Business Intelligence Strategy: A Utilities Company Case Study

Literature Review

Davenport et al (2003) focused on 163 executives working in large enterprises around the world to identify how companies were using Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems to improve business performance and the specific practices that resulted in sustained value creation. They identified that the implementation of an ERP system resulted in sustained value creation however, some corporations realized far more comparable benefits than others. These benefits were directly related to the actions of management in regards to the on-going development and evolution of their ERP system. Furthermore, Davenport et al (2003) identified three major evolutionary stages in regards to grouping the types of benefits that could be realized through the adoption of ERP systems. These stages related to the firm’s processes being integrated and optimized, which in turn facilitated the information flows across the various functional areas of the business. The premise underling of each stage was for firms to:

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  Integrate: This stage reflects the unification and standardisation of data and processes. ERP systems can be used to better integrate business processes and the associated organizational units;

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  Optimize: Reflects a stage that aligns the business processes to the overall corporate strategy through the utilisation of embedded “best practice” processes which are enacted when an ERP system is adopted;

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  Informate: Reflects a stage were the information generated by the ERP system is used to transform work practices. This involves transforming the ERP systems data into context rich information to support effective decision making.