Preface ....................................................... xix
Acknowledgments ............................................. xxiii
Chapter 1 Introduction ......................................... 1
Why This Book? .................................................. 1
ICT Has Grown Up ............................................. 1
A Practical Approach ......................................... 2
Hands-On Issues, Questions, and Methods ...................... 2
Figures Don't Explain Everything ............................. 4
What I Mean by "Business Intelligence" .......................... 4
From Decision Support to Information Democracy ............... 4
A Definition ................................................. 6
Scope of This Book ........................................... 6
What Does a BA4BI Do? ........................................... 7
Defining the Concept "Business Analyst for Business
Intelligence" ................................................ 8
"How" Career Path ......................................... 9
"Where" Career Path ...................................... 11
"C-Level" Career Path .................................... 11
Structure of This Book ......................................... 11
Principal Aspects ........................................... 14
Strategy Formulation and Formation ....................... 14
Strategy Implementation .................................. 14
Developing a Marketing Strategy .......................... 14
Financial Perspective .................................... 15
Operations Strategy ...................................... 15
HRM and BI ............................................... 15
Business Intelligence Framework .......................... 16
Introducing a BI Project ................................. 16
Typical Business Analysis Project Flow ................... 17
Business Intelligence Processes .......................... 18
Tips, Tricks, and a Toolbox ................................. 21
BI System ................................................... 21
Chapters of This Book .......................................... 22
Macroscopic View of Business Intelligence ................... 22
Increasing Cycle Speed of Growth and Its Laws ............ 22
Balancing the 5 Ps of Strategic Management ............... 23
Adapting BI to the Organization's Configuration .......... 23
Understanding the 4 Cs ................................... 23
Business Case for Business Intelligence .................. 24
Business Analysis and Management Areas ...................... 24
BI and Cost Accounting ................................... 24
BI and Financial Management .............................. 24
BI and Operations Management ............................. 24
BI and Marketing Management .............................. 24
BI and Human Resources Management ........................ 25
Business Analysis and the Project Life Cycle ................ 25
Starting a BI Project .................................... 25
Managing the Project Life Cycle .......................... 25
Mastering Data Management ................................ 25
Mastering Data Quality ................................... 25
Business Analyst's Toolbox .................................. 26
Project Direction Document Template ...................... 26
Interview Summary Template ............................... 26
Business Case Document Template .......................... 26
Business Analysis Deliverables Template .................. 26
Project Charter Document Template ........................ 27
Best Practice Sharing Template ........................... 27
Generic Interview Guide .................................. 27
Generic Business Object Definitions ...................... 28
Appendices Overview ......................................... 28
Appendix A: What to Ask on Your Job Interview ............ 28
Appendix B: Business Intelligence from 1960 to Today ..... 28
Appendix C: The 101 on Data Warehousing .................. 28
Appendix D: Survey for a BI Project ...................... 28
Chapter 2 The Increasing Cycle Speed of Growth and Its Laws ... 29
Introduction ................................................... 29
Growth Has a Price .......................................... 29
Useful Lifespan of the PLC ............................... 29
Three Deltas ............................................. 30
Time, the Essential Strategic Factor .................. 31
Business Analysis Issues ................................. 32
First Law: The Triangle of Knowledge, Growth, and Strategy
Processes ..................................................... 32
The Knowledge Exchange Process .............................. 35
Reciprocity .............................................. 36
Long-Term Perspectives ................................... 36
Fewer Hierarchies ........................................ 36
Measuring Reciprocity ....................................... 37
Organizational Drivers ................................... 37
Personnel Drivers ........................................ 37
Business Analysis Issues .................................... 38
Second Law: Your Narrow Choice between Two Options ............. 39
Focus ....................................................... 39
Conquest .................................................... 40
Retreat ..................................................... 40
Redeploy .................................................... 42
Strategy Continuum .......................................... 42
Business Analysis Issues .................................... 43
Third Law: Any Organization Optimizes Two Extremes ............. 45
Value Chain Revisited ....................................... 46
Business Analysis Issues .................................... 48
What Defines Overall Cost Leadership? .................... 48
What Defines Differentiation? ............................ 49
Fourth Law: Measure Only What You Can Measure But .............. 49
Experiment .................................................. 50
