Role of Business Intelligence in Decision Making and Achieving Competitive Advantage - Desklib

This report discusses the role of Business Intelligence in decision making process and achieving competitive advantage. It also highlights the benefits of BI such as increased productivity, good return on investment, adequate information, cost reduction, etc.

Business Intelligence

Executive summary
This report shows that the Business Intelligence (BI) had many advantages that an
organization can apply. It gave benefits to improve the productivity and the profitability of the
business. It provides the detailed report about the informations of the market such as the future
trends, customers behaviour, demand and supply, etc. BI also helps the company in decision
making process that how and at what time the firm had to take quick, adequate and immediate
decisions as per the market situations in order to achieve the new targets. Through business
intelligence an organization can also achieve the competitive advantage by making new plans
and strategies.

Table of Contents
Executive summary..............................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY.......................................................................................................................................4
The role of business intelligence in decision making process-...................................................4
How an organization can achieve competitive advantage-..........................................................6
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................12
Online references.......................................................................................................................12
Company History. 2021. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.morrisons-corporate.com/about-us/company-history/>..............................................12

INTRODUCTION
Business Intelligence is a type of technology which includes procedure of collecting, gathering,
stores and the analysing the data (Nethravathi and et.al., 2020). It provides relevant and detailed
information of market trends, demand and supply and customer behaviour to the organization. Morrisons
is one of the super market in the United Kingdom. It provides food and drink items at stores as well as
online also. Morrison is a leading company in the market of UK (Company History, 2021). This report
shows the role of BI in decision making process and the benefits of the business intelligence that
supports the growth of the company. It also shows how BI helps an organization in achieving the
competitive advantage.
MAIN BODY
The role of business intelligence in decision making process-
Business Intelligence plays a vital role in decision making process as it provides or gathered data
correctly and also analysis it (Ahmad and et.al., 2020). BI helps the organization in taking decisions on
the issues of the business like demand and supply , customer behaviour, future trends, etc. It facilitates
the company with rich data resources that can assist the organization to achieve their goals and
objectives.
BI helps the Morrisons organization in decision making process through statistical analysis of the
market. This analysis helps the company to examine the demand and supply of the products and also the
current likes and dislikes of the customers (Niu and et.al., 2021). As with the help of business
intelligence Morrisons evaluate the market situations and take decisions according to it. The
organization makes strategic decision to improve the quality of the product on the basis of consumers
demand and manage its production supply accordingly. In this era of digitalization most of the
customers purchase online, so business intelligence help the enterprise for online shopping experience.
Morrisons took a step forward and make decision to advertise or take the business on online platform.
For this purpose, the company interact with the customers through video calls , chats, emails, etc. and
can easily analyse the customer preferences, likes and dislikes and the technical difficulties faced by
consumers. It is also helpful in analysing the clients reactions to the promotions and quality of the
product and also the experience of the customers to shop online. This analysis can lead the organization
to improve the revenues and the efficiency of the business.
Some other advantages of business intelligence that are availed by Morrisons are as follows-

Increased Productivity-
Businesses connect their resources and the work force in order to increase their productivity,
since all the work is done by BI team results in cost reduction, time saving and the efficient use of
resources (Zraqat, 2020). Business Intelligence provides proper and clear information so that it can be
used for managing the business according to it and supports the organization in order to decisions as per
the situation in the market. For e.g. Morrisons took decision to increase the production of its products
according to the demand.
Significant Information-
BI provides significant or important information about the market situations to the organization
which helps them to improve the ability or capacity of quick decision making and generating competitive
advantage. It helps Morrisons to take quick and strategic decisions for the production and for making
new approaches according to the market.
Good return on investment-
BI ensures good return on investment as it facilitates cost reduction, better decision making and
increases the efficiency or productivity of employees. It also facilitates customer satisfaction which lead
the business or the organization towards success.
Informed Decision Making-
Morrisons reports on the basis of proper, accurate and timely information which help the
organization to measure the performance of their employees and processes done by them. BI provides
information regarding the future trends, demands and customer behaviour which helps Morrisons to take
decisions according to the current and past performance of the company on various and critical issues.
The organization utilizes the information efficiently in order to manage the business targets.
With the help of business intelligence Morrisons took the decision to change its marketing
strategies such as production of the goods on the basis of demand of the customers, improvement in the
quality of the products as per consumers likes and dislikes (Khan and et.al., 2020). Company introduced
new approaches and took a step forward to increase the production capacity as per the demand and
supply. The organization also take the decision to digitalize the business by taking it on social media or
online platform. Now, the institution facilitates online shopping for the clients and it provides door to
door services to the customers who place the order online. This decision helps the Morrisons to enhance
their productivity, profitability and growth of the organization. It also give benefits of making safe
payments online. The company take all the decisions by analysing the market situations and is able to

