Business Intelligence in Enterprises: BIT355 Report Analysis

This report analyzes how various businesses leverage Business Intelligence (BI) tools, methods, and techniques to address critical problems and enhance decision-making processes. Part A examines how companies, including Giant Food Stores, GSK, United Sugars Corporation, Hoyt Highland Partners, Sense Networks, Alltell Wireless, and Vodafone, have utilized BI to improve pricing strategies, inventory management, customer location monitoring, and message delivery. The analysis covers the specific tools and techniques employed, such as Excel-based DSS, Acxiom PersonicX, RapidMiner, and mobile BI, and how they added value to the businesses. Part B focuses on two case studies: GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and United Sugars Corporation. GSK's use of BI to optimize inventory and enhance communication is discussed, along with the impact of technologies like Big Data and smartphones. United Sugars Corporation's application of BI to solve marketing and supply chain problems is also explored. The report highlights how BI has significantly improved operational efficiency, customer engagement, and overall business performance in these enterprises. This report provides insights into the practical applications and benefits of BI in diverse business contexts.

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My Sites BIT355 - Business Intelligence
Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Institution’s Name
Institution’s Location
Course
Date

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Part A
The types of problems/decisions that the businesses had to make using business
intelligence (BI) tools, methods, and techniques
Changing their pricing strategies
Some of the businesses had to make the decision of changing their pricing strategies for
them to replace the very old pricing strategies which were not effective enough with other
modern and better pricing strategies which would help them to attract more customers. One of
the businesses which had to change their pricing strategy was Giant Food Stores, LLC, which
had to change their 30-year-old pricing and promotion system which was labor-intensive and
thus could no longer keep up with the current pricing decisions that were required in the fast-
changing grocery market (DemandTec, 2009).
Improving their current decision support systems (DSS) to manage their inventories more
effectively
Some of the discussed businesses had to make the decision of improving their current
decision support systems for them to manage their inventories more effectively. Such businesses
included GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) company and United Sugars Corporation. To start with GSK;
this is a global pharmaceutical company that deals with different types of products which include
oral healthcare products, over-the-counter medicines, nutritional health drinks, prescription
drugs, among many other products. GSK improved its current decision support system by

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introducing an Excel-based DSS, which enables the company to evaluate and analyze many
what-if situations (Shang et al., 2008, pp.1-13). This consequently helped the company to
achieve better management of its inventories. To the United Sugars Corporation, the company
improved its decision support system by introducing hybrid DSS which contains several
simulations and optimization models, and with this hybrid DSS, the company highly optimized
and improved its processes of production, distribution, and inventory management (Cohen,
Charles, and Medaglia, 2001).
Improving their systems to monitor the location and the movements of their customers
more effectively
Some of the businesses had to make the decision of improving their systems for them to
monitor the location and the movements of their customers more effectively. The businesses
which made this decision include Hoyt Highland Partners and Sense Networks companies. Hoyt
Highland Partners is a known marketing intelligence company which helps the healthcare
providers in growing and improving their customer base. This company also helps the healthcare
providers to determine the best locations to offer their services. The company used Acxiom’s
PersonicX system to help their clients (healthcare providers) know the location of most of their
customers and thus determine the best locations to set their clinics. To Sense Networks, the
company has applied business intelligence to see the locations and the movement of clusters of
their customers, and with this knowledge, the company can make better decisions about their
sales and other critical decisions which are affected by the location and mobility of customers
(Baker, 2009, pp.42-46).

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Improving the ways by which messages are delivered to the customers and improving
customer growth and retention plans
By using business intelligence, some businesses, especially communication businesses,
have been able to improve the ways by which they deliver their messages to their customers and
have enhanced customer growth and retention. Some of the businesses which have managed to
achieve this include Alltell Wireless and Vodafone. To start with Alltell Wireless, this company
has been able to use Acxiom PersonicX system segmentation system which has enabled it to
cluster some of its most critical data in the US-based households. With the use of this BI
technology and other appropriate technologies, Alltell has been able to manage over 300 direct
marketing initiatives annually and can easily deliver its desired messages to its customers across
the whole country with much ease. Vodafone New Zealand Ltd., one of the main subsidiaries of
the UK-based telecommunications giant, has managed to use business intelligence to grow
tremendously where it has managed to attain more than 50% of the market share in New
Zealand. The company implemented an enterprise data warehouse (EDW) and used other BI
technologies and tools such as SAS, KXEN, and SPSS to build strong models and insights that
helped it to attract many customers and retain them (Krivda, 2008, pp.1-3). Therefore, BI has
been very critical in Vodafone’s growth and expansion in New Zealand.
How BI addressed the problems/supported the decision-making process
Different BI tools, methods, and techniques offered different solutions which could be
used to address some of the problems faced by the businesses. Also, some BI tools, methods, and
techniques helped to improve the already existing systems to be better and perform well to
accommodate the many changes which were being introduced in this ever-changing