Results .................................................. 51
Conclusion ............................................... 51
Business Analysis Issues .................................... 51
A Few Tips ............................................... 52
Fifth Law: There Is Always a Dominant Source ................... 52
The Strategic Apex .......................................... 53
Exploring Alternatives and Options ....................... 53
Functional Management ....................................... 53
Marketing versus Finance ................................. 54
Finance versus Operations ................................ 54
Operations versus Marketing .............................. 54
Operational Layer ........................................... 55
Bottom-Up Strategy Formation ............................. 55
Cybernetic Feedback Loops ................................ 56
Sixth Law: IT Is Here to Stay .................................. 59
IT Can Create Competitive Advantages ........................ 59
Alignment Movement .......................................... 60
Business Analysis Issues .................................... 61
Chapter 3 Balancing the 5 Ps of Strategic Management .......... 63
Introduction ................................................... 63
The 5 Ps and Their Interaction ................................. 64
Managing Strategy .............................................. 66
Three Strategy Management Styles ............................ 66
The Linear Style ......................................... 66
The Judgmental Style ..................................... 67
The Bargaining Style ..................................... 67
Conclusion ............................................... 68
Strategy Management Styles and Plan-Pattern-Ploys ........... 69
Choosing the Center of Gravity ........................... 71
Chapter 4 Adapting BI to the Organization's Configuration ..... 73
Introduction ................................................... 73
Mintzberg's Configurations ..................................... 73
Mintzberg's Lessons for Business Intelligence .................. 74
Business Analysis Issues .................................... 76
Chapter 5 Understanding the 4 Cs .............................. 79
Introduction ................................................... 79
Applying the 4 С Perspective on Functions ...................... 81
4 Cs: The Foundation of a Balanced Scorecard ................... 81
Business Analysis Issues .................................... 83
Chapter 6 Business Case for Business Intelligence ............. 85
Introduction ................................................... 85
Basics of Information Economics ................................ 86
Illustrating IE with a Business Case ........................... 87
From a Process to a Marketing Culture ....................... 88
First Conclusion: Save on Reporting Operations ........... 88
Second Conclusion: Churn Reduction through
Better Customer Analysis ................................. 89
Third Conclusion: Better Prospect Qualification .......... 90
Generic Advantages of Business Intelligence .................... 93
Improved Communication Effectiveness ........................ 94
Improved Data Quality ....................................... 94
Common Engineering Models ................................ 94
Product Data Models ...................................... 95
Customer Data Models ..................................... 95
Better Understanding of Available Data ...................... 96
Smarter Extraction and Exchange of Data ..................... 96
Better Understanding of the Business Processes .............. 97
Chapter 7 BI and Cost Accounting .............................. 99
Setting up an ABC System Using BI .............................. 99
Assemble All Sources of Cost Registration ................... 99
Validate the Consistency ................................... 100
Assign the Sources in a Meaningful Way ..................... 100
Eight Steps for Cost Assignment ......................... 101
Consider the Alternatives during the Cost Assignment
Process ................................................. 102
Express Assumptions ........................................ 103
Communicate the Results and Validate Them in the Field ..... 103
Pros and Cons of Activity-Based Costing .................... 104
Pros .................................................... 104
Cons .................................................... 104
Closer Look at ABC Source Systems ............................. 105
Accounting System .......................................... 105
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System .................. 105
Product Data Management Systems ............................ 105
Budgeting Systems .......................................... 107
Time Registration and Access Systems ....................... 107
Payroll Systems ............................................ 107
Warehouse Management Systems ............................... 108
Inventory Management Systems ............................... 108
Document Management Systems ................................ 108
Setting up ABC Analysis in the Data Warehouse ................. 109
Conclusion .................................................... 110
Chapter 8 BI and Financial Management ........................ 111
The 101 on Financial BI Deliverables .......................... 111
Keep Your SOX On! ............................................. 112
Data Lineage ............................................... 113
Mutual Adjustment .......................................... 114
Understanding the Business Process Flows ................... 114
Business Analysis for Financial Reporting ..................... 115
Chart of Accounts .......................................... 115
Required Reports ........................................... 116
Certified Reports ....................................... 117
Analytical and Explorative Reports ...................... 117
