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Chapter 12 Enhancing Decision Making 495

before the Zoo closes. As a result, the Zoo’s soft-serve in sales. Six months after deploying its business
ice cream outlets are open for the entire day. intelligence solution, the Zoo achieved a 30.7 percent
The Zoo’s Beer Hut concession features six increase in food sales and a 5.9 percent increase
different brands, which are typically rotated based in retail sales compared to the same period a year
on sales volume and the seasons. With IBM analyt- earlier.
ics, management can now instantly identify which
beer is selling best, on what day, and at what time Sources: Justin Kern, “Analytics: Coming to a Zoo, Museum,
or Park Near You,” Information Management, August 28,
to make sure inventory meets demand. Previously, 2012; IBM Corporation, “Cincinnati Zoo Improves Customer
it took 7 to 14 days to get this information, which Experience and Enhances Performance,” 2011; Nucleus
required hiring part-time staff to sift through register Research, “IBM ROI Case Study: Cincinnati Zoo,” July 2011; and
www.cincinnatizoo.org, accessed May 26, 2012.
tapes.
The Zoo’s ability to make better decisions about
operations has led to dramatic improvements

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS

1. What management, organization, and technology 3. How did the Cincinnati Zoo benefit from business
factors were behind the Cincinnati Zoo losing intelligence? How did it enhance operational per-
opportunities to increase revenue? formance and decision making? What role was
2. Why was replacing legacy point-of-sale systems played by predictive analytics?
and implementing a data warehouse essential to 4. Visit the IBM Cognos Web site and describe the
an information system solution? business intelligence tools that would be the most
useful for the Cincinnati Zoo.

• Business analytics toolset: A set of software tools are used to analyze data
and produce reports, respond to questions posed by managers, and track the
progress of the business using key indicators of performance.

FIGURE 12.3 BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AND ANALYTICS FOR DECISION
SUPPORT

Business intelligence and analytics requires a strong database foundation, a set of analytic tools, and
an involved management team that can ask intelligent questions and analyze data.

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