take quick, adequate and immediate decisions on the critical issues of business. This also increases the
growth rate of the enterprise.
Source: Business Intelligence Roadmap, 2020.
How an organization can achieve competitive advantage-
An organization can achieve competitive advantage by recognizing the market trends and also by
making the new strategies according to the market (Božič and Dimovski, 2019). Business Intelligence
helps the company to collect significant information or the data and also helps in analysing it properly
and quickly. BI provides adequate and relevant data according to the current situation of the market
which assist the business to achieve competitive advantage. Business analytics provides valuable
information to the owners of the organization about their performance so that they can improve their
Illustration 1: Business Intellegence

performance by making new plans to reach the competitive advantage (Moscoso-Zea and et.al., 2019.).
There are some other benefits of BI than can help the company in attaining the competitive advantage
such as-
Relevant Decisions-
BI develop the confidence of the managers or employees of Morrisons to take decisions
according to the informed and relevant data that can help them to reduce the risk in the business
(Drushku and et.al., 2019). It can also help them in taking quick decisions which saves time, energy and
money.
Acknowledge customer needs-
Business Intelligence gather the data of consumers such as their likes and dislikes, their changing
preferences and their demand for the product. This help the Morrisons organization to take a step
forward towards competition in the market.
Cost Reduction-
Analysed and detailed reports can enable the Morrisons business or the institution to decide
where they can reduce the cost and save money according to the budget of the organization.
Recognize New Opportunities-
BI facilitates the Morrisons to keep an eye on the new business opportunities that are introducing
in the market (Anand, 2020). This can help the enterprise to increase the growth of the company and also
in achieving competitive advantage.
Business Intelligence facilitates some other benefits to Morrisons organization such as market
trends, fast reporting, proper information, analysis of competitors, customer satisfaction, etc. in order to
attain the goals or competitive advantage (Becerra-Godinez and et.al., 2020). These analytics takes
Morrisons business on the top level as it helps in taking decisions on the basis of demands and the new
opportunities arise in the competition. Morrisons place its business on online platform in order to
achieve new targets (Halim and Halim, 2019). The organization update its excel sheet with business
intelligence which reduce the time of marketing team and give them opportunity to analyse the data.
Morrison also introduced some new strategies and technologies in their business such as door to door
services, discount vouchers, complementary gifts or items, etc. for those clients who place the orders
online. This strategy supports the organization to achieve success on online or social media platform.

Source: Business Intelligence Graduate Certificate. 2021.
In this era of digitalization many new institutions are introduced in the market and they tries to
cope up with the new technologies which includes social media platform (Ukhalkar and et.al., 2020). So,
in this context BI provides relevant information and data to Morrison which help the company to make
new plans and strategies such as taking business at online platform. Now, Morrison have clients at stores
as well as online . By analysing the market trends and the customer behaviour Morrison reduce the price
and enhance the quality of its product. As on the other hand, competitive companies are providing
products at low prices but are not able to maintain the quality of the product. On the basis of the scenario
of new online trade Morrison also stared placing orders on internet. With the help of business
intelligence Morrison recognizes the new competitors in the digital market and in order to compete with
them the company provides free delivery services, discount vouchers and complementary gifts to its
customers.
Porter's five forces framework can be used to analyse the competitive advantage and help the
organization to examine the market on the basis of five elements :
1. Threat of new entrants (Low)- Morrison introduced new products to attract the customers. The
economies are very high for the new entrants so it is difficult for them to earn high profits and to
compete with the standards of Morrison.
Illustration 2: Business Intellengence

