Purpose: The purpose of this study is to enrich the literature, by increasing the understanding of how business intelligence (BI) initiatives can be aligned with the business strategy in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Thus, prior research is insufficient in terms of BI and IT alignment research in SMEs. To fulfill the purpose the following research questions were addressed: RQ1: What are the challenges when aligning business intelligence initiatives with the business strategy in SMEs? RQ2: How can the identified challenges be mitigated, when aligning business intelligence initiatives with the business strategy in SMEs?  Method: This study is a qualitative single case study carried out at a Swedish IT-consultant firm. The primary data was conducted through 15 interviews in three different interview iterations exploratory, semi-structured, and validation interviews. The semi-structured interviews were analyzed through a thematic analysis.   Findings: The findings of the study are divided into two parts, where the first part addresses BI utilization, implementation, and BI alignment challenges and mitigators in SMEs. Where five challenges were identified: (1) management support, (2) data quality and quantity, (3) strategic ambiguity, (4) measurability and KPIs, and (5) miscommunication and conflict. Moreover, the study identified four mitigators to the challenges: (1) driver identification, (2) champions, (3) communication, and (4) strong data foundation. In the second part, the findings are summarized and put in context in a BI alignment roadmap, that describes how BI initiatives can be aligned with the business strategy in SMEs. Implications: This study contributes to the immature research field of BI and IT/business alignment in SMEs. Identifying BI alignment challenges and how they can be mitigated, resulting in a BI alignment roadmap. The roadmap can be used as a guide for SMEs who want to align their BI initiative. Furthermore, BI consultants can use the roadmap as a material of discussion, to determine their client’s BI maturity or readiness. Moreover, the roadmap can be built upon to include more challenges or perspectives.  Limitations and future research: This study is limited in terms of data collection, in a single case study setting, which affects the generalizability. Therefore, future studies could expand the scope of the data collection, in a multi-case study setting. / Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att berika litteraturen genom att öka förståelsen för hur business intelligence (BI) initiativ kan anpassas till företagsstrategin i små och medelstora företag (SMF). Tidigare forskning är otillräcklig när det gäller anpassning av BI och IT i SMF. För att uppfylla syftet har följande forskningsfrågor behandlats: FR1: Vilka utmaningar finns det när det gäller att anpassa business intelligence till företagsstrategin i SMF? FR2: Hur kan de identifierade utmaningarna mildras vid anpassning av business intelligence initiativ till företagsstrategin i SMF? Metod: Denna studie är en kvalitativ enskild fallstudie utförd på ett svenskt IT-konsultföretag. Primärdata samlades in genom 15 intervjuer i tre olika intervjuiterationer, utforskande, semistrukturerade och valideringsintervjuer. De semistrukturerade intervjuerna analyserades genom en tematisk analys. Resultat: Resultaten av studien är uppdelade i två delar, där den första delen tar upp BI-användning, implementering och BI-anpassningsutmaningar och mildrande faktorer i SMF. Där fem utmaningar identifierades: (1) ledningsstöd, (2) datakvalitet och kvantitet, (3) strategisk oklarhet, (4) mätbarhet och nyckeltal och (5) felkommunikation och konflikter. Dessutom identifierade studien fyra lindrande faktorer för dessa utmaningar: (1) Identifiering av drivare, (2) förespråkare, (3) kommunikation och (4) stark databas. I den andra delen sammanfattas resultaten och sätts i ett sammanhang i en BI-anpassningsplan, som beskriver hur BI-initiativ kan anpassas till affärsstrategin i SMF. Bidrag: Denna studie bidrar till det omogna forskningsfältet BI och IT/affärsanpassning i SMF. Genom att identifiera utmaningar med BI-anpassning och hur de kan mildras, vilket resulterar i en anpassningsplan för BI-anpassning. Anpassningsplanen kan användas som vägledning för SMF som vill anpassa sitt BI-initiativ. Dessutom kan BI-konsulter använda anpassningsplanen som diskussionsmaterial för att fastställa kunders BI-mognad eller beredskap. Dessutom kan anpassningsplanen byggas vidare på för att inkludera fler utmaningar eller perspektiv. Begränsningar och framtida forskning: Denna studie är begränsad när det gäller datainsamling i en enskild fallstudie, vilket påverkar generaliserbarheten. Därför skulle framtida studier kunna utöka omfattningen av datainsamlingen, i en flerfallstudie.