Finance Reports Connected to Other Subject Areas ........ 118
Special Attention for Slowly Changing Dimensions ........... 121
Special Attention for Presentation Options ................. 122
Business Analysis Issues ................................... 123
Chapter 9 BI and Operations Management ....................... 125
The 101 on Operations Management .............................. 125
Customer Order Point (COP) ................................. 125
Forecasting ................................................ 127
Optimization of the Supply Chain ........................... 128
Business FAQs ........................................... 128
Quality Management ......................................... 129
Setting up Outsourcing Analysis ............................ 129
Production Management and Information Architecture ............ 130
MRP II Software ............................................ 130
Capacity Management Software ............................... 132
Network Planning Software .................................. 133
A Basic Concept of IS for Production Management ............ 133
What to Measure ............................................... 134
First Example: Physical Goods Transport .................... 134
Second Example: Inventory Management Systems ............... 137
s,Q or the Two-Bin System ............................... 137
s,S ..................................................... 138
R,S ..................................................... 138
R,s,S ................................................... 138
Basic Supply Chain Report Requirements ........................ 138
Introduction ............................................... 138
Total Cycle and Optimum Variable Cost ...................... 139
Rotation of Supplies .................................... 139
Rotation of Production .................................. 139
Rotation of Customers ................................... 140
Rotation of Purchases and Subcontractors ................ 140
Total Cycle = Rotations + RotationPR + Rotationc -
RotationP Optimum Total Variable Costs .................. 140
EOQ with Partial Deliveries ................................ 140
Product Analysis ........................................... 141
Supplier Analysis .......................................... 141
Setting up a Forecasting System Using BI ...................... 142
General Recommendations .................................... 143
Forecasting Can Have a Thorough Impact .................. 143
Forecasting Is a Total Process .......................... 144
Defining the KPIs for a Forecasting System ................. 144
Cost Justification for Forecasting ......................... 146
Step 1: Collect the Data ................................ 146
Step 2: Decide on the Grain ............................. 147
Step 3: Integrate the Data .............................. 147
Step 4: Select the Data ................................. 147
Step 5: Prepare the Data ................................ 147
Step 6: Choose and Develop the Model .................... 148
Step 7: Validate the Model .............................. 148
Step 8: Evaluate the Model in Detail .................... 148
Step 9.1: Evaluate the Results: Improved Delivery
Performance .......................................... 148
Step 9.2: Evaluate the Results: Reduction in
Inventory Carrying Costs ............................. 149
Step 9.3: Do a Complete Cost of Ownership
Analysis ............................................. 130
Step 9.4: Calculate the ROI ............................. 150
Business Analysis Issues ................................... 151
General Remarks ......................................... 151
Questions and Issues to Be Addressed .................... 152
Chapter 10 BI and Marketing Management ........................ 153
Introduction .................................................. 153
What Do We Mean by "CRM"? ..................................... 153
What Do We Mean by Behavior Analysis? ......................... 154
Can We Learn from Past Failures? .............................. 155
When Operations Leads the Dance ............................ 156
When Finance Leads the Dance ............................... 156
When Overly Complex Sales Models Are the Rule .............. 156
When BI Is Used for the Wrong Reasons ...................... 158
How BI Can Contribute to Marketing Management ................. 159
Market Research ............................................ 160
Affinity Analysis .......................................... 160
Direct Product Profitability (DPP) ......................... 161
Product Development ........................................ 162
Sales ...................................................... 164
Sales Promotion ............................................ 164
Customer Service ........................................... 165
Channel Management ......................................... 165
Retail Marketing ........................................... 165
Industrial Marketing ....................................... 166
Professional Services Marketing ............................ 167
Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Marketing ....................... 167
Consumer Investment Goods Marketing ........................ 168
Pharmaceutical Marketing ................................... 168
OTC Products Marketing .................................. 169
Ethical Drugs Marketing ................................. 169
Business Analysis Issues ................................... 169
Check the CRM Data ...................................... 169
Check the Behavioral Analysis Status .................... 170
Market Research ......................................... 170
Affinity Analysis ....................................... 170
Direct Product Profitability ............................ 170
Product Development ..................................... 170
Sales ................................................... 170
