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Essay Instructions: Business Intelligence Research Paper
The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of the capabilities of business intelligence software as it being used in the business world today. The project is to select a software package such as SAS or Oracle on which to conduct an analysis. The analysis should be conducted as you are making a buying recommendation to your organization for the best BI software package to purchase. Cost is not a factor. Cite the reasons why you selected your preferred package and justify that decision with sound reasoning.
The research paper should be 5-7 pages in length 1.5 times spacing and 1" borders. Content should be in business report format.
Business format includes:
Cover Page,
Executive Summary
Introduction
Presentation and discussion of information
Results and Conclusions
Recommendations

Essay Instructions: CASE ASSIGNMENT AND EXPECTATIONS:
When you believe you have a reasonable feel for a variety of business intelligence implementation experiences, you'll be in a position to write an effective short paper on the topic:
Lessons to be learned from the Clinic and Resort cases about creating, implementing, and using business intelligence
Remember, BI is a complex socio-technical innovation, so thinking about the question in socio-technical terms is likely to be of some value to you.
Your paper should be short (5-7 pages, not including cover sheet and references) and to the point. It is to be structured in the following manner. You are expected to:
? Begin this paper by stating your position on this question clearly and concisely -- what are the "lessons learned"?
? Citing appropriate sources, present the reasons why you draw these conclusions. Be sure to make the most effective case you can.
? Then establish what counterarguments can be made in response to your conclusions.
? Finally, review your original position in light of the counterarguments, showing how they are inadequate to rebut your original statement.
By the end of your paper, you should be able to unequivocally re-affirm your original position.
The following features of your paper will be assessed in particular:
? Your ability to see what the module is all about and to structure your paper accordingly. In this case, there isn?t a single right or wrong, yes-or-no answer ? either perspective can be justified. Your task is to construct a logical, well-reasoned, and persuasive argument for your conclusions. Be sure that you take a defined position on the question, and construct your paper to support that position with suitable arguments and evidence.
? Your focus on the question as presented, and your ability to use the language of the module convincingly. Here, this means your ability to differentiate between what constitutes the "technical system" of an organization and what constitutes its "social system", to define possible changes that could be made to either system and their probably consequences, and to explain how a "socio-technical" perspective involving joint consideration of both systems together may be better than dealing with either system by itself.
? Your ability to consolidate ideas from reading materials and your understanding of the materials. Select your illustrative cases to prove your point; don?t just dump a bunch of illustrations onto the page just to fill space. Use information from as many sources as you can, as long as it?s of good quality. At the least, you are expected to show evidence of having read and understood the required readings.
? Your informed commentary and analysis -- simply repeating what your sources say does not constitute an adequate paper.
? Some in-text references to your readings, with citations in proper academic format. For assistance with proper paper formats, reference lists, and citation procedures, please consult the TUI Course Guidelines and/or the Purdue University manual listed in the Background Material.


BACKGROUND INFORMATION: In this module's case, you're going to explore some of what passes for conventional wisdom in the domain of business intelligence application, probably noting in passing that first, much of the advice may be contradictory although delivered with great passion and enthusiasm, and second, most of it manages to avoid any real confrontation with traditional management structures and decision procedures and priorities, concentrating instead on ways of manipulating information to presumably work around the organization rather than allow itself to point out shortcomings in the organizations themselves. This is not a course primarily about organizational politics -- there is plenty of time in the rest of your program to come to terms with the old reptilian sub-brains of the organization that perpetuate power differentials, reward distributions only vaguely related to organizational priorities, suboptimization of organizational resource utilization, and all of the other weirdness?s that pretty much guarantee performance and satisfaction shortfalls and failures. But, as you may have surmised, even though it's not our main focus it is the key subtext for all these issues. Unless we openly acknowledge that decisions are largely political (in either the organizational or national sense) and that information is often more useful as a cloak for political priorities than as a substitute for them, the only ones we're going to fool are ourselves.
The Business Intelligence Guide website is a gold mine of useful information about BI specifically. Read some of the overview articles (they're short), to generally familiarize yourself with BI terminology:
Electrosmart Ltd. (2011) The Business Intelligence Guide. Retrieved February 27, 2011, from http://thebusinessintelligenceguide.com/index.php. Recommended sections include:
BI Best Practices. http://thebusinessintelligenceguide.com/bi_strategy/BI_Best_Practices.php
BI Solutions. http://thebusinessintelligenceguide.com/bi_solutions/index.php
BI Drivers. http://thebusinessintelligenceguide.com/bi_strategy/Drivers_Of_BI.php
BI Barriers. http://thebusinessintelligenceguide.com/bi_strategy/Barriers_To_BI.php
Getting Started in BI. http://thebusinessintelligenceguide.com/bi_program/index.php
But feel free to follow up in any other sections that you believe will help you address the case.
Now let's look at two specific cases of BI implementation. Remember, these cases were written by the companies supplying the "solutions", so read carefully and if possible between the lines:
Konitzer, K. and Cummens, M. (2011) CASE STUDY - Using Analytics to Improve Patient Outcomes and Billing Accuracy at Marshfield Clinic. TDWI. Retrieved September 16, 2011, from http://tdwi.org/articles/2011/07/11/case-study-using-analytics-to-improve-patient-outcomes-and-billing-accuracy-at-marshfield-clinic.aspx
Microsoft Inc. (2011) Exclusive Resorts, LLC Destination Club Generates Rapid ROI, Enhances Services, Takes Control of Business. Microsoft Case Studies. Retrieved September 16, 2011, from http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Microsoft-Dynamics-AX/Exclusive-Resorts-LLC/Destination-Club-Generates-Rapid-ROI-Enhances-Services-Takes-Control-of-Business/8
There's a lot more out there in the optional and supplemental readings as well as the wide wonderful world of the Internet to give you a feel for what's working and what's not in this area; the more widely you can spread your own information gathering net, the more effective your analysis is likely to be.