Digital media används av miljontals människor dagligen för att använda olika tjänster. Den digitala utvecklingen är något som universitet kan utnyttja för att på ett smidigare sätt nå ut till sökande studenter samt redan studerande på universitetet. I studien undersöks sambandet av Business Intelligence (BI) och digital teknik på digital marknadsföring inom universitets olika informationssystem. Resultatet visade att digital marknadsföring är en viktig del av universitets informationssystem eftersom det ger möjlighet att nå ut till målgrupperna på ett effektivt sätt. Resultatet indikerade även att BI hjälper universiteten att få insikt i hur deras marknadsföringskanaler presterar och att identifiera de mest effektiva marknadsföringskanalerna. Vilket ger universitetet möjlighet att fokusera på de bästa kanalerna och justera marknadsföringen för att öka effektiviteten. Respondenterna använde olika kanaler, inklusive sociala medier, sökordsannonsering och webben för att nå sin målgrupp och justerade sin marknadsföring till specifika kulturella behov hos målgruppen. Digital teknik var avgörande för att samla in och analysera data från olika kanaler vilket bidrog till att förbättra marknadsföringen och attrahera fler studerande. Undersökningen indikerade på att vissa universitet delar stora mängder data som samlas in från marknadsföring/kommunikationsavdelningen på lärosätet till andra delar av universitets olika informationssystem och avdelningar, för att effektivisera samarbetet mellan områdena på lärosätet. Å andra sidan ansåg vissa universitets avdelningar att de inte hade lika stor nytta av den typen av insamlade data. Lagar som exempelvis GDPR indikerade en betydande påverkan på universitetens användning av BI och hur de får marknadsföra, samla in samt kommunicera sitt lärosäte. / Digital media is used by millions of people daily to access various services. This digital development is something that universities can take advantage of to more easily reach out to prospective students and already enrolled students at the university. This study investigates the effects of business intelligence (BI) on the work of digital marketing in connection with a university's information system. The result indicated that digital marketing is an important part of the university's information system as it provides the opportunity to reach target groups effectively. The results also indicated that BI tools can help universities gain insights into the performance of different marketing channels and identify the most effective ones. This gives the universities the opportunity to focus on the best channels and adjust their marketing efforts to increase efficiency. The respondents chose to use various channels including social media, search word advertising and the web to reach their target group and tailored their marketing to specific cultural and moral needs of the target group. Digital technology was pivotal in collecting the necessary data from various channels, which helped to improve marketing and attract more students. The study indicated that some universities share large amounts of data collected from the marketing/communications department at the institution with other parts of the university's information system and departments. This is to streamline cooperation between these areas at the institution. However, some university departments do not consider this type of collected data to be as useful. Laws such as GDPR have a significant impact on universities use of BI and how they can market, collect, and communicate with their institution.

Today, the construction industry handles and analyzes a lot of data manually. This can be a very time-consuming process that could be improved by introducing Business Intelligence (BI). BI is a technology that could visualize the current status of a company automatically, with the help of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).MVP Software is a company that has developed a project management tool, ”Projektportalen”, for companies in the construction industry. MVP Software would like to enhance their application with BI functionality.This thesis researches, through a case study, how BI functionalities could be integrated into the web application Projektportalen. The case study consisted of interviews and explorations of Microsoft’s product Power BI.The final result is a list of desired BI functionalities in Projektportalen. The result also consists of a suggested updated architecture of Projektportalen for a Power BI integration and how an example dashboard could be created. Actual implementations in source code could be conducted in the future to integrate Power BI. The example dashboard could also be further developed into a dashboard prototype. / Byggoch hantverksbranschen använder idag mycket manuell datahantering och manuell analys av data. Detta kan vara en tidskrävande process som skulle kunna effektiviseras genom Business Intelligence (BI). BI är en teknologi som automatiskt, med hjälp av nyckeltal, kan visa hur en verksamhet presterar och mår.MVP Software är ett företag som utvecklat projektverktyget ”Projektportalen” för byggoch hantverksbranschen. De vill nu utöka Projektportalen med BIfunktionalitet.Den här rapporten undersöker, genom en fallstudie, hur BI-funktionalitet skulle kunna integreras i webbapplikationen Projektportalen. Fallstudien bestod av intervjuer och enklare testkörningar av Microsofts produkt Power BI.Resultatet blev i slutändan en lista med önskvärda BI-funktionaliteter för Projektportalen. Resultatet består också av ett förslag på en uppdaterad applikationsarkitektur för att möjliggöra integrering av Power BI samt hur en enkel exempeldashboard skulle kunna skapas. Vidare tekniska undersökningar behöver göras för att ta reda på hur applikationens källkod ska utökas för att möjliggöra integrering av Power BI. Exempel-dashboarden skulle också kunna utvecklas vidare till en mer komplett dashboard-prototyp.

