Running head: UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE 1

Understanding Business Intelligence

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(University’s Name)
 UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE 2

CASE 1: Business Intelligence Software at SYSCO

The largest food service organization, SYSCO has decided to buy a business intelligence (BI)
software. This is a technology that is intended to offer higher analysis as well as monitoring capabilities.
Twila Day is supposed to determine the costs of purchasing the software and its implementation. This case
helps to know how large corporations select, use, and advantage from the enterprise-level software. The
effective application of the BI software would be extremely and a beneficial competitive differentiator for
the SYSCO. This is because SYSCO has a long functioning history as well as industry leadership. Thus,
the organization is more likely to have greatest depth and comprehensiveness of data.

SYSCO company is in the Food Services industry (Plunkett, 2009). It offers customized
merchandise solution to both fast food chains and restaurants. Based on its SWOT analysis, SYSCO has
the strengths of strong brand portfolio, reliable suppliers and a strong cash flow. However, its financial
planning is not done appropriately and efficiently thus presenting the weaknesses of the company. The
Porters Five Forces highlights how SYSCO can build its sustainable competitive in the Food industry.
First, threats to new entrants would result to innovation and new techniques of business operation (Martin,
2014). This will pressure SYSCO through lowering its pricing strategy, reduction of costs, and offering
new value schemes to its customers. Second, based on bargaining power of suppliers, the suppliers in their
central position can reduce margins SYSCO would earn in the market. Suppliers use negotiating powers
so as to extract increased prices from the food industry thus lowering the overall profitability of firms like
SYSCO. Third, based on the bargaining power of buyers, buyers are habitually demanding lot and want to
purchase best offerings by paying lowest prices. This has pressure on SYSCO’s profitability in its long
run. Fourth, threats of substitute products are when a new service or product similar to what SYSCO
customer’s needs will result to industry profitability challenges. Lastly, rivalry among existing
competitors in the industry will cause reduction of prices and profitability of the food industry. Therefore,
implementation of the BI system will help SYSCO to closely examine its customer’s ordering and
leveraging its market position with the help of data mining.
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References

Martin. (2014, August 19). Threat Of New Entrants | Porter’s Five Forces Model. Retrieved from

Cleverism: https://www.cleverism.com/threat-of-new-entrants-porters-five-forces-model/

Plunkett, J. W. (2009). Plunkett's Food Industry Almanac 2009: The Only Comprehensive Guide to Food

Companies and Trends. Plunkett Research.

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CASE 2: SAS: Leadership in Business Intelligence

SAS is one of the known companies in the world that deal with software vending. It is mainly
involved in the development and sale of business intelligence software packages. It also produces analytic
software. Jim Goodnight is recognized for managing the form over the years it has been in operation. He
has employed strategies to aid in the execution of business operations of the firm. Setting up a wide range
of employee facilities and benefits led to the firm gaining a reputation as one of the best places to work in
in the United States. The business used a subscription business model to sell its software services to the
customers. They maintained a proper relationship with their customers over time. This built up customer
loyalty. The flat organizational structure aided significantly in the running of business operations (Littell,
2013). The business has managed to gain sufficient business intelligence out of its effective management.

The major strength of the firm is its management which seems to have adopted proper strategies to
facilitate its operations. The management is very effective in overseeing all the firm’s operations. The
major weakness is the withdrawal of the major stakeholders and shareholders who withdraw their shares.
It threatens the company’s stability greatly. The growing trends in Information Technology is the major
opportunity for the company. It will be able to sell more software product to different customers. the
company is faced by the threat of competitors in the market. It has to strive to gain a competitive
advantage in the market (Sigmon, 2014). Utilizing its strengths and opportunities to counter threats and
weaknesses will be an effective strategy for the company. The Michael Porter forces include threat of new
entrants, the bargaining power of customers, threat of substitute products, competitor rivalry, and the
bargaining power of suppliers. New software products that may be similar to the ones SAS already
produces may be introduced into the market hence creating a stiffer co petition for the organization. The
bargaining power of customers may influence the pricing of the products. Customers may be able to
persuade the organization to sell at a low price. Substitute products may lead to the users of the
organization’s products leaving them for the other alternatives they may have. The strength of the
competitors grossly influences to company’s market position. The suppliers may be powerful enough to
keep their supply to the organization constant without failure. Employing the Michael Porter strategies
would be a counter measure of the situation at hand. Product differentiation would deal with the threat of
the competitors. Producing at minimal costs would enhance the profits made (Baker, 2016). Widening the
scope would get more customers for the company hence more sales which would translate to more profits.
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References

Baker, M. J. (2016). Marketing strategy and management. Palgrave Macmillan.

Littell, R. C. (2013). SAS. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Sigmon, B. S. (2014). Using a SWOT Analysis: Taking a Look at Your Organization.