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ABSTRACT
While Knowledge Management (KM) has been subject of conceptual debate and empirical work, the related concept of Business Intelligence (BI) has not received much debate on its concepts, and has very little empirical work or testable propositions. Consequently, BI research has been slow to address the question of why some organizations have not gained business benefits from BI while others have. This paper studies the specifics of the interaction between BI and KM to create business value through decision-making. We develop specific testable propositions to be used in future empirical work and to help businesses gain value from BI.
INTRODUCTION
Both business intelligence (BI) and knowledge management (KM) have been promoted as enhancing decision-making and ultimately improving business value (McManus & Snyder, 2003). While some organizations have achieved these benefits, others have not (Davenport et al., 1997). KM research has provided specific propositions and guidelines on why these benefits have not been obtained and what to do about it, but BI research has been slow to address the question of why some organizations have not achieved the touted business benefits. In IS research, KM has been widely studied but BI has received surprisingly little attention, despite surveys showing that BI is a top priority for organizations in the coming years (Gartner, 2006). In particular, knowledge has been the subject of healthy debate on the definitions of the concept, while intelligence has not. KM research has provided several testable hypothesis which have been verified by later empirical studies, BI research has had very few testable empirical propositions, and consequently, very little empirical work.
This study addresses these gaps and focuses on the following research questions. First, what are the exact roles of BI and KM in the decision making process? Why have some organizations failed to achieve business benefits from BI? Are there any synergies between BI and KM in decision-making? How exactly do BI and KM improve business value through decision-making? This study addresses these research questions and makes several contributions. As an initial contribution due to the lack of clear definitions in IS research, we define intelligence in the context of business intelligence. Second, we analyze the roles that intelligence and knowledge play in decision-making. Third, we specify the role knowledge...