Digital marknadsföring genomsyrar dagens samhälle och är en viktig del i att företag förblir konkurrenskraftiga. I och med digitaliseringens ökning så ökar även informationsmängden som genereras. Business intelligence är ett system vilket kan presentera användbar information från en stor mängd data till användaren, som kan användas för bättre beslutfattande.    Denna studie har genomfört en fallstudie med syfte att undersöka i vilken utsträckning BI kan appliceras för att öka lönsamheten av digital marknadsföring.    Resultatet visar på att kunder initialt är negativt inställda till annonsering i sökmotorer, däremot kan attityden till annonsering förändras ifall annonseringen förmedlar något värde till kunden. Men för att skapa värde för kunden krävs kunskap, både om kundens beteende och om marknadsföringens påverkan. Det gäller att hitta rätt sökord för företaget samt att dessa sökord är tillräckligt individbaserade så att de matchar kundens sökning.  Studien har identifierat att det krävs mer än en effektiv digital marknadsföring för att öka konvertering, utan även andra faktorer har stor betydelse. Den största påverkan studien har kunnat identifiera är själva varumärket. Därmed för att öka konverteringar bör fokus först och främst ligga på varumärkesexponering och att utveckla effektiva marknadsföringsstrategier / Digital marketing permeates today's society and is an important part of companies creating unique competitive advantages. In addition, it has led to the growth of information digitally. Business intelligence is a system that generates useful information to the user of the system, which can be used to make better decision making    The study has been conducted by a case study, with the aim of investigating the extent to which BI can be applied to increase the profitability of digital marketing.   The results show that initially customers often think negatively about advertisements in search engines, the attitude towards advertisement can shift if the advertisement presents some sort of value to the customer. To create value knowledge is required, about customer behavior and marketing. It is important to find the right search words for the company and that these search words are sufficiently individual based, so they match the customer search.  Furthermore, the results show that to increase purchases there is more than to create effective digital marketing. The study has found that the brand has the biggest impact on customers. Therefore to increase purchases, the focus should primarily be on brand exposure and developing effective marketing strategies.

Bakgrund: Digitaliseringen och den informationstekniska utvecklingen har bidragit till förändrade arbetsuppgifter för många yrkesgrupper. Denna uppsats har valt att fokusera på yrkesgruppen controllers och hur utvecklingen har påverkat deras arbetsuppgifter. Utvecklingen av IT-systemen, Business Intelligence (BI) och Artificiell Intelligens (AI), anses ha en betydande inverkan på controllern då de förändrar arbetsuppgifter som i sin tur påverkar controllerrollen. Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att förstå hur informationsteknologins utveckling har påverkat controllerns arbetsuppgifter. Detta för att skapa en bredare förståelse för hur förändringar i arbetsuppgifterna i sin tur påverkar controllerrollen. Dessutom kommer utmaningar och möjligheter med användandet av IT-system att identifieras, med utgångspunkt i två olika system.  Metod: För att uppfylla uppsatsens syfte har en kvalitativ metod använts där sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med controllers har genomförts. Studien har tagit en abduktiv forskningsansats vid genomförandet av intervjuerna.  Resultat: Studien resulterade i att controllerns arbetsuppgifter har utökats i takt med informationsteknologins utveckling. Controllern ägnar sig idag åt mer stödjande aktiviteter, vilket i sin tur har utvecklat controllerns roll till att ses som en affärspartner. IT-system har främst möjliggjort för effektivitet i controllerns arbete med datahantering och dataanalys, men det finns även några utmaningar som informationsteknologin har medfört. / Background: The digitalisation and development of information technology have contributed to changed tasks for many professions. This essay will focus on the profession of controllers and how these developments have affected their tasks. The development of the IT-systems, Business Intelligence (BI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), are considered to have a significant impact on the controller as they change tasks, which in turn affects the controller role.  Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand how the development of information technology has made an impact on the tasks of controllers. This aims to provide a broader understanding of how changes in these tasks, in turn, affect the role of the controller. Additionally, challenges and opportunities associated with the use of IT-systems will be identified, based on two different systems.  Method: To fulfill the purpose of the essay, a qualitative method has been used, involving six semi-structured interviews with controllers. This study adopted an abductive approach when conducting the interviews.  Conclusion: The study found that the responsibilities of controllers have expanded in line with the development of information technology. Today, controllers are more engaged in supportive activities, which in turn has evolved the controller's role to be seen as a business partner. IT-systems have primarily facilitated efficiency in the controller´s tasks related to data management and data analysis, but there are also some challenges that information technology has caused.