Sales Promotion ......................................... 171
Customer Service ........................................ 171
Channel Management ...................................... 172
Retail Marketing ........................................ 172
Industrial Marketing .................................... 172
Professional Services Marketing ......................... 173
Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Marketing .................... 173
Consumer Investment Goods Marketing ..................... 173
Pharmaceutical Marketing ................................ 174
Chapter 11 BI and Human Resources Management .................. 175
The War for Talent and How to Lose It ......................... 175
Disconnect Strategy Planning Process—Competence
Management ................................................. 176
A Lack of ERM Strategies ................................ 177
Kurieren am Symptom ..................................... 177
Managing Absenteeism .......................................... 178
Introduction ............................................... 178
Absenteeism Measures ....................................... 179
How BI Can Lend a Hand ..................................... 180
Business Analysis Issues ................................... 183
Security ................................................ 183
"Hard" KPIs ............................................. 183
"Soft" KPIs ............................................. 184
Questions for the HRM Department ........................... 184
Chapter 12 Starting a BI Project .............................. 187
Overview ...................................................... 187
An Iterative Process ....................................... 187
Mapping the Process Stages on the Business Analysis
Issues .................................................. 188
Creating the Need .......................................... 190
Expectations: In Search of the Business Value ........... 191
Funding the Business Intelligence Project ............... 194
Probing for the Motivation .............................. 195
Focus on the Expectations through the Entire Project .... 195
Formal Things Customers Want ............................ 197
Informal Things Customers Want .......................... 197
Handle Queues ........................................... 198
Close Loops ............................................. 198
Gathering the Information ..................................... 199
Study the Terrain .......................................... 199
Who You Need to Know ....................................... 200
What You Need to Know ...................................... 200
Analyzing the Decision-Making Processes ....................... 201
Introduction ............................................... 201
Decisions, Teams, and Groups at Work ....................... 203
A Classification of Decision-Making Environments ........ 203
Process View ............................................ 203
What Drives the Decision-Making Process ................. 204
Heuristics .............................................. 205
Stereotyping, the Dark Force ............................ 206
Group Decision Making ................................... 208
Organizational Change ...................................... 213
Make the Trade Profitable ............................... 213
Make Them Dream ......................................... 213
Use Positive Feedback ................................... 214
Phase Out the Old Systems, Fast ......................... 214
Form a Coalition of the Willing ......................... 214
Adapt to the Organization's Risk Profile ................ 214
Prepare for Setbacks .................................... 215
Mintzberg's Management Myths ............................... 215
What Do We Learn from This for Our BI Projects? ......... 216
Conclusion ................................................. 217
Business Analysis Issues ................................... 217
Producing the Documents ....................................... 218
Project Direction Document ................................. 218
Interview Summaries ........................................ 219
Business Requirements ...................................... 219
Business Case .............................................. 219
Project Charter ............................................ 220
Validating the Results ........................................ 220
"I Wanted Performance!" .................................... 220
"Why Do I Need the Full Client?" ........................... 221
"Now That I See the Results..." ............................ 221
Check the Business Case ................................... 221
Support and Maintenance ....................................... 221
Validation ................................................ 222
Vision Support ............................................ 222
Chapter 13 Managing the Project Life Cycle .................... 223
Business Analysis and Project Planning ........................ 224
Business Requirements Gathering ............................... 225
Interview the CEO .......................................... 226
What Are Your Objectives? ............................... 226
Survey the User Group ...................................... 227
What Are Your Objectives? ............................... 227
Interviews and Workshops ................................... 228
What Are Your Objectives? ............................... 228
Requirements Challenging ................................... 229
How to Challenge the Requirements ....................... 230
Testing the Robustness of the Requirements .............. 232
Making It Stick ............................................ 233
Solid Building Blocks ................................... 233
Auxiliary Analysis Areas ................................ 234
Dimensional Modeling .......................................... 234
Data Warehousing 2.0 from Bill Inmon ....................... 235
