this research paper aims to establish the factors that prevent the use of Business Intelligence in Oman. we seek to establish whether it is caused by irrelevant and poor quality data, or vague and huge data or whether its due to the resistant off the management or there is a confusion between traditional IT and BI? Even though BI is promising, there is need for managers to guarantee that the information fed on the BI software is reliable and can be trusted. 8 Key words 8 Business intelligence, data integration, big data, information extraction, business modeling, information visualization 8 Statement of the Problem 9 Although we understand the significance of Business Intelligence to businesses, and still they accept that BI is paramount in decision making, there are still some challenges in adoption of Business Intelligence practices in most of the organizations. The research paper will show the Understanding of BI in Oman’s organizations, so as to reveal that they are not all utilizing Business Intelligence in an accurate manner since their indulgence is restricted to the long-established Information Technology. This research paper on Business Intelligence as instrument in helping the process of decision making in organizations seeks to express how BI helps the managers to make the right decision s in an organization 9 Scope and Limitation of the Study 9 The study on BI is a wide subject to manage. However, due to the ideologies of presenting the answers in perceptible manner, limiting the scope of the study is well thought of and as a result the research will specifically deal with Business Intelligence as a method to assist in the decision making processes in an organization and emphasize on its hindrances and suggest ways to overcome the challenges and the future chances for Business Intelligence. 9 Significance of the Study 10 Through presentation of this research paper of the use of Business Intelligence in decision making in organizations, the study is projected to additionally make a contribution in strengthening theatrical development that has created a leeway to absorb the benefits of Business Intelligence by the customers, suppliers in addition to extra stakeholders in the business for client relationship, supply chain administration plus additional e-business applications. This will also present the main organization information and the systematic instruments for managers, stakeholders and other business professionals. 10 Review of related literatures 10 Various literatures in the field of Business Intelligence have been reviewed so as to offer deeper indulgence and extensive review of this subject being studied. These literatures can be summarized as follows: 10 What is Business intelligence? 10 The main principle of Business Intelligence is to provide relevant, timely information that is ready to use and increase capability to scrutinize business information in order to improve the process of decision making by managers plus a variety of other organization activities (Petter, DeLone & McLean, 2008). 10 Why to measure BI? 11 Synthesis 12 Literature reviewed that is related substantiated that BI putts together information gathering, accumulation and management with scrutiny apparatus to produce composite internal and aggressive information to decision makers and planners with the aim of improving the value of input data to enhance improved decision making process. 12 Research methodology 12 The methods used by the researcher are qualitative as well as quantitative so as to acquire a good understanding of the objectives of this research paper. The data (primary) that will help the researcher get a good understanding of the paper in a wide perspective will be by the use of a questionnaire given out to different employees in various organizations in Oman that will help to dissect the results of the research. The knowledge in this area of study will be used as secondary data. 12 Research instrument 12 The data collection that will be used in this research is a questionnaire. The core plan of this research is to describe and have a better understanding of the factors that lead to implementation of Business Intelligence plus those that hinder its use. After all the feedback is collected from the respondents, the data will be analyzed and then interpreted which will be in turn used in supporting the secondary data. 12 Research design 12 To achieve the goals of this research, e prepared questionnaire was used which was deployed to diverse levels of employees in diverse organizations. To understand the pros and cons or questionnaires as a method of data collection is paramount to improve the results of the research. 12 Data gathering procedure 13 There were 70 respondents in the research who filled up the questionnaire. 13 Respondents of the study 13 The results from the respondents from the research showed that scarcity of data, administration hesitant, price of execution plus employees who are IT illiterate are the problems encountered by Business Intelligence. The research also showed that Business Intelligence leads to improved decision making. 13 Reliability and validity of the study 13 The questionnaires were designed in a manner that they were that they delivered the intended response and the options provided were appropriate and there was consistent in the questions asked to make them valid. The results provided confirmed that the questionnaire were reliable and valid. 