Knowledge Management (KM) and Business Intelligence (BI) are topics, which are receiving much currency in the literature of academia and the general media over the past several years. This thesis explores KM from the perspective of the acquisition of business intelligence inside and outside the organisation. We do this by undertaking an extensive survey of the literature in the field. This thesis provides an overview of the major concepts, approaches, and issues as well as some experiences and trends of KM, covering both organisational and technological aspects. Firstly, chapter 2 discusses various definitions of knowledge and KM as well as related terms like tacit knowledge and intellectual capital, from a philosophical, a technological and a business point of view. Secondly, chapter 3, describes the major components of KM, from a process perspective, a func- tional perspective and a technological perspective. Important processes include the setting of appropriate goals; the creation, discovery, acquisition and capture of knowledge. The chapter also describes the storage of that knowledge in knowledge repositories, the classification, re- trieval, filtering and refinement of knowledge; the transfer and use of that knowledge. Finally, the chapter ends with how organisations may undertake the assessment, conservation and main- tenance of knowledge, and states that groupware, document management systems, intelligent agents, knowledge maps and expertise profiling are examples of technologies used in KM. iii The thesis then looks at the role of asynchronous groupware in enabling and harnessing the benefits of KM. Here, the research discusses how Information Technology (IT), and specifically, synchronous and asynchronous groupware, may be integrated with KM in a drive towards cre- ating BI. Chapter 4 also studies the term `business intelligence', with specific relevance to the identification of business opportunities, and the application of the concepts of intellectual capital (IC). Chapter 5 outlines the research methodology, which includes two surveys on KM awareness and KM practices in order to gauge the level of implementation and application of KM for adding value to organisations. The research methodology also employs a case study to validate the implementation of an aspect of KM collaboration and knowledge sharing. The findings from the surveys give testament to the level of awareness and implementation of KM in best practice organisations. Chapter 7 then presents the approaches to measuring IC, and BI used by firms employing knowledge management practices to maintain their competitive advantage. In chapter 8, the researcher analyses how KM presentations and implementation in organisations may be operationalised. In chapter 9, the research presents the research model, the KM-BI model, which is the seminal objective of this thesis. The KM-BI model uses the confirmatory factor analysis procedure, Proc Calis of SAS Institute, to present a measurement model. In seeking to clarify the argument being made, a model is confirmed and discussed in terms of the transformation process from KM to BI and the subsequent competitive advantage. iv / Business Management / DBL

Business Intelligence (BI) applications are consulted by their users on a daily basis. BI information obtained assist users to make business decisions and allow for a deeper understanding of the business and its driving forces. In a mining environment companies need to derive maximum benefit from BI applications, therefore these applications need to be used optimally. Optimal use depends on various factors including the usability of the product. The documented lack of usability evaluation guidelines provides the rationale for this study. The purpose is to investigate the usability evaluation of BI applications in the context of a coal mining organization. The research is guided by the question: What guidelines should be used to evaluate the usability of BI applications. The research design included the identification of BI usability issues based on the observation of BI users at the coal mining organization. The usability criteria extracted from the usability issues were compared and then merged with general usability criteria from literature to form an initial set of BI usability evaluation criteria. These criteria were used as the basis for a heuristic evaluation of the BI application used at the coal mining organization. The same application was also evaluated using the Software Usability Measurement Inventory (SUMI) standardised questionnaire. The results from the two evaluations were triangulated to provide a refined set of criteria. The main contribution of the study is the heuristic evaluation guidelines for BI applications (based on these criteria). These guidelines are grouped in the following functional areas: visibility, flexibility, cognition, application behaviour, error control and help, affect and BI elements. / Information Science / M.Sc. (Information Systems)

