Understanding the adoption of business intelligence in decision-making within the IT distribution industry

Abstract

Demand visibility in the distribution supply chain is obscured for IT distributors because there is limited sight of the end-consumer. Therefore, it is important that distributors collect and analyse reseller data to obtain valuable insights. This assists in adding value to the supply chain. However, few South African distributors have adopted business intelligence (BI) which enables this analysis. Consequently, the objective of the study was to understand how senior management used BI to drive evidence-based decisions. The exploratory study employed qualitative methods to explore the adoption of BI among senior management in the South African distribution industry. A predominantly inductive approach was used to interpret the interview results. These insights created the basis on which the conceptual model of evidence-based decision-making was built. The findings were that critical success factors of BI adoption supported and extended the existing literature. Though the consistent adoption of BI was lacking, evidence was found in support of the information processing capability of BI. The presence of senior managementÕs absorptive capacity played a direct role in the successful adoption of BI. These provided further evidence that data-driven decisions required a combination of managementÕs ability to synthesise data and capitalise on the opportunities presented in the data. Data, used effectively, allowed for improved demand visibility within the distribution channel.