Essay Instructions: If, as we noted, knowledge management represents accessing and using information existing within the firm, then it must be complemented with so-called "business intelligence" representing other information existing in the firm's environment. And neither of them is worth much unless supplemented with the kind of deep understanding embodied in what are called "business analytics". The nature of these tools, and their ties to the underlying information to which they are applied, are the subject of much current business interest. In this case, we take a look at some of the attitudes and ideas about analytics and business intelligence in light of the general problems of knowledge management. A good place to start would be this general review of the issues of analytics and their application:

Staples, S. (2009). Analytics: Unlocking value in business intelligence (BI) initiatives. CIO. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from http://www.cio.com/article/489257/Analytics_Unlocking_Value_in_Business_Intelligence_BI_Initiatives

A few years ago, Tom Davenport, one of the chief gurus of knowledge management, wrote a piece entitled "Competing with Analytics", arguing that businesses could develop serious competitive advantage by understanding their information better. This has not really developed according to plan, as the second source here notes. Please review these two points of view of the basis for what follows:

Davenport, T.H., & Harris, J. G. (2006) Competing with analytics, Harvard Business Review . Retrieved December 2, 2011, from http://download.microsoft.com/documents/uk/peopleready/Competing%20on%20Analytics.pdf

Samild, S. (2011) Tom Davenport: Why aren?t most organisations competing on analytics? Analyst First. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from http://analystfirst.com/2011/09/02/1001/tom-davenport-why-aren%E2%80%99t-most-organisations-competing-on-analytics/

One reason, of course, is that the world keeps changing, both in terms of business realities and technological possibilities. The Gartner Group is one of the consulting firms most known for trying to keep up with trends; here is their latest take on what's going on in the knowledge management area (just listen to the recording; you don't need to pay money to download their actual report):

Gartner Group (2011) Gartner Predicts 2012. Talking Technology Series. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from http://www.gartner.com/technology/research/predicts/

When you've had a chance to read and listen to this material and perhaps review information from the background readings and research other sources on your own, please prepare a 3-5 page paper on the topic:

?Current business and technology conditions that complicate effective application of business analytics to business intelligence and knowledge management data, and the prospects for improvement?



CASE EXPECTATIONS:
Your paper should be between three and five pages. Take a definite stand on the issues, and develop your supporting argument carefully. Using material from the background information and any other sources you can find to support specific points in your argument is highly recommended; try to avoid making assertions for which you can find no support other than your own opinion.

Essay Instructions: In this module's case, you're going to explore some of what passes for conventional wisdom in the domain of business intelligence application, probably noting in passing that first, much of the advice may be contradictory although delivered with great passion and enthusiasm, and second, most of it manages to avoid any real confrontation with traditional management structures and decision procedures and priorities, concentrating instead on ways of manipulating information to presumably work around the organization rather than allow itself to point out shortcomings in the organizations themselves. This is not a course primarily about organizational politics -- there is plenty of time in the rest of your program to come to terms with the old reptilian sub-brains of the organization that perpetuate power differentials, reward distributions only vaguely related to organizational priorities, suboptimization of organizational resource utilization, and all of the other weirdnesses that pretty much guarantee performance and satisfaction shortfalls and failures. But, as you may have surmised, even though it's not our main focus it is the key subtext for all these issues. Unless we openly acknowledge that decisions are largely political (in either the organizational or national sense) and that information is often more useful as a cloak for political priorities than as a substitute for them, the only ones we're going to fool are ourselves.