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The management of information has become an important field in the current business world. It is therefore not only important for organisations to gather data and information, but to convert this data and information into usable intelligence to improve their business. Now, more than ever, it is true that in business knowledge is power, or more specifically. the application of knowledge in developing new skills, innovation, creativity and human capital. This leads to the concept of business intelligence, the conversion of data and information to intelligence. Business intelligence can assist organisations to reach their information goals, as well as to implement and execute the corporate strategy. Some of the main business categories business intelligence can help drive include: revenue increases; profit increases; customer satisfaction; decrease in cost and risk; and market share gain. Business intelligence can be described as the marriage of business analysis and technology. It is important to recognise that there is more than one dimension to business intelligence and that it not only comprises of technology. Business intelligence can provide insight into what happened (the past), what is happening (the present) and what is likely to happen (the future). It further supports corporate performance management, the latest thinking on performance management. This study illustrates not only the value business intelligence can bring to organisations, but also the challenges in implementing business intelligence solutions, and the path organisations could follow to achieve a successful business intelligence implementation. Organisations should first understand what value business intelligence can deliver to the organisation, before they begin their business intelligence initiative. The value to the organisation should be well articulated to ensure continuous support from the top management and alignment with the overall corporate direction and strategy. The overall maturity of the organisation, also viewed from a systems perspective, plays an important role and organisations should not try to do too much too soon. The evolution diagram and business intelligence maturity model can guide organisations to understand their current status to make the right decision on the amount of change the organisation can manage in the implementation of the business intelligence solution. Organisations should be cognisant of the challenges to overcome in implementing a business intelligence solution. These challenges are significant aspects of the initiative. The business intelligence transformation roadmap, including the business intelligence implementation approach, will guide organisations through these challenges to ensure a successful implementation for the organisation. This study proves that business intelligence can add value to organisations if it is implemented as proposed in this document. The main objective of the study has been achieved, namely the development of a complete strategy to implement business intelligence. The study includes a holistic approach to business intelligence in the form of a business intelligence transformation roadmap. The roadmap can be used to engage executives in business intelligence implementations to help sell new initiatives or improve current business intelligence initiatives. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die bestuur van inligting is vandag 'n belangrike studieveld in die sakewereld. Daarom het dit noodsaaklik geword dat organisasies nie net data en inligting inwin nie, maar ook hierdie data en inligting in bruikbare intelligensie omskep ten einde hul besighede te bestuur en te verbeter. Nou, meer as ooit tevore, is dit in die sakewereld waar dat kennis mag is, of meer spesifiek, die toepassing van kennis in die ontwikkeling van nuwe vaardighede, innovasie, kreatiwiteit en menslike kapitaal. Dit lei tot die konsep van besigheidsintelligensie - die verandering van data en inligting in intelligensie. Besigheidsintelligensie kan organisasies help om hul inligtingsdoelwitte te bereik, en ook bydra tot die implementering en uitvoering van die korporatiewe strategie. Die hoofbesigheidskategorieë wat besigheidsintelligensie kan verbeter, is onder meer: inkomsteverhoging; winsverhoging; klientediens; kostebesnoeiing; risikoverlaging; asook 'n verhoging van markaandeel. Besigheidsintelligensie kan beskryf word as die samevoeging van besigheidsanalise en tegnologie. Daar moet onthou word dat besigheidsintelligensie meer as een dimensie het. Tegnologie is nie al dimensie nie. Besigheidsintelligensie kan insig bied in wat gebeur het (die verlede), wat tans gebeur (die hede) en wat moontlik gaan gebeur (die toekoms). Verder ondersteun besigheidsintelligensie korporatiewe prestasiebestuur, die nuutste denke oor die prestasiebestuur van organisasies. Hierdie studie beklemtoon