Conformed Dimensions of Ralph Kimball ...................... 236
Hubs, Links, and Satellites of Dan Linstedt ................ 238
Mixed Design Choices ....................................... 239
Conclusions ................................................ 239
BI Application Specification .................................. 242
Business Analysis and Growth — Maintenance .................... 245
Source Changes ............................................. 245
Dwindling User Support ..................................... 246
Sharing Project Knowledge .................................. 247
Knowledge Objects ....................................... 248
Interview ............................................... 248
Publication Platform .................................... 248
Preparing a BI Competence Center .............................. 250
Assess Readiness ........................................... 250
Build the Team ............................................. 252
Business Analysis Issues ...................................... 252
Conclusion ................................................. 253
Chapter 14 Mastering Data Management .......................... 255
Major Components of Data Management ........................... 256
Overview ................................................... 256
Master Data ................................................ 256
Source Analysis ............................................ 258
Data Profiling ............................................. 258
Source-to-Target Mapping ................................... 259
Metadata Management for Business Analysts .................. 260
Before the Project ...................................... 260
During the Project ...................................... 262
After the Project ....................................... 262
Framework for Data Management ................................. 262
Dublin Core ................................................ 263
Zachman Framework .......................................... 265
Structured Writing ......................................... 266
Structured Writing and Data Management .................. 266
How the Three Components Interact .......................... 267
Chapter 15 Mastering Data Quality ............................. 271
Which Quality? ................................................ 271
ROI Approach to Data Quality .................................. 273
Data Quality for Source Systems ............................ 273
Marketing Aspects ....................................... 274
Finance Aspects ......................................... 274
Operational Aspects ..................................... 275
Data Quality for Data Warehouse Systems .................... 275
Customer Segmentation ................................... 275
Customer Credit Analysis ................................ 276
Fraud Prevention and Detection .......................... 276
Building the Business Case ................................. 277
Data Quality Checklist ..................................... 279
History Review of the Data Sources ...................... 280
Present Situation Review ................................ 280
Future Outlook .......................................... 281
Chapter 16 Business Analyst's Toolbox ......................... 283
Overview ...................................................... 283
Project Direction Document Template ........................... 284
Introduction ............................................... 284
Document's Contents ........................................... 285
Project Background ......................................... 285
Project Context ............................................ 285
Business Case .............................................. 285
Project Definition ......................................... 286
Project Organization Structure ............................. 286
Project Approach ........................................... 286
Interview Summary Template .................................... 286
Background Information ..................................... 287
Roles and Responsibilities .............................. 287
Business Processes ...................................... 287
Interaction with or Ownership of Business Processes ..... 287
Interview Summary ....................................... 288
Open Issues - Questions ................................. 288
Next Steps .............................................. 288
Business Case Document Template ............................... 288
Introduction ............................................... 288
Efficiency Economics ....................................... 289
Ad Hoc Reports .......................................... 289
Asset Management ........................................ 289
Absenteeism Reduction ................................... 289
Reduction in Coordination Costs ......................... 289
Improved Negotiation Position ........................... 289
Revenue Improvement ........................................ 290
Pricing ................................................. 290
Qualification Improvement ............................... 290
Customer Valuation Improvement .......................... 290
Improvement in Order Cancellations ...................... 291
Improved Forecasting .................................... 291
Strategic Opportunities ....................................... 291
Information Value for Your Customers ....................... 291
Faster Response to Changing Conditions .................. 291
Quality of Decisions .................................... 292
Business Analysis Deliverables Template ....................... 292
Introduction and Overview .................................. 292
Overview of the Deliverables ............................... 293
High-Level Situation Analysis ........................... 293
Purpose of the BI Project ............................... 302
Stakeholder Matrix ...................................... 304
Business Requirements ................................... 304