2. The bargaining power of buyers (moderate)- Buyers bargain a lot they want quality products at
low prices and always want discount and offers this puts pressure on Morrisons profitability. So
in order to reduce the bargaining power Morrisons give discount vouchers and complementary
gifts to the customers.
3. The bargaining power of the suppliers (Moderate)- Morrisons buy the raw material of their
products from various suppliers and they use their bargaining power to withdraw higher prises
from the company which affects the profitability of Morrison.
4. The threat of new substitutes (High)- Morrison have a threat of new substitutes or products that
are arrived in the market on the same prices as Morrisons have. Morrison improves the quality of
its products and makes it as a brand in order to compete with the other substitutes introduced in
the market. So it creates difficulties for the organization to maintain the standards of the business.
5. The intensity of competitor rivalry (moderate)- Morrisons is facing a number of rivals in the
market. Morrisons examine the intensity of the existing competitors and try to expand its business
by reaching new customers daily but it affects its profitability.

Source:Porter's Five Forces Analysis Tutorial. 2021.
CONCLUSION
From above discussion, it can be concluded that business intelligence plays an important role in
the success of the business. It gives several benefits to the organization such as increased productivity,
good return on investment, adequate information, cost reduction, etc. It also provides relevant data by
analysing market trends, likes and dislikes of the clients, customer preferences, etc. BI also help the
company in decision making process on the issues of the company and also help the enterprise in
achieving the competitive advantage. However, it can also be analysed that BI critically examine the new
strategies introduced in the market and assist the organization to improve the efficiency, increase the
profitability and to achieve goals and objectives.
Illustration 3: Porter five force

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Ahmad, S. and et.al., 2020. Towards sustainable textile and apparel industry: Exploring the role
of business intelligence systems in the era of industry 4.0. Sustainability. 12(7). p.2632.
Niu, Y. and et.al., 2021. Organizational business intelligence and decision making using big data
analytics. Information Processing & Management. 58(6). p.102725.
Božič, K. and Dimovski, V., 2019. Business intelligence and analytics use, innovation
ambidexterity, and firm performance: A dynamic capabilities perspective. The Journal
of Strategic Information Systems. 28(4). p.101578.
Becerra-Godinez, J.A. and et.al., 2020. Identifying the main factors involved in business
intelligence implementation in SMEs. Bulletin of Electrical Engineering and
Informatics. 9(1). pp.304-310.
Ukhalkar, P.K. and et.al., 2020. Business Intelligence and Analytics: Challenges and
Opportunities. International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology. 29. pp.2669-
2676.
Nethravathi, R. and et.al., 2020. Business intelligence appraisal based on customer behaviour
profile by using hobby based opinion mining in India: a case study. Economic research-
Ekonomska istraživanja. 33(1). pp.1889-1908.
Khan, M.A. and et.al., 2020. Effective demand forecasting model using business intelligence
empowered with machine learning. IEEE Access. 8. pp.116013-116023.
Halim, K.K. and Halim, S., 2019. Business Intelligence for Designing Restaurant Marketing
Strategy: A Case Study. Procedia Computer Science. 161. pp.615-622.
Anand, J.V., 2020. A Methodology of Atmospheric Deterioration Forecasting and Evaluation
through Data Mining and Business Intelligence. Journal of Ubiquitous Computing
and Communication Technologies (UCCT). 2(02). pp.79-87.
Drushku, K. and et.al., 2019. Interest-based recommendations for business intelligence
users. Information Systems. 86. pp.79-93.
Moscoso-Zea, O. and et.al., 2019. A hybrid infrastructure of enterprise architecture and business
intelligence & analytics for knowledge management in education. IEEE Access. 7.
pp.38778-38788.
Zraqat, O.M., 2020. The moderating role of business intelligence in the impact of big data on
financial reports quality in Jordanian Telecom Companies. Modern Applied Science.
14(2). pp.71-85.
Online references
Company History. 2021. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.morrisons-corporate.com/about-us/company-history/>.
Business Intelligence Roadmap, 2020. [Online]. Available through:
<https://bistrategy.com/blog/business-intelligence-roadmap/>
Business Intelligence Graduate Certificate. 2021. [Online]. Available through:
<https://coles.kennesaw.edu/mba/business-intelligence-certificate.php>
Porter's Five Forces Analysis Tutorial. 2021. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.visual-
paradigm.com/tutorials/five-forces-analysis-tutorial/>

13