Case Analysis For MIS...
Case Analysis For MIS...
The case analysis is meant to show the student's ability to apply course concepts
and vocabulary to the business problem. Students are expected to use theories,
vocabulary, and models to describe the components within the case. The case should be
written in clear and concise language that shows the student's ability to synthesize course
material and relate it to business problems. The required format is below there are six
sections. Use the Bold Titles to begin each section.
This same format will be used in class to evaluate minicases.
Key Questions for the Case Analysis:
1. Overview
2. Problem/s
3. Alternative Solution
4. Evaluation of Alternative
5. Recommendation/s
6. Possible Results and Obstacles to
Spacing – 1.5
Margin – Left – 1.5”; Top, Right, Bottom – 1”
Font – Arial 12
CASE
BEN & JERRY’S, BIGELOW TEAS, AND BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
Organizations want information. Organizations need information. However,
information must be in an organized format that supports the creation of business
intelligence. Otherwise, according to Rebecc Wettemanin, vice president of
Research at Nucleus Research, “It’s like having a bank account with millions of
dollars in it but no ATM card. If you can’t get it [business intelligence] and can’t
make it work for you, then it is not really useful.”
In support of creating and using business intelligence, companies have
focused much of their spending efforts on business intelligence software and
data-mining tools. According to a Merrill Lynch survey in 2003 business
intelligence software and data-mining tools were at the top of the technology
spending list of CIOs. And according to A.G. Edwards, the market for that type of
software is expected to grow from $4.7 billion in 2003 to $7.5 billion in 2006.
Consider two companies – Ben & Jerry’s and Bigelow Teas – and their
approach to creating and using business intelligence.
Questions
1. Ben & Jerry’s tracks a wealth of information on each pint of ice cream and
frozen yogurt. If you were to design Ben & Jerry’s data warehouse, what
dimensions of information would you include? As you develop your list of
dimensions, consider every facet of Ben & Jerry’s business operations,
from supply chain management to retail store monitoring.
2. Databases are the underlying technology that allows Ben & Jerry’s to track
ice cream and frozen yogurt information. Based on your knowledge of
databases, what sort of tables or files of information would Ben & Jerry’s
need in its database? What would be the primary keys for each of those?
What would be the foreign keys among those to create the necessary
relationships?
3. According to the discussion of Bigelow Teas, part of the success of
Business Objects comes from its look and feel being similar to Microsoft
Excel. Why do you believe this is true? When introducing employees to
enterprise wide BI tools such as Business Objects, why it is an advantage
to have the BI tool look like and work like personal productivity software
tools? Why was a similar look and feel to spreadsheet software more
important than word processing or presentation software?
4. How could Bigelow Teas open up its business intelligence information to
its suppliers and resellers? What benefits would Bigelow Teas gain by
keeping its suppliers and resellers more informed with business
intelligence? What types of business intelligence would Bigelow Teas want
to exclude its suppliers and resellers from seeing? Why?