IM426 – BUSINESS CASES AND
CASE STUDIES IN MIS
27 – 29 May 2014
Compiled and/or Prepared by – Celeste Ng
CASE 8: RESPONDING TO “NEED
IT YESTERDAY” CUSTOMERS
WITH BI APPS
CASE 8: RESPONDING TO “NEED IT
YESTERDAY” CUSTOMERS WITH BI APPS (1)
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Custom fabrication=客製化製造
perforated and mesh metal=穿孔網狀金
屬
Commercial construction=商業建築
Metrics show profitability=指標顯示盈
利
Scattered throughout the organization=
分散在整個組織
Octopus with long tentacles=章魚長觸角
Cumbersome=笨重
Data integrity=數據完整性
Complex financial scenarios=複雜的金
融方案
Transactional data=交易性數據
Key performance indicators(KPIs)=關鍵
績效指標
Gross profit=毛利
Margins=邊際利潤
Customer inquiries=客戶查詢
Invoice counts=發票數量
Sales analytics=銷售分析
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Municipalities市
Wholesalers批發商
Inventory availability庫存供應
24-hour turnaround time二十四小時周轉時
間
Manual planning人工規劃
Manual budget手動預算
Spreadsheets電子表格
Reached throughout the organization’s
districts達到整個組織的地區
Executive dashboards執行儀表板
District managers區域經理
Extended擴展
Tracking of the profitability of all aspects
of the business跟踪業務的各個環節的盈利能
力
Intelligence and reporting requirements智
能和報告要求
Single web-based portal=單一以網路為基礎
的入口網站
Order dashboards=訂單的儀表板
CASE 8: RESPONDING TO “NEED IT
YESTERDAY” CUSTOMERS WITH BI APPS (2)
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The purpose of this case study:
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Illustrate how real business problem faced by a
company named McNICHOLS
(http://www.mcnichols.com/viewer.htm) was solved
using an information system (IS) – called IBM
Cognos 8 BI
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IBM Cognos 8 BI – integrates and consolidates
transactional data into executive dashboards to deliver
information to the management requiring it.
Reference:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wdfhelp/v6r1m0/topic/com.ibm.dashboard.
doc/dashboard_framework_getting_started.pdf
Reference:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wdfhelp/v6r1m0/topic/com.ibm.dashboard.
doc/dashboard_framework_getting_started.pdf
Reference:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wdfhelp/v6r1m0/topic/com.ibm.dashboard.
doc/dashboard_framework_getting_started.pdf
Reference:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wdfhelp/v6r1m0/topic/com.ibm.dashboard.
doc/dashboard_framework_getting_started.pdf
CASE 8: RESPONDING TO “NEED IT
YESTERDAY” CUSTOMERS WITH BI APPS (3)
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Describe McNICHOLS data and reporting
problems
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“Its manual quarterly budget process had become
unmanageable.
The manual method involved various MS Access
databases for different pieces of the budget and
spreadsheets scattered throughout the organization.
The budget lifecycle took weeks to manage, and given
limited resources to handle it, they were in rush
mode at the end of every quarter.
Collecting sales data and moving it into other
spreadsheets to feed into Access was very
cumbersome, and
Collecting sales data required constant review to
ensure the accuracy of the data.”
CASE 8: RESPONDING TO “NEED IT
YESTERDAY” CUSTOMERS WITH BI APPS (4)
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Why do you think the company was using Access
and Excel for its Intelligence and reporting
requirements?
Personnel skill perspective
 Software availability perspective
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CASE 8: RESPONDING TO “NEED IT
YESTERDAY” CUSTOMERS WITH BI APPS (5)
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Describle McNICHOLS’s business strategy, or
how it defines its competitive advantage. How
important is customer loyalty?
Strategy – manager are challenged to do more and
accomplish more with less. With BI, they can do so
with greater functionality and fewer resources
allocated to reporting and analytics.
 Customer loyalty can be improved – With BI, they
can provide the highest level of service to customers
internally and externally.
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CASE 8: RESPONDING TO “NEED IT
YESTERDAY” CUSTOMERS WITH BI APPS (6)
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Were resources improperly allocated under the
manual system? How has the BI system reallocated
and improved resources?
Resources improperly allocated because – budget process
required 7-10 days to complete at the end of each quarter;
and several hours in each month
 BI system reallocated and improved resources by –
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Enabling sales analytics ---- they are linked to budgeting
modules, making it easier for managers to monitor KPIs.
Integrated views of all business and financial data, provided in
a single web-based portal.
Improved accuracy and quality of data.
Marketing, production, and order dashboards that enable realtime tracking of the profitability of all aspects of the aspects of
the business.
Managers that have a good handle on actual transactions
forecasts, and targets
CASE 8: RESPONDING TO “NEED IT
YESTERDAY” CUSTOMERS WITH BI APPS (7)
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What might have been the business case for BI at
McNICHOLS?
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McNICHOLS requires a solution that –
Could provide trusted forecast to senior managers, enabling
them to make quick and effective decisions
 Could guarantee data accuracy, data integrity
 Could display complex financial scenarios, flexibility, and
ease of use
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