13 Statistical tool analysis 13 Conclusion 14 High quality data 15 High quality data is important in good decision making process. The better the manager understands its organization, the environment and the competitors, the better one moves from making uncalled decisions to making strategic decisions. 15 Training employees 15 There is a need to train the employees on how to use new technology so as to be part of the crucial decision makers, it is advisable to use user friendly software that employees can use with ease or else it is useless. 15 References 15 Bouzeghoub, M. & Lenzerini, M. (2001). Introduction to data extraction, cleaning and reconciliation: a special issue of Information Systems: An International Journal. Information Systems, 26(8), 535-536 15 John, B., Bill, F., Brian, G., Tracy, H., Kay, V.V. (2010). Business Intelligence Strategy. A Practical Guide for Achieving BI Excellence, MC Press Online, LLC Ketchum. 15 Appendix A 16 Introduction Good decision making by the management is paramount in the day to day running of a business. A good decision is defined as one that facilitates the business in moving closer to accomplishing its goals. The question that one asks himself is how the managers make sure that they are making decisions that will help the organization accomplish its goals? In a move to meet these objectives, organizations should analyze the way in which the decisions are made and put into consideration the information that the managers require to provide in a move to make confident and quick decisions, in addition to the mode of information presentation that is done to them. Decision making discussions drive what information that the businesses need to gather, evaluate and publish (John, Bill, Brian, Tracy, Kay 2010). Nowadays, Information technology helps organizations in numerous ways in improving the effectiveness of the organizations particularly in the process of decision making. One of the latest developments in Information technology is the Business Intelligence that uses the Decision Support System which offers imperative tools for evaluation and publishing of data to the managers to help them make knowledgeable decisions. Business intelligence is a decision support system that is data driven that combines collection of data, storage of data as well as the analysis of data to be part of the decision making process. Business Intelligence gives emphasize on analyses of vast amount of data concerning the organization plus its operations which is inclusive of competitive intelligence that is competitors monitoring as a one of its compartments. Daily transactions in organizations generate large quantities of operational information/data which is kept in the organizations database. The information contained in these databases is detailed whereas specific summarized information is needed by the managers to make decisions. Through the use of Business intelligence the information from different sources is fed into information warehouse through a process which involves extraction, conversion and loading. The data is afterwards converted into practical knowledge and information. BI can be termed as an umbrella of a range of software applications which is used to evaluate and design the raw data in an organization. It is composed of multiple related activities which include data sourcing, online systematic processing, inquiry and reporting (John et al., 2010). Organizations apply Business Intelligence in identification of new business prospects, improved decision making processes and reduction of costs. Business Intelligence is not only a collection of tool of data collection and analysis and business and a business reporting out of big business frameworks, its more than that. The directors of IT use BI to categorize ineffective business processes which are in line for reevaluation. With the modern Business Intelligence framework, it is possible for individuals to analyze data by personally instead of relying on IT to run multifarious reports. This free access of information helps the decision makers tom provide proof of the decisions made In an organization that would have initially be based on feelings and tales(John et al., 2010). To implement the decisions made, this can be decided by technical plus the cultural problems, and this research paper aims to establish the factors that prevent the use of Business Intelligence in Oman. we seek to establish whether it is caused by irrelevant and poor quality data, or vague and huge data or whether its due to the resistant off the management or there is a confusion between traditional IT and BI? Even though BI is promising, there is need for managers to guarantee that the information fed on the BI software is reliable and can be trusted. Key words Business intelligence, data integration, big data, information extraction, business modeling, information visualization Statement of the Problem Although we understand the significance of Business Intelligence to businesses, and still they accept that BI is paramount in decision making, there are still some challenges in adoption of Business Intelligence practices in most of the organizations. The research paper will show the Understanding of BI in Oman’s organizations, so as to reveal that they are not all utilizing Business Intelligence in an accurate manner since their indulgence is restricted to the long-established Information Technology. This research paper on Business Intelligence as instrument in helping the process of decision making in organizations seeks to express how BI helps the managers to make the right decision s in an organization In this research we want to demonstrate the understanding of Business intelligence in