Top Management Story

Writen by Kostis Panayotakis

Business intelligence infrastructures reduce the time needed to analyse situations and take actionable decisions. In a competitive environment, a Business may apply two alternative strategies, in order to build advantage:

• Attempting to prevail by applying a long term brute-force approach, expressed either through production-capacity building or through financial superiority.
• Attempting to move with speed and flexibility, in order to occupy competitive market positions and exploit opportunities which appear in the market, even if these positions may not build a sustainable long–term competitive advantage.

The brute-force approach often causes major damages, entails a high cost (e.g. in case of 'price wars') and bears a high risk since it requires large investments (e.g. in capacity building infrastructures). The approach to move with speed and flexibility in the market, aims to damage the ability of competition to react promptly. Evasion of costly and damaging 'confrontations' is also aimed. A transformation of international competition, from all-out confrontations to 'maneuver movements', is witnessed. In order to achieve successful business maneuvers in the market, prompt awareness and understanding of emerging opportunities is required. Business intelligence is therefore required.

Business intelligence is developed via infrastructures which supply promptly and accessibly market intelligence information, customer behavior information, cost structure information and emerging trends. The transformation of a Business from a slowly moving organization which is involved in long confrontations, to a flexible and fast organization, involves the development of Business intelligence. Since strategy aims at developing competitive advantage, the advantage in modern market economy is based on superior information which allows effective business 'maneuver movements'. At the information age, business intelligence infrastructures are a strategic weapon.

Copyright 2006 – Kostis Panayotakis