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technological world. Therefore, BI addressed the problems or supported the decision-making
process by offering other better solutions which could be used to solve different solutions or help
in making better and more effective decisions which could address and solve different
issues/problems. It also helped different businesses to improve their already existing systems to
be more effective to solve various problems more effectively and make better and more effective
decisions.
The type of tools, methods, and techniques used and how they added value to the
businesses
Some of the main types of tools, methods, and techniques that were used were Ms Excel,
Acxiom PersonicX system, RapidMiner, mobile BI/visual analytics on SAS Viya, analytics
solver, among others. All these tools, methods, and techniques were very critical and added value
to the businesses in different ways. For instance, Ms Excel enabled some businesses to develop
modern Excel-based DSS which did what-if analysis more efficiently and more effectively and
this consequently helped the businesses to make better decisions which improved their overall
performance (Erdoğan, Stylianou, and Vasilakis, 2019, pp.113116-113119). Acxiom PersonicX
system helped the businesses in the geospatial analysis where they were able to locate the
locations or regions occupied by most of their customers and thus know where to locate their
businesses or services for them to reach as most customers as possible. RapidMiner helped the
businesses in data preparation, text mining, and predictive analytics which consequently helped
in the optimization of the products or services offered by the businesses which ended up earning
more customers and helped to retain the loyal customers (Ristoski, Bizer, and Paulheim, 2015,
pp.142-151). Analytics solver helped in optimization, data simulation, risk analysis, data mining,

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forecasting, prescriptive analytics, predictive analytics, among other important functions which
helped to improve the overall performance of the businesses. Mobile BI/visual analytics on SAS
Viya helped different businesses/companies to have better view and interpretation of their data
and information, especially the information presented using various visuals such as charts,
gauges, and tables. This better view and interpretation of the companies’ data and information
help the companies to make better and more efficient decisions in their operations (Stodder,
2015, pp.1-39).
Part B
The two selected enterprises or organizations are GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and United
Sugars Corporation whose inventories and other performance aspects have been greatly boosted
by the use of business intelligence (BI) in the enterprises
Case study 1 (GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
Introduction/summary
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is an international pharmaceutical company that sells different
products which include other-the-counter medicines, prescription drugs, nutritional health drinks,
oral healthcare products, among many other products. In the current global market, which is very
competitive, it’s crucial for organizations to have a wide range of products and in huge volumes
for them to attract many customers and make more profits. This is the case with GSK which has
many millions of customers across the whole world.
Business problems

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Although having a wide range of products which occur in huge volumes is very
beneficial to companies and helps them to get very high returns, there are some problems
associated with these high volumes of products. One of such problems is inventory problems
where it’s quite hard for such companies to have good and effective inventories which will
ensure everything is taken into account as required. This is the main problem faced by GSK,
where management of its detailed and complex inventories is quite challenging. The company
must address this problem accordingly to avoid making some losses due to inventory
mismanagement. The company has been trying to use BI to solve these inventory problems.
BI being used in innovative ways in the enterprises
BI has been used to develop optimal inventory policy
BI has been used by GSK to develop optimal inventory policy which is very crucial to get
high returns in this busy company. GSK has done a thorough analysis of its current inventory
policies to determine who they can be modified to maximize the output of the company. By
using BI in an innovative way, the company has been able to come up with the best and the
optimal inventory, which helps the company to realize high returns and profits.
BI has been used to develop Excel-based DSS which enables the company to make better
and more effective decisions
BI technology has helped the company to develop Excel-based decision support systems
(DSS), and by using these DSS, the company is able to evaluate most of its what-if situations
making good and highly profitable decisions which help the company to excel (Korovin and
Kalyaev, 2015).

