Question

What is BI and how can it be used to attain a competitive advantage? Use the mini-case "The Metropolitan Medical Group," found in chapter 10 of the textbook, as the basis for your response. Please cite your resources to support your position.

MINI CASE::The Metropolitan Medical Group (MMG) merged with the Oak Grove Medical Group(OGMG). The Oak Grove Medical Group has four offices and owns the medical office build-ing where their imaging and radiology lab and physical therapy and diagnostic laboratory cen-ters are located.Although the size of staffs in both practices is about the same, OGMG has a very different fi-nancial structure. Not only are their receivables a lot higher, but the aging of their receivables ismuch older. This has caused them to miss payments to their vendors, resulting in a higher ac-counts payable balance. Further analysis revealed that some of the doctors from remote officeshave referred patients for laboratory tests and to specialists outside the practice when these sametests or specialists are available internally at other offices.The room that houses the network servers is not climate controlled, secure, or backed upoff-site

Please give references. Thank you

Answer 1

What is Business Intelligence (BI):

Business intelligent refers to the tools and techniques used to convert the raw materials into meaningful information in a way that will help the business houses meet the competitive edge. The main purpose of BI is to make the raw data useful by converting it into meaningful information. The information can also be interpreted easily using the help of matrix and help predict the future.

How BI can be used to attain competitive advantage:

• With the help of BI more detailed and accurate information can be extracted out of the available data.
• Updates about the real business world can be made easily with the help of business intelligence software.
• The BI helps in predicting the future, as the data will be translated into meaningful information and presented to the managers from time to time.
• BI is useful in understanding the consumers insight as data about the consumers will be easily available at disposal.
• With the help of BI the cost of labor, inventory management, collection costs will be reduced, and thus improving the overall efficiency of the company.
• The previous consumer behavior can be studied and thus predictions about the choices of products in future can be made.