This paper analyzes the advantages of having, in the Internal Regulations Manual, a Business Intelligence Standard, as well as the essential general content that it must contain and the business environment that must be built prior to its implementation..
introduction
In an increasingly competitive world like today, only ideas make the difference between those who open the doors to those methods and ways that provide solutions to common problems in addition to facilitating the successful development of daily work, expanding the Universe of knowledge in order to understand and know better what happens around us and those who remain on the margin of progress.
To the aforementioned it must be added that this is a time of transition, characterized by the passage from the Industrial Society to the Knowledge Society where, like sailors depend on radars to know the position of other ships and guide their course, the The survival of the Companies will be subject to the speed with which the information and knowledge is obtained, processed and distributed that in a systematic and precise way, can be located, recovered and shared when required, to undertake new projects.
Therefore, for the Economy and business, the possession of Strategic Information on a global scale is a key component when it comes to obtaining and maintaining advantages over the competition, being unavoidable to advocate for the creation of new spaces within them where Investigate with modern methods, what is happening in such a turbulent business environment and group and process all the necessary information, preparing it for decision making and Strategic Orientation, so that it can be used when the occasion requires.
This is the context in which the activities of the so-called Business Intelligence in Modern Organizations appear and are developed, as a scientific-informative function of the first order, closely linked to the most recent mechanisms of Business Management of which the Information and Knowledge Management respectively.
On the other hand, the existence of a Manual of Organization and Internal Regulations contributes to enhancing the Company's ability to achieve and quantify improvements in its operation, which is why they are applied to all types, are part of the strategic policy and its Design encompasses diverse geographic, cultural and social conditions, providing total coverage to all areas of the entity, since its absence can create gaps that constitute an opportunity for competitors.
In practical terms, the use of a regulatory system that covers all the aforementioned categories benefits the entire company, because:
- Legally it helps to avoid the imposition of fines and penalties; lawsuits and legal costs by reducing the risks of non-compliance with current legislation; orders and facilitates compliance with the formal and material obligations required by it Contributes to a more efficient use of financial and human resources, thereby reducing costs Increases the confidence of customers and suppliers, thereby facilitating the increase in market share and increase in commercial margins, by improving the commercial image of the entity.
Taking into account the aspects mentioned above, they highlight the impact of this social transformation in the business environment and the need to have a Business Intelligence System at the Organization level. In this paper, the advantages of having a Business Intelligence Standard in the Internal Regulations Manual are analyzed, as well as the essential general content that it must contain and the business environment that must be built prior to its implementation.
II. Creating the environment
As it is known, a management principle is "not to establish something that is foreseen in advance that will not be fulfilled", because in addition to its non-compliance it brings about a loss of prestige towards the management levels and, with it, a breakdown of discipline, which does not favor the performance of the organization.
On the other hand, the natural aversion, rejection or unfavorable predisposition to change, together with the fact that transformations in thinking require time and persuasive methods, it is necessary to develop strategies to involve the first level of company management in organizational transformation projects, such as the use of a Business Intelligence system.
An alternative to overcome these obstacles is the progressive creation of a favorable environment, which in the case of Sociedad Havanatur SA required three stages, the characteristics of which are described below.
II.1. The Manual of Internal Regulations
The first step on your way was the creation of the Department of Standards and Procedures in July 2000, to fulfill a recommendation of the Reengineering Process carried out in said organization with the participation of the consulting firm CIH (International Center of Havana) in the period 1999-2000.
Once the Department was created, the preparation of the Manual began, a process that culminated in May 2004 with the entry into force of 179 documents, of which 113 Standards and 97 procedures, and during which its name was changed to the Systems Department. and Organization as a reflection of the modification in the approach of a "Manual of Standards and Procedures" to that of a "Manual of Organization and Internal Regulations", which integrates in a single system all types of Regulations, as well as the analysis of the structure and functions of the entity, complying with the Generally Accepted Principles of Internal Control and Accounting, which allows the verification in practice of its coherence as a whole and contributes to reducing the time to detect organizational failures.
Another strategic aspect carried out in parallel was to use all possible platforms for the dissemination of the results, which can be summarized as:
- More than 50% of the works presented in the Base Forum of the Headquarters corresponded to the Department, receiving prizes in all cases. Presentation of four works in the CIMEX Ramal Forum, three of them awarded. Collaboration through publications and courses, with about ten Internet portals. Publication of articles in Magazines.
II.2. The Business Intelligence System
Once the preparation of the Manual was completed, the conditions created were conducive to moving towards a qualitatively superior organizational scheme, through the design of a Business Intelligence System, in which elements such as: Intelligence searches are integrated with a System approach; Manual of Organization and Internal Regulations; Corporate Intranet, etc., whose details can be obtained in the related works in the bibliography and would make this work very extensive.
III. The Business Intelligence Standard
After completing the two previous stages, the next logical step in the continuous improvement process is the development of the Business Intelligence Standard, the characteristics of which are detailed below.
III.1 Need
As it has been seen, for every Organization there are, among others, two Management and Organization tools aimed at improving its performance: the Internal Regulations Manual that sets out what to do, how, and the Business Intelligence System, which provides the elements for the decision making.
It is evident that, considering the destination of these management instruments, it is advantageous to have a regulation that, on the one hand, establishes the scope and objectives of the Business Intelligence System and, on the other, defines its characteristics, which can be grouped into the two categories following: general, which include those common to a System of this nature regardless of the corporate purpose of the entity and, specific, which include the particularities of the specific business activity in question.