Bahrain’s organizations, in order to show that they are not all using BI in the accurate way, since their understanding is limited to the traditional IT. In addition intends to provide answers to the following questions; Why would an organization choose traditional IT as opposed to Business Intelligence? Which are the barriers hindering organizations using Business Intelligence? Are people alert about Business Intelligence, what its composed of, and its significant impact on a decision making process? What are the ways out to reduce or end this setback and encourage organizations to apply Business Intelligence? Scope and Limitation of the Study The study on BI is a wide subject to manage. However, due to the ideologies of presenting the answers in perceptible manner, limiting the scope of the study is well thought of and as a result the research will specifically deal with Business Intelligence as a method to assist in the decision making processes in an organization and emphasize on its hindrances and suggest ways to overcome the challenges and the future chances for Business Intelligence. Significance of the Study Through presentation of this research paper of the use of Business Intelligence in decision making in organizations, the study is projected to additionally make a contribution in strengthening theatrical development that has created a leeway to absorb the benefits of Business Intelligence by the customers, suppliers in addition to extra stakeholders in the business for client relationship, supply chain administration plus additional e-business applications. This will also present the main organization information and the systematic instruments for managers, stakeholders and other business professionals. Review of related literatures Various literatures in the field of Business Intelligence have been reviewed so as to offer deeper indulgence and extensive review of this subject being studied. These literatures can be summarized as follows: What is Business intelligence? Business intelligence can be described as a system of strategic information which gives actionable information through the use of a centralized data storage, which is collected from various areas and then transformed into information that can be easily interpreted through the Business Intelligence tools for analysis, this leads to making of informed decision (John et al., 2010). The highlight of Business Intelligence is the analysis of numerous amounts of data from the organization and its processes. Business Intelligence’s main objective is improving the accuracy and the excellence of the effort to the process of decision making The main principle of Business Intelligence is to provide relevant, timely information that is ready to use and increase capability to scrutinize business information in order to improve the process of decision making by managers plus a variety of other organization activities (Petter, DeLone & McLean, 2008). Since information mining is a center capacity of business intelligence we will shed more the light on the meaning of it. Information mining is "the extraction of concealed prescient data from substantial databases", is a compelling new innovation with incredible potential to help organizations concentrate on the most essential data in their information stockrooms. Information mining devices anticipate future patterns and practices, permitting businesses to produce proactive, learning driven choices. The mechanized, prospective investigates offered by information mining move past the breaks down of past occasions gave by review devices common of choice help supportive networks. Information mining apparatuses can address business questions that customarily were excessively prolonged to resolution. They scour databases for shrouded examples, discovering prescient data that specialists may miss in light of the fact that it lies outside their desires (John et al., 2010). Why to measure BI? Measuring the Business Intelligence is a practice that has been applied in organizations for a long period of time. This is a realistic management apparatus that can be used in different circumstances and for distinctive reasons. In the setting of Business Intelligence, as well, a few creators have distinguished its estimation as a typical perspective among analysts is that the estimation of BI is hard to do an only limited business enterprises have any working methods installed to assess the worth of BI and therefore, measurement is a vital process of Business Intelligence but also hard to do (John et al., 2010). The two major aims of measurement of Business Intelligence are the appraisal of BI to demonstrate that it is worth the exertion and the estimation of BI exercises with a specific end goal to help deal with BI process (Bouzeghoub& Lenzerini, 2001). Synthesis Literature reviewed that is related substantiated that BI putts together information gathering, accumulation and management with scrutiny apparatus to produce composite internal and aggressive information to decision makers and planners with the aim of improving the value of input data to enhance improved decision making process. Research methodology The methods used by the researcher are qualitative as well as quantitative so as to acquire a good understanding of the objectives of this research paper. The data (primary) that will help the researcher get a good understanding of the paper in a wide perspective will be by the use of a questionnaire given out to different employees in various organizations in Oman that will help to dissect the results of the research. The