Manon Ghislaine Guillemette

What is Business Intelligence

There has been growing corporate interest in business intelligence (BI) as a path to reduced costs, improved service quality, and better decision-making processes. However, while BI has existed for years, it has difficulties reaching what specialists in the field consider its full potential. In this paper, the authors examine disparities in how the constructs of business intelligence are defined and understood, which may impede an understanding of what BI represents to business leaders and researchers. The main objective of this study is to clearly understand this emerging concept of BI. In this regard, the authors analyze articles from the scientific and professional literature to have a comprehensive understanding of business intelligence as both a product and a process. This research proposes a global overview of the conceptual foundations of BI, which can help companies understand their BI initiative and leverage them to the strategic level.

Hybrid RFID-GPS Real-Time Location System for Human Resources: Development, Impacts and Perspectives

Radio frequency identification (RFID), including real-time location systems (RTLS,) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are technologies that have evolved considerably in the past few years. These technologies have the potential to provide a means by which organizations can follow employees in real time. However, this permanent surveillance might have unpredictable impacts on the employee and on the organization itself. We followed the systems development research process to build a hybrid RFID-GPS system, allowing for the real-time location of human resources both indoors and outdoors. We tested this system in the security service of a Canadian university and we explored the impacts on the workgroup and its employees. Our results showed that this kind of system can work in a genuine context, and that it has distinct impacts on the individual and on the organization which are usually not observed with more traditional information systems.

Defining decision making process performance: Conceptualization and validation of an index

Abstract Many studies have demonstrated the impact of information technology (IT) on decision making but few have used decision making process performance (DMPP) as a dependent variable. Our study proposes a rich formative conceptualization of DMPP, a valid and reliable measure for this construct, and studies its influence on the quality of decision making. The results show that DMPP is a formative second-order aggregate construct composed of procedural rationality, exhaustivity of the information analyzed, openness of spirit, and effort. This study illustrates the importance of building proper definitions of constructs and contributes to the development of shared meaning in IS.

When Competitive Intelligence Meets Geospatial Intelligence

Given current economic uncertainties, it is important for enterprises to efficiently generate new knowledge and apply it in their products and services. In this regard, there is at least one source of assets that remains underutilized: data. An enterprise may be able to improve its competitive position by developing a better understanding of the value of its data, and competitive intelligence may prove very useful in this regard. Our study sought to identify, among some 40 competing analytical methods, those that may be enhanced by geospatial intelligence capabilities. We began by identifying the key criteria and dimensions and then determined the most promising approaches. Our results demonstrate that geospatial intelligence may serve competitive intelligence by improving and integrating certain dimensions of competitive analyses, and, in the process, efficiently identify business opportunities.