The Business Intelligence Guide website is a gold mine of useful information about BI specifically. Read some of the overview articles (they're short), to generally familiarize yourself with BI terminology:

Electrosmart Ltd. (2011) The Business Intelligence Guide. Retrieved February 27, 2011, from http://thebusinessintelligenceguide.com/index.php. Recommended sections include:

BI Best Practices. http://thebusinessintelligenceguide.com/bi_strategy/BI_Best_Practices.php

BI Solutions. http://thebusinessintelligenceguide.com/bi_solutions/index.php

BI Drivers. http://thebusinessintelligenceguide.com/bi_strategy/Drivers_Of_BI.php

BI Barriers. http://thebusinessintelligenceguide.com/bi_strategy/Barriers_To_BI.php

Getting Started in BI. http://thebusinessintelligenceguide.com/bi_program/index.php

But feel free to follow up in any other sections that you believe will help you address the case.

Now let's look at two specific cases of BI implementation. Remember, these cases were written by the companies supplying the "solutions", so read carefully and if possible between the lines:

Konitzer, K. and Cummens, M. (2011) CASE STUDY - Using Analytics to Improve Patient Outcomes and Billing Accuracy at Marshfield Clinic. TDWI. Retrieved September 16, 2011, from http://tdwi.org/articles/2011/07/11/case-study-using-analytics-to-improve-patient-outcomes-and-billing-accuracy-at-marshfield-clinic.aspx

Microsoft Inc. (2011) Exclusive Resorts, LLC Destination Club Generates Rapid ROI, Enhances Services, Takes Control of Business. Microsoft Case Studies. Retrieved September 16, 2011, from http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Microsoft-Dynamics-AX/Exclusive-Resorts-LLC/Destination-Club-Generates-Rapid-ROI-Enhances-Services-Takes-Control-of-Business/8

There's a lot more out there in the optional and supplemental readings as well as the wide wonderful world of the Internet to give you a feel for what's working and what's not in this area; the more widely you can spread your own information gathering net, the more effective your analysis is likely to be.

When you believe you have a reasonable feel for a variety of business intelligence implementation experiences, you'll be in a position to write an effective short paper on the topic:

Lessons to be learned from the Clinic and Resort cases about creating, implementing, and using business intelligence

Remember, BI is a complex socio-technical innovation, so thinking about the question in socio-technical terms is likely to be of some value to you.



Case assignment expectations:
Your paper should be short (5-7 pages, not including cover sheet and references) and to the point. It is to be structured in the following manner. You are expected to:

Begin this paper by stating your position on this question clearly and concisely -- what are the "lessons learned"?

Citing appropriate sources, present the reasons why you draw these conclusions. Be sure to make the most effective case you can.

Then establish what counterarguments can be made in response to your conclusions.

Finally, review your original position in light of the counterarguments, showing how they are inadequate to rebut your original statement.

By the end of your paper, you should be able to unequivocally re-affirm your original position.



The following features of your paper will be assessed in particular:

Your ability to see what the module is all about and to structure your paper accordingly. In this case, there isn?t a single right or wrong, yes-or-no answer ? several perspectives can be justified. Your task is to construct a logical, well-reasoned, and persuasive argument for your conclusions. Be sure that you take a defined position on the question, and construct your paper to support that position with suitable arguments and evidence.

Your focus on the question as presented, and your ability to use the language of the module convincingly. Here, this means your ability to understand what business intelligence and data analytics are, your understanding of the complexities of organizational change being described, your ability to "read between the lines" to identify issues not necessarily described explicitly, and your sensitivity to the internal organizatiuonal politics involved.

Your ability to consolidate ideas from reading materials and your understanding of the materials. Select your illustrative cases to prove your point; don?t just dump a bunch of illustrations onto the page just to fill space. Use information from as many sources as you can, as long as it?s of good quality. At the least, you are expected to show evidence of having read and understood the required readings.

Your informed commentary and analysis -- simply repeating what your sources say does not constitute an adequate paper.

Some in-text references to your readings, with citations in proper academic format. For assistance with proper paper formats, reference lists, and citation procedures, please consult the TUI Course Guidelines and/or the Purdue University manual listed in the Background Material.