knowledge in this area of study will be used as secondary data. Research instrument The data collection that will be used in this research is a questionnaire. The core plan of this research is to describe and have a better understanding of the factors that lead to implementation of Business Intelligence plus those that hinder its use. After all the feedback is collected from the respondents, the data will be analyzed and then interpreted which will be in turn used in supporting the secondary data. Research design To achieve the goals of this research, e prepared questionnaire was used which was deployed to diverse levels of employees in diverse organizations. To understand the pros and cons or questionnaires as a method of data collection is paramount to improve the results of the research. Data gathering procedure There were 70 respondents in the research who filled up the questionnaire. Respondents of the study The results from the respondents from the research showed that scarcity of data, administration hesitant, price of execution plus employees who are IT illiterate are the problems encountered by Business Intelligence. The research also showed that Business Intelligence leads to improved decision making. Reliability and validity of the study The questionnaires were designed in a manner that they were that they delivered the intended response and the options provided were appropriate and there was consistent in the questions asked to make them valid. The results provided confirmed that the questionnaire were reliable and valid. Statistical tool analysis Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate dimension0 1 .302a .091 .059 .58678 a. Predictors: (Constant). Hypothesis (3): Training, knowledge of market competitors, updated awareness are factors influencing BI and therefore decision making. H0: µ3 (H1: Training, knowledge of market competitors, updated awareness are factors influencing BI and therefore decision making) According to questions in the survey, we’ve carried out the One-sample test, and the mean of the respondents’ response was 4.1 > 3, which shows that there is a noteworthy outcome of Training, knowledge of market competitors, updated awareness on decision making. Conclusion In conclusion, organizations apply Business Intelligence in identification of new business prospects, improved decision making processes and reduction of costs. Business Intelligence is not only a collection of tool of data collection and analysis and business and a business reporting out of big business frameworks, its more than that. The directors of IT use BI to categorize ineffective business processes which are in line for reevaluation. With the modern Business Intelligence framework, it is possible for individuals to analyze data by personally instead of relying on IT to run multifarious reports. This free access of information helps the decision makers tom provide proof of the decisions made In an organization that would have initially be based on feelings and tales(John et al., 2010). High quality data High quality data is important in good decision making process. The better the manager understands its organization, the environment and the competitors, the better one moves from making uncalled decisions to making strategic decisions. Training employees There is a need to train the employees on how to use new technology so as to be part of the crucial decision makers, it is advisable to use user friendly software that employees can use with ease or else it is useless. References Bouzeghoub, M. & Lenzerini, M. (2001). Introduction to data extraction, cleaning and reconciliation: a special issue of Information Systems: An International Journal. Information Systems, 26(8), 535-536 John, B., Bill, F., Brian, G., Tracy, H., Kay, V.V. (2010). Business Intelligence Strategy. A Practical Guide for Achieving BI Excellence, MC Press Online, LLC Ketchum. Petter, S., DeLone, W. & McLean, E. (2008). Measuring information systems success: models, dimensions, measures and interrelationships. European Journal of Information Systems, 17(3), 236-263. Appendix A Questionnaire Name …………………………………………… Company …………………………………………… Current title …………………………………………… 1. My company considers business intelligence a success [ ] Completely agree [ ] Agree somehow [ ] Disagree [ ].Completely disagree 2. Why has the company been successful or unsuccessful? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3. What is expected to be achieved by the organization by using Business Intelligence? Critical Very important Important Somehow important Unimportant Better decision making [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Improved operational Efficiency [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Revenue growth [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Better customer service [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Improved customer Service [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Others specify ………………………………………………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4. What percentages of the employees in the organization are allowed to access Business Intelligence decisions? Under 10% [ ] 11 – 20% [ ] 21-40% [ ] 41-60% [ ] 61-80% [ ] over 80% [ ] 5. Is the management of the organization conversant with Business Intelligence? Yes [ ] No [ ] Explain ……………………………………………………………………………. 6. What hinders the organization using Business Intelligence? ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 7. Does the organization train its employees on Business Intelligence? Yes [ ] No [ ] Read More