In six pages the ways in which FedEx would effectively utilize applications for business intelligence are examined. Six sources are cited in the bibliography.
Name of Research Paper File: MM12_PGbusin.rtf
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Alvin Toffler alerted us to the fact that information would be the next commodity and it would be information that separated the haves from the have-nots. He was right. Bill
Gates stated that the only way one had to differentiate their organization from others in the industry was to control and use information properly (Abukari and Jog, 2002). In
the 1990s, corporations began collecting information, all kinds of information, so much information that they really did not know what to do with it. Abukari and Jog charged that
companies invested huge amounts in "legacy systems" but it is almost useless to them because the "reporting and analytical capabilities of the legacy systems have continued to frustrate decision-makers because
they still concentrate on producing the traditional row-column reports that are of the "track and trace" type, rather than those that are rich in information" (Abukari and Jog, 2002, p.
45). Actually, what companies did was to collect data but they have had a very hard time translating data into useful information, particularly across functional areas (Abukari and Jog, 2002).
Enter a new segment of the industry - Business Intelligence Applications. It is these applications, these tools that help companies turn data into useful information, information on which
executives and managers can make decisions (Abukari and Jog, 2002). Abukari and Jog explain that business intelligence applications "help organize and package information in ways that enable managers to dynamically
explore, examine and analyze organizational data from a number of different perspectives" (Abukari and Jog, 2002, p. 45). Purba explained that "BI [Business Intelligence] examines hidden relationships and patterns between
data elements to find new opportunities for the organization" (2002, p. S28). There are numerous vendors in this arena who design, develop and produce business intelligence applications, such as Cognos,