nie slegs die waarde wat besigheidsintelligensie kan toevoeg nie. maar ook die uitdagings in die toepassing van die tipe stelsels, asook hoe organisasies dit suksesvol kan toepas. Organisasies moet eers die waarde wat besigheidsintelligensie kan toevoeg, verstaan voordat met die besigheidsintelligensie inisiatief begin word. Die waarde wat dit vir die organisasie inhou, moet baie goed verduidelik word om seker te maak dat die topbestuurspan die besigheidsintelligensie inisiatief ondersteun en dit op koers hou met die oorkoepelende korporatiewe rigting en strategie. Die ontwikkelingsvlak van die organisasie speel 'n belangrike rol in die rigting wat die besigheidsintelligensie implementering moet volg en die organisasie moet nie te veel te vinnig probeer doen nie. Die evolusie diagram en die model vir die besigheidsintelligensie-vlakke van ontwikkeling kan as riglyn dien om die huidige status van die organisasie te bepaal om sodoende die regte besluite te neem oor die mate van verandering wat die organisasie kan hanteer. Organisasies moet bewus wees van die uitdagings wat oorkom moet word in die toepassing van 'n besigheidsintelligensie oplossing. Hierdie uitdagings vorm 'n baie belangrike aspek van die besigheidsintelligensie-initiatief. Die besigheidsintelligensie transformasiepadkaart insluitende die implementering benadering, sal die organisasie deur die uitdagings lei ten einde 'n suksesvolle besigheidsintelligensie-implementering vir die organisasie te verseker. Hierdie studie bewys dat besigheidsintelligensie vir organisasies waarde kan toevoeg indien dit geimplementeer word soos wat in die dokument voorgestel word. Die hoofdoel van die studie is bereik, naamlik die ontwikkeling van 'n volledige strategie oor die toepassing van besigheidsintelligensie in 'n organisasie. Die studie sluit in 'n holistiese benadering tot besigheidsintelligensie in die vorm van 'n besigheidsintelligensie transformasiepadkaart. Die padkaart, asook die model vir die vlakke van ontwikkeling kan die organisasie deur die implementering lei. Die padkaart kan gebruik word om uitvoerende hoofde by die besigheidsintelligensie-inisiatiewe te betrek om sodoende nuwighede te help vestig of die huidige inisiatiewe te verbeter.

Sustainability including the reporting requirements is one of the most relevant topics for companies. In recent years, many software providers have launched new software tools targeting companies committed to implementing sustainability reporting. But it’s not only companies willing to use their Business Intelligence (BI) solution, there are also basic principles such as the single source of truth and tendencies to combine sustainability reporting with the financial reporting (Integrated Reporting) The IT integration of sustainability reporting has received limited attention by scientific research and can be facilitated using BI systems. This has to be done both to anticipate the economic demand for integrated reporting from an IT perspective as well as for ensuring the reporting of revisable data. Through the adaption of BI systems, necessary environmental and social changes can be addressed rather than merely displaying sustainability data from additional, detached systems or generic spreadsheet applications. This thesis presents research in the two domains sustainability reporting and Business Intelligence and provides a method to support companies willing to implement sustainability reporting with BI. SureBI presented within this thesis is developed to address experts from both sustainability and BI. At first BI is researched from a IT and project perspective and a novel BI reporting process is developed. Then, sustainability reporting is researched focusing on the reporting content and a sustainability reporting process is derived. Based on these two reporting processes SureBI is developed, a step-by-step process method, aiming to guide companies through the process of implementing sustainability reporting using their BI environment. Concluding, an evaluation and implementation assesses the suitability and correctness of the process model and exemplarily implements crucial IT tasks of the process. The novel combination of these two topics indicates challenges from both fields. In case of BI, users face problems regarding historically grown systems and lacking implementation strategies. In case of sustainability, the mostly voluntary manner of this reporting leads to an uncertainty as to which indicators have to be reported. The resulting SureBI addresses and highlights these challenges and provides methods for the addressing and prioritization of new stakeholders, the prioritization of the reporting content and describes possibilities to integrate the high amount of estimation figures using BI. Results prove that sustainability reporting could and should be implemented using existing BI solutions.