Project Management Constraints .......................... 308
Scope of the Product .................................... 309
Data Requirements ....................................... 310
Presentation Methods .................................... 311
Business Security Requirements .......................... 311
Other Requirements ...................................... 314
Project Plan and Task List Proposal ..................... 314
Documentation ........................................... 314
Glossary ................................................ 315
Project Charter Document Template ............................. 315
Overview ................................................... 315
Project Scope ........................................... 316
Project Organization .................................... 316
External Relationships and Dependencies ................. 317
Project Approach ........................................ 317
Project Resources ....................................... 317
Risk Analysis ........................................... 317
Business Case ........................................... 318
Initial Project Plan .................................... 318
Best Practice Sharing Template ................................ 321
Overview ................................................... 321
Title Page .............................................. 322
Executive Summary ....................................... 322
Best Practice Identification ............................ 322
Reason(s) Why This Is a Best Practice ................... 323
Definitions ............................................. 323
Resources for the Best Practice ......................... 323
How the Best Practice Works ............................. 323
Specific Instructions ................................... 324
Cost .................................................... 324
Application Area ........................................ 324
Contact Information ..................................... 324
Generic Interview Guide ....................................... 324
Introduction ............................................... 324
How to Introduce the Interview Guide .................... 325
Generic Interview List ..................................... 325
Frame of Reference ...................................... 325
Generic Questions .......................................... 326
Finally .................................................... 327
Interview Guide per Functional Area ........................... 327
Strategic Decision Making .................................. 327
Finance and Controlling .................................... 329
Marketing .................................................. 330
Sales ...................................................... 330
Logistics and Operations ................................... 331
Metadata Checklist ............................................ 331
Metadata for Integration ................................... 331
Metadata for Transformation ................................ 332
Generic Business Object Definitions ........................... 332
Overview ................................................... 332
Defining the Principal Asset of an Organization: Customer ..... 333
Introduction ............................................... 333
Taxonomy of Customer ....................................... 334
Generic Definition of Customer ............................. 334
Specific Customer Definitions .............................. 335
Organization, a Meaningful Concept? ........................... 336
The Many Definitions of Organization ....................... 337
Employee or Partner'? ......................................... 338
Product ....................................................... 340
Territory ..................................................... 341
Geographical Aspects of Territory .......................... 342
Appendices .................................................... 343
Overview ...................................................... 343
How Do You Become a BA4BI? ................................. 343
Data Knowledge .......................................... 343
Application Knowledge ................................... 344
Process Knowledge ....................................... 344
BI Skills ............................................... 345
Interpersonal Skills .................................... 345
Appendix A: What to Ask on Your Job Interview ................. 345
Introduction ............................................... 345
Questions .................................................. 346
Appendix B: Business Intelligence from 1960 to Today .......... 347
Introduction ............................................... 347
Early Years ................................................ 347
Emergence of the Data Warehouse ............................ 348
Business-Driven Business Intelligence Era .................. 349
Appendix C: The 101 on Data Warehousing ....................... 349
Business Need .............................................. 349
Technology Barriers ........................................ 350
Denormalization versus the Third Normal Form ............ 351
Definitions ............................................. 351
Open to Multiple Sources ................................ 353
Solutions .................................................. 353
Components .............................................. 353
Extract, Transform, Load Process ........................ 355
Appendix D: Survey for a BI Project for the Purchasing
Department ................................................. 356
Introduction ............................................... 356
A Few Caveats .............................................. 357
Example .................................................... 357
Bibliography .................................................. 359
Index ......................................................... 363
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