BI
is not a new concept and companies have been undertaking various initiatives with
regard to data collection and analysis. However, despite the significant investments,
companies have been confronted by several challenges that have proved detrimental
to the usefulness of BI. These include: inconsistent data, impaired visibility,
data redundancy, information overload and delayed delivery of information. In
a number of instances, the benefits have not been translated into quantified form
or clearly expressed. At times the BI initiatives have not been consistent with
those of the organizational aspirations and have resulted in nonconformance with
individual roles within the organization. Therefore, for the success of BI, a
reasonable degree of groundwork becomes necessary, followed by the development
of a common framework. This should be followed by bridging of the existing gaps
in the decisionmaking processes and a coherent approach chosen to articulate
the value generated through the BI initiatives (Rogers et al., 2005).
A
survey conducted in 2002 by the FuldGiladHerring Academy of Competitive Intelligence,
revealed that out of the 140 corporate strategists polled, 97 percent accepted
that they had no early warning system in place and that in the past five years
at least three high impact events had surprised them. For example, in the late
1990s, VISA International was faced with Webbased competition that enabled customers
to bypass credit cards using online peer to peer transactions (Fuld, 2003). |