As it is easy to deduce, establishing the specific aspects is impractical, since they are not necessarily applicable to all projects, which is why the general elements that, as a minimum, must be included in a Standard about the Intelligence System are discussed below. Business
III.2 Essential content
Once the need to develop a Standard on the Business Intelligence System (SIE) has been established, the next aspect is to define the minimum contents that it must include, which can be summarized as follows:
a) Characterization of the Organization
Undoubtedly, this aspect is the starting point of any evaluation and analysis aimed at improving the performance of the Organization, which includes: Corporate Purpose, Mission and Vision.
b) Objectives
From all of the above, the general objectives that are pursued with the implementation of the SIE can be deduced:
- Design of suitable tools to collect and analyze all relevant tourist information Provide informational support to the Senior Management of the Organization and other key areas in the decision-making process and the Strategic Planning of the Company Plan the acquisition, analysis and processing of the information to develop those products with high added value that meet the information needs of the Company's Senior Management and other key areas.
To achieve these objectives, the Organization must meet the following set of requirements:
- Maintain a permanent study of the Intelligence information needs for business customers-users Plan the acquisition and use of information resources for the realization of Business Intelligence Develop and apply appropriate methods that guarantee the storage and recovery of information, as well as applying the standards and procedures that guarantee the security and integrity of the information used for decision-making in the Organization.
c) Functions and tasks
Once the entity has been characterized and the objectives of the SIE established, the next step is to establish its functions and tasks, which can be summarized as:
- Initiate and sustain the study of intelligence information needs for the entity's customers-users Participate in the Management of the information necessary to meet the needs of previously selected internal customers of the Organization Plan the acquisition and use of resources of information aimed at conducting Business Intelligence Selecting the information, preparing and issuing, after reviewing the corresponding specialists, the periodic analysis of economic and financial adjustment, threats and opportunities due to changes in the business environment through continuous monitoring Offering attention to personnel who come in search of information.Develop and apply appropriate methods that guarantee the storage and recovery of information and apply the rules and procedures that guarantee the security and integrity of the information used for decision-making in the Organization.
d) Model of the Business Intelligence System
Based on the definitions established in the three previous aspects, the moment corresponds to the development of the SIE Model to be used. A way of organizing the Intelligence Unit-Section, as an independent Process Subsystem in the Company in relation to other activities that also base their operation on the use of information, is shown in a simplified way in figure 1.
e) Basic technological requirements of the Business Intelligence System
The main objective of this section is to establish the material resources that must be guaranteed for the implementation of a Business Intelligence System once the model to be used has been selected. This includes facilities and options on the Corporate Intranet, if it exists or its creation when deemed appropriate; communication facilities such as electronic messaging, etc. and computer applications that require their acquisition or the payment of user licenses.
f) Location of the Business Intelligence System
Almost without exception, it can be stated that the SIE should be subordinated to the first level of Management, however a tactical aspect during the commissioning stage is the initial subordination of the Intelligence Unit to the executive that most supports it during the establishment process., since this period determines the speed of its consolidation, and even its survival.
g) To whom should the Business Intelligence group pay
The potential users of the System (executives and specialists) are established, as well as access privileges, such as: prices, costs, segments to work, distribution channels to be used, Financial Statements, financial situation, reports of work visits, etc., threats and opportunities due to changes in the tourist environment.
h) Information sources
To solve a specific intelligence problem, the first thing that must be taken into account, apart from the type of users and their information needs, is to structure and know well the own library is the minimum to achieve a quick response to the demand for Intelligence in the Company and must be created under the following conditions:
- Minimum Cost Inquire about the sources that other entities in the sector have to use when required Obtain unique sources with wide coverage Systematically structure and update the information for easy access Creation of the «smart library» as a living document for consultation, with Scientific character that is used to bring promotion policies closer to the optimum, as well as to observe the evolution of the destination in terms of supply and demand to draw up development policies for the sector.
i) Modalities for Selective Dissemination
The Intelligence Unit will offer a response to the information needs of its user community through various types of information products and services previously conceived, which can be grouped as indicated below:
- Information searches: Service focused on meeting information needs on specific topics. The search can be limited to topics of little scope, for example: addresses of entities that work with the company, prices or specifications of a specific product or service, technological advances, etc. Informative summaries by request: Service aimed at the delivery of all the useful information available in the information sources related to the application. It is characterized by a comprehensive search, which includes both referential and full-text information, even in different formats and from a wide variety of sources.Information monitoring: Service that enables the orderly monitoring of information and periodic delivery of information related to profiles of interest.The frequency of delivery of the information to be monitored is previously defined.Strategic profile service: Descriptive characterization of personalities, companies, products, services of interest to the client-user, who in any case is the one who defines the elements to be characterized.Strategic studies: Service quite close to decision making. All the elements that can influence a specific phenomenon are analyzed in order to determine the most favorable path, alternative or scenario. In its execution, Intelligence and Foresight techniques are combined.Trend studies: The current state of technological and marketing trends of a certain product, service or sector is determined, for example: change forecasts, bank interest rates, etc.
IV. Conclusions
As conclusions of this work, the following can be pointed out:
- The dynamics and trend of contemporary society requires the existence of a Business Intelligence System at the Organization level. The need to incorporate a Business Intelligence Standard to the Organization Subsystem of the Internal Regulations Manual is evident, which establishes the characteristics and organization of the same.The essential aspects that the Business Intelligence Standard must contain were exposed.
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