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Chapter 9 Business Intelligence Systems
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using y our KnowleDge

9-1. Using the knowledge gained from Q.9-1 about the dif- salespeople, so up-selling is not an option. What else
ferent uses of Business Intelligence, provide an in- might you do with information about these items’
stance where you have been recommended a certain lift? Consider advertising, pricing, item location in
type of product based on your viewing pattern on a stores, and any other factor that you might adjust. Do
particular shopping website. Also, state which BI ap- you think the lift calculations are valid for all stores
plication it corresponds to. in the United States (or other country)? Why or why
not? Are the 50 pairs of products with the highest
9-2. In your opinion, is it ethical to collect and disseminate and lowest lift the best place to focus your attention?
personal data by various mobile apps or other apps on What other 50 pairs of products might you want to
Facebook. In the era of smart phones and smart cars, consider? Explain.
etc. do you think we are more secure or are we faced
with a greater threat? 9-6. What do you understand by operational data? What
problems does it have? What did you come to know
9-3. Other than Microsoft power BI software, list ten other about inconsistency and missing values in the data after
BI apps that allow businesses and customers to explore reading Q 9-3. Based on that understanding, give an
dashboards and reports, etc. example of database taken from your university/ insti-

9-4. Explain the role of Business intelligence in increasing tute and highlight the problems of the operational data,
admissions to universities? How can BI assist universi- missing values and inconsistency in data taken.
ties to gain competitive advantage? What is the role of 9-7. Using Google search, identify the patterns of Predictive
data warehouses in the education industry? Analytics and Business Intelligence, and show the re-

9-5. Suppose you work at Costco or another major, na- sults. Also analyze the extent to which is BI is being used
tional big-box store; you do a market-basket analy- in prediction and how organizations are monitoring your
sis and identify the 25 pairs of items in the store online activities.
that have the highest lift and the 25 pairs that have 9-8. Recently Google Cloud Platform (GCP) was launched.
the lowest lift. What would you do with this knowl- As a student, how can you optimise the benefits of
edge? Costco (or your big-box store) doesn’t have GCP?

Coll abora tion exerCise 9

Using the collaboration IS you built in Chapter 2 (page 110), collabo- with the name and version of your browser. Read the
rate with a group of students to answer the following questions. instructions, and summarize the procedures that you
Read Case Study 9 (pages 413–414) if you have not already need to take to view the cookies issued from a given site.
done so. Undeniably, third-party cookies offer advantages to
online sellers. They also increase the likelihood that consum- 9-11. In large measure, ads pay for the free use of Web con-
ers will receive online ads that are close to their interests; thus, tent and even Web sites themselves. If, because of a
third-party cookies can provide a consumer service as well. fear of privacy, many people block third-party cookies,
But at what cost to personal privacy? And what should be done substantial ad revenue will be lost. Discuss with your
about them? Working with your team, answer the following group how such a movement would affect the valu-
questions: ation of Facebook and other ad-revenue–dependent
companies. Discuss how it would affect the delivery of
9-9. Summarize the ways that third-party cookies are cre- free online content such as that supplied by Forbes or
ated and processed. Even though cookies are not sup- other providers.
posed to contain personally identifying data, explain 9-12. Many companies have a conflict of interest with regard
how such data can readily be obtained. (See question to third-party cookies. On the one hand, such cookies
9-19, page 415.)
help generate revenue and pay for Internet content.
9-10. Numerous browser features, add-ins, and other tools On the other hand, trespassing on users’ privacy could
exist for blocking third-party cookies. Search the Web turn out to be a PR disaster. As you learned in your
for block third-party cookies for xxx, and fill in the xxx answer to question 9-10, browsers include options