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How the changing trends and technologies (such as Big Data, smartphones, cloud, social
networks, and RFID) have impacted (and modified) GSK’s business operations
Enhancing the communication process in the organization
The changing trends and technology such as smartphones and social networks have
enhanced the communications which happen in the company, as the employees and other
stakeholders can use these smartphones and social networks anytime to communicate with others
at any time when anything about the organization needs to be discussed.
Enhancing the way data is handled and utilized in the organization and improving the
overall performance of the company
The big data technologies used in the organization have improved the way the company’s
data is handled, stored, and utilized, and this has ended up improving the overall performance of
the company (Gandomi and Haider, 2015, pp.137-144).
How these changes would add value to the business
Improving the overall quality of the products and services offered by the company
Different BI technologies used in GSK have added value to the company/business by
improving the overall quality of the products and services offered by the company. By using
different BI technologies, the company can produce better products and more efficient services,
and this has ended up improving the popularity of the company.
Increasing the returns and thus the profits of the company

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As already stated above, the different BI technologies used in the company have helped
to improve the quality of the products and services of the company, which has consequently
boosted the popularity of the company. By becoming more popular, this company has earned
more loyal, and new customers and these many customers help the company to make more
returns and more profits. This has played a critical role in the growth and expansion of this
company to become an internationally recognized company.
Case study 2 (United Sugar corporations)
Introduction/summary
United Sugar Corporation is grower-owned cooperative headquartered at Bloomington,
Minnesota. This company distributes and sells its sugar and other sugar products to different
companies in the US. The company has been working extra hard to expand its market for it to
reach more potential customers.
Business problems
United Sugar Corporation has been facing different problems, among the main problems
being the problems of marketing and supplying its sugar and sugar products. The company has
tried to use BI effectively to address some of these problems, and indeed, it has managed to
address some of the problems successfully.
BI being used in innovative ways in United Sugar Corporation
BI has been used to solve the problems faced by the company

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United Sugar Corporation uses BI in different innovative ways to try to solve some of its
marketing and supplying problems. For instance, BI has helped the company to develop a
strategic model which enables it to identify the minimum-cost solutions for packaging, improve
the inventory management process, and improve the distribution process of its products.
BI has helped the company to make better decisions in its production and distribution
processes
BI has helped the company to come up with better decision-making models which have
improved the decision-making process of the company. This has consequently improved the
production and distribution processes of the company. For instance, BI has helped the company
to come up with a hybrid decision support system which consists several simulations and
optimization models, Web interfaces, and an ERP system. This hybrid and advanced decision
support system help the company to make better and more effective decisions about its
production and distribution processes.
How the changing trends and technologies (such as Big Data, smartphones, cloud, social
networks, and RFID) have impacted (and modified) United Sugar Corporation’s
operations
Improving the problem-solving strategies of the company
The changing trends and technologies used in the company have improved the strategies
and skills used by the company to solve some of its common problems. By using modern BI
technologies, the company has been able to make the best decisions which solve some of the
problems which used to look quite challenging to be solved fully.

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Improving the speed and efficiency of the distribution process
By using smartphones and some social networks, the company is able to communicate
with its customers in a timely manner and attend to their requests and orders as fast as possible
(Guffey and Loewy, 2010). Also, the distribution process has been significantly improved after
making better decisions and arrangements on how different products will always be delivered to
the customers. Therefore, the speed and efficiency of the distribution process have been
significantly improved after embracing the changing trends and technologies in the company.
How these changes would add value to the company
Earning the company more customers
Embracing these changes, which help to improve the quality of the products and services
offered by the company would add value to the company by earning the company more
customers. When the company gets more customers, its value is boosted as these customers
always get their desired products or services from the company increasing the overall returns of
the company.
Helping the company have a good relationship with its customers and other stakeholders
The changing trends and technologies discussed help to improve the overall performance
of the company. When the overall performance of the company is improved, good and strong
relationship is established between the business and its customers and the other stakeholders.
This adds value to the business as maintaining a healthy and strong relationship among the

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stakeholders of any organization is very crucial for the organization to keep on growing and
performing well.