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Making sense of the competitive environment has become an essential condition for organisational survival and growth. The nature of the competitive environment has evolved to a state that all companies in an industry have more or less the same access to information. It is the companies that translate that information into actionable intelligence that will have the best chance of a competitive advantage. However, few organisations have the resources to study every aspect of the competitive environment. Prioritisation is required to ensure that only those aspects of the competitive environment that will really contribute to the performance of a company are studied. Translating information into intelligence requires both a process and a focus. This study was used to derive a conceptual competitive intelligence process model to guide the operations of Old Mutual’s Competitive Intelligence (CI) function. The conceptual model presented is based on a literature study and details the required steps in translating available information into actionable intelligence. The literature study firstly defines the concept of competitive intelligence. Secondly, it describes the conceptual model. Finally, the literature study describes in more detail the first phase of the intelligence process, i.e. the identification of intelligence needs of the organisation, and the translation of those needs into topics that can be prioritised and operationalised for collection and analysis by the CI function. This process is referred to as the Key Intelligence Topics (KITs) process. The identification of needs was done by means of an empirical study and entailed personal interviews with members of the senior management team of Old Mutual. The most significant need identified in the interviews is for forward-looking analysis of industry trends and competitor strategies. The products of these analyses should suggest potential actions to the recipients or users. The interviews and business documentation on strategic and tactical initiatives were used to determine the key intelligence needs of Old Mutual. The process and framework of interpreting the intelligence needs into prioritised KITs is described in Chapter 4. However, on Old Mutual’s request, specifics pertaining to strategic initiatives and intelligence requirements derived from the empirical study have not been documented in this study. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Om sin te maak van die mededingende omgewing het ‘n noodsaaklike voorwaarde vir ‘n maatskappy se oorlewing en groei geword. Die aard van die mededingende omgewing het ontwikkel tot ‘n vlak waar al die maatskappye in ‘n industrie merendeels toegang tot dieselfde inligting het. Dit is slegs dié maatskappye wat beskikbare informasie kan omskakel in bruikbare intelligensie wat die beste kans op ‘n mededingende voordeel sal hê. Nogtans, weinig maatskappye het die beskikbare hulpbronne om elke aspek van die mededingende omgewing te kan bestudeer. Prioritisering word dus benodig om te verseker dat slegs die aspekte van die mededingende omgewing wat werklik ‘n bydrae sal lewer tot die welslae van die maatskappy, bestudeer sal word. Omskakeling van informasie na intelligensie benodig beide ‘n proses en ‘n fokus. Hierdie studie dien om ‘n konseptuele prosesmodel van mededingende intelligensie af te lei vir die gebruik in die Mededingende Intelligensie (MI) afdeling van Ou Mutual. Die voorgestelde model is gebaseer op ‘n literatuurstudie en beskryf die nodige stappe om beskikbare informasie om te skakel in bruikbare intelligensie. Eerstens beskryf die literatuurstudie die konsep van mededingende intelligensie. Tweedens beskryf dit die konseptuele prosesmodel. Laastens beskryf die literatuurstudie die eerste fase van die intelligensieproses in meer besonderhede, d.i. die identifisering van intelligensiebehoeftes van die maatskappy en die verwerking van daardie behoeftes tot onderwerpe wat geprioritiseer en in werking gestel kan word vir insameling en ontleding van informasie deur die MI afdeling. Dié omskakelingsproses is bekend as die “Key Intelligence Topics (KITs)”-proses. Die identifisering van behoeftes is deur middel van ‘n empiriese studie verkry, en behels die voer van persoonlike onderhoude met lede van die senior bestuurspan van Ou Mutual. Gedurende die onderhoude was die behoefte aan toekomsgerigte ontledings van industrieneigings en mededingerstrategieë geïdentifiseer as die grootste huidige tekorte. Voorts moet die ontledings voorgestelde optredes aan die ontvangers van die intelligensie bied. Die onderhoude, tesame met strategiese en taktiese dokumentasie, is gebruik om die sleutel intelligensiebehoeftes van Ou Mutual te bepaal. Die proses en raamwerk om die intelligensie behoeftes te vertolk in geprioritiseerde KITs word beskryf in Hoofstuk 4. Op versoek van Ou Mutual is spesifieke inligting soos deur die empiriese studie afgelei en met betrekking tot Ou Mutual se strategieë en intelligensiebehoeftes nie weergegee in hierdie studie nie.