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Professor’s Name

Course Title

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I. Introduction

A. Introduction

The success of any business relies entirely on effective decision making. Notably, the morals principles and values of an organization are

determined by the nature of the decision-making process. The required competitive advantage, target market, competition, and finance are

determined strategic decisions. Many organizations experience difficulties in decision-making. However, the Decision-support system (DSS),

group decision-support systems (GDSS) and executive support system (ESS) which are examples of business intelligence systems help

inefficient decision-making (Laudon et al. 20). The DSS, GDSS, and ESS all rely on a computer support system to enhance the quality of

decisions in organizations.

Business Intelligence (BI) is a recent innovation and a leading concept in the business world today. It is a powerful tool for the success

of various organizations within the market. The primary role of the BI analytics systems is to aid businesses in identifying trends as well as
patterns in consumer behaviors. The gathered information is used to increase the organization's profitability, focus on clients' needs, and provide

enhanced accuracy in cost-benefit analysis.

B. Background to the problem and relevance to industry

The rapidly growing interactions amid businesses and their clients have resulted in the innovation of customer data mining technologies.

The main objective is to obtain customer information on the taste and preferences, consumption trends, brand perspectives, and more importantly

the general buying behavior. Access to that information is vital to the business for progressive improvement and market competition. It is

essential in the development of effective strategies to adopt by the organization to meet customer expected quality and standards of services.

However, the small and medium-sized business premises face both financial challenges of obtaining or mining data as well as applying

the collected information. Utilizing big data is a major problem facing the management of small and medium-sized businesses which can be

attributed not only to inadequate funds but more to technological inhibiting factors like lack of intelligent systems to analyze the attained data. A

report by Kurniawan, Gunawan, and Kurnia (2014) reveal that relevant information is crucial for the success of any business. Access to the right

information builds the business capacity to grow and manage the growing customer demand and win them a market share.

Organization aggressiveness in the market can be enhanced by the application of business intelligence systems and analytics to obtain relevant

information about their target customers process that data and store it for use in decision-making processes (Trieu 2017). Unfortunately, small

and medium-sized firms usually face innumerable challenges in their attempt to seek to utilize big data for their market advantage. The main
reason is a lack of knowledge and enough finances to apply the necessary techniques for the realization of the benefits accrued to data analytics.

Considering that most SMEs are run by the owners, who may at a certain level lack the technical know-how of the changing technology, make it

a major challenge for the application of the data mining software's like BI intelligence system that aid business management (Papachristodoulou,

Koutsaki and Kirkos 2017).

Research shows that several managers feel at ease sharing or discussing challenges attached to the implementation of the BI systems.

This is a revelation that they have little knowledge about these systems yet they are the implementers. The broader perspective of this is a society

that has little or no knowledge about the working of the BI systems yet they are the owners of small and medium-sized businesses. Availing the

necessary information on the implementation of these systems is thus an important factor of consideration in the enlightening of the

entrepreneurs.

C. Justification for undertaking research

One of the most essential assets of a business organization is the collection, processing, and storage of relevant information. The users'

operational system that ii the executive turns the wheel of the organization. The management through access to the right information takes

orders, log complaints as well as enroll new customers for their products.

Data management is thus an important tool for the success of every business. Lack of knowledge to gather and process information and

apply it in activities of the business is a major problem. The small and medium-sized business owners face the ability to obtain and utilize the
obtained market information maximally. A large number of small and medium-sized business owners lack the significance of the BI system and

moreover the knowledge on their application to the business settings.

The use of BI systems like DSS, GDSS, and ESS in business helps the managers to make better decisions. For instance, the decision-

support system enhances decision making through the integration of a computer system backed-up with data, technology, knowledge, and model.

Necessarily, the graphical and artificial intelligence (AI) aspect of a DSS makes an important tool in managerial decision-making. Consequently,

a DSS enables the analysis of big data and putting together relevant information which is necessary for problem-solving. On the other hand, A

GDSS integrates a computer system to ensure effective decision making of a team (Laudon et al. 20).

The effective analysis of problematic instances and coming up with a solution by a team depends on a GDSS. Lastly, the ESS eases

facilitates the retrieval of internal and external information which is relevant in decision-making. Moreover, ESS facilitates access to statistical

information which is used by the executives in making important decisions of the organization. However, the use of an ESS is associated with

the developer. Besides, the ESS is designed to suit the individual needs of the organization using it.

D. Outline of what is included in the proposal

 Research topic

 Background information on the study

 Problem definition of the proposed research study

  Research questions of the problem

 Goals and the objective of the study

 The project required information for the study

II. Literature review

A. Criteria for the literature reviewed

The study relies on a critical review of the literature. The research study focuses on secondary data for analysis and assessment of

the real-world application. The study is thus more theoretical and non-experimental. The deductive method was applied to obtain the

information pertained in the report. The resources that were used are non-empirical. Qualitative data was the primary source of

information that was used to compile the report of the research. The researcher used the observed method of data collection and

descriptive sources to conclude.

B. A critical review of the literature

1. Business Intelligence

The concept can be defined as a set of mathematical models and analysis methods that exploits available data

systematically to obtain relevant knowledge and information management necessary for making informed decisions in an

organization. It can as well be acknowledged as a system combining collected data, information stored, as well as management
 knowledge with analytical tools that aid the presentation of complex and competitive data to the decision making the body of a

firm and its planners.

Business Intelligence helps executives by breaking down information from different sources invaluable easily applicable

basic leadership strategic as well as the tactical level for normal utilization and functional planning of a business (Rasoul and

Mohammad, 2016, p.1).

2. Business Intelligence Architecture

Data sources: The first stage involves the collection of and integration of data stored in various primary as well as

secondary sources. The data collected are heterogeneous in nature and origin. Most are accessible in the operation system,

however, it may entail unstructured data for example emails. Critical knowledge is necessary for unification and integration data

to form different sources.

Data marts and warehouses: Application of mining as well as transferring tools such as extract, load, and transform the

data from varying resources are kept in a database system intended to support BI analytics. Such databases are normally referred

to as data marts and warehouses.

3. Business Intelligence methodologies

The mined data is used to perform mathematical models and analytical methodologies aimed at supporting decision-makers. In

the BI system, a range of decision-support applications can be implemented:

  Optimization models

 Time Series

 Exploratory analysis

 Multidimensional analysis

 Inductive learning model

A combination of the above techniques helps visualization of data timely and logically which facilitates the decision making the

process by the mangers.

C. Identification of gaps in the literature or new directions

1. