Business Intelligence has many benefits, not directly attributed to the technology. Apart from providing current data and analytical capability, BI tools can help overcome cultural issues such as what Professor Josep Valor, Sabatier of the IESE Business School of Navarra, Spain, describes as the “dominant logic” of a company.
According to the professor, “dominant logic can stifle openness and receptivity to new ideas, practices and business models”.
When an organizations decision making gets too biased towards the so-called wisdom of experts or the more aggressive communication style of particular individuals, creativity and innovation are stifled. A wall of implied ego surrounds the expert and the A types build their own, effectively preventing the ideas and opinions of others in the organization expressing their own thoughts.
A good BI program helps to change the way decisions are made. Logic becomes less Socratic and more fluid, with multiple options being proffered and explored. Expertise is often developed at a point of time, and unless it is continually adapted to the changing environment, it can become as outdated as products and fashions. Concepts that failed in the past, may well have been ill-timed or incorrectly packaged. Re-launching it now may be a great success.
The logical organization ensures the voice of the many is not curtailed by the ego of the few. In this way, innovation and creativity are fostered from multiple perspectives and the golden goose may just lay again!