Lessons from BI in Public Institutions
The study in this article provides reasons why BI is not fully implemented in some organizations. The thematic approach to determining why the technological tools are or are not used by managers provides an actionable set of areas where improvements can be made. One aspect that may relate to our discussions on asking the right questions is, "do managers really need to know how to use BI tools?" In many organizations, managers have enough knowledge about specialized data and tools to know how to task their specialists (BI analysts, in this case) to use them to answer their requirements. This can give analysts too much power in organizations with poor systems, whose data quality is questionable, or with authoritarian cultures where analysts fear giving the "wrong" answer. But in a highly effective environment, managers manage, and analysts analyze.
Research design and methodology
Statistical data presentation
The electronic survey questionnaire was distributed to 524 level 4 managers, of which 211 managers responded. Eight level 4 managers were interviewed across the directorates. The interviews complemented the electronic survey questionnaires and provided a deeper understanding of the reason for SAP BI usage and adoption. The results and interpretation are presented next.