At its very core, the goal of gathering and analyzing business intelligence is for leaders to make better business decisions regarding their internal and external operational effectiveness.  By internal operational effectiveness, I am referring to how effective resources are being applied to day to day operations. External operational effectiveness refers to how well a firm adapts and capitalizes on the events and trends within their business environment.  However, before a firm can determine their overall operational effectiveness, a SWOT analysis, which is a strategic planning method that provides leaders a way in which to evaluate their firms Strengths and Weaknesses (internal factors), as well as their Opportunities and Threats (external factors), must be conducted.  

            There is little doubt that a robust Business Intelligence program, which functions include data mining, business performance management, benchmarking, and predictive analytics, assists leaders in making better business decisions with regard to managing risk and increasing business opportunities.  However, some studies suggest that as many as 87% of the business intelligence plans fail to meet their objectives. Couple that with a large-scale study of 400 companies in which business leaders noted a 50% gap between their organizations strategic vision and execution, and it becomes abundantly clear as to why so many businesses fail to make better business decisions.

            It is of course the leader that bears the overall responsibility for an organizations success or failure. Effective leaders, among other things, will take the necessary risks that many leadership decisions require. However, is it reasonable to believe that a leader can make effective business decisions with a sub-standard or nonexistent business intelligence program? There are plenty of high-profile business intelligence/leadership failures, whether in the government or commercial sectors, that invariably show leaders publicly apologizing for their failures, while at the same time pledging to fix the processes and systems that caused the failure.

            Unfortunately, most businesses do not have the financial resources, especially in this business climate, to recover from a capital intensive business failure. When you consider that over 95% of the businesses in the United States are deemed “small” business enterprises and produce over 50% of our nations Gross National Product (GNP), as well as create 50% of all new jobs in this country, you can see why it is imperative that they invest in the development of an effectivebusiness intelligence program.

            Again, a SWOT analysis, along with strong leadership, is the key to developing and maintaining an effective business intelligence program. With that in mind, the Global Business Committee of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a day-long professional development seminar on the 20^th of May, 2010.

            This seminar is specifically designed to meet the challenges associated with developing and implementing a business intelligence program that systematically increases a firm’s ability to expand their business opportunities while greatly reducing their overall risks. Attendees will have the opportunity to both network and learn from leading experts in a variety of specialties that will enable your firm to move your business forward in this very difficult market. 

 

Dr Gregory L. Cotton is a member of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce Global Business Committee and can be reached at gcotton@mag7technologies.com for comment about this article, or for more information about the Business Intelligence/Risk Management Seminar.