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Task Q9-1 How Do Organizations Use Business Intelligence (BI) Systems? 373
PRIDE Example
Faclon Security Example
Project Create a partnership program Expand geographically.
Management between PRIDE competitors and
local health clubs.
Problem How can we increase ad revenue How can we save money by rerouting
Solving from competitions? drone flights?

Deciding Which competitions generate the Which drones and related equipment
most ad revenue? Develop more of are in need of maintenance?
the best competitions.
Figure 9-2 Informing In what ways are clients using the How do sales compare to our sales
Example Uses of Business new system? forecast?
Intelligence

studied in Chapters 1– 6, Mateo may just want to know how Falcon’s current sales compare to the
forecast. He may have no particular purpose in mind; he just wants to know “how we’re doing.”
Moving up a row in Figure 9-2, some managers use BI systems for decision making. PRIDE
Systems could use BI on its competitive events to determine characteristics of the events that generate
the most revenue, and it could then conduct more of that type of event. Falcon Security could use a
BI analysis of flight failures to decide when it is time to service drones and related camera equipment.
(By the way, some authors define BI systems as supporting decision making only, in which
case they use the older term decision support systems as a synonym for decision-making BI
systems. We take the broader view here to include all four of the tasks in Figure 9-2 and will avoid
the term decision support systems.)
Problem solving is the next category of business intelligence use. Again, a problem is a
perceived difference between what is and what ought to be. Business intelligence can be used for
both sides of that definition: determining what is as well as what should be. If revenue is below
expectations, PRIDE Systems can use BI to learn what factors to change to obtain more event
attendance and more ad revenue. Falcon Security could use BI to determine whether it could save
costs by rerouting its drone flights.
Finally, business intelligence can be used during project management. PRIDE can be used to
support a project to create a partnership with local health clubs. When Falcon Security wants to
expand to new geographic locations, it can use business intelligence to determine which locations
will be the most advantageous.
As you study Figure 9-2, recall the hierarchical nature of these tasks. Deciding requires
informing; problem solving requires deciding (and informing); and project management requires
problem solving (and deciding [and informing]).

What Are Typical BI Applications?

This section summarizes three BI applications that will give you a flavor of what is possible.
Because business intelligence and the related term BigData are hot topics today, a Web search will
produce dozens of similar examples. After you read this chapter, search for more applications that
appeal to your particular interests.

Identifying Changes in Purchasing Patterns

Most students are aware that business intelligence is used to predict purchasing patterns. Amazon
made the phrase “Customers who bought . . . also bought” famous; when we buy something today,
we expect the e-commerce application to suggest what else we might want. Later in this chapter,
you’ll learn some of the techniques that are used to produce such recommendations.
More interesting, however, is identifying changes in purchasing patterns. Retailers know that
important life events cause customers to change what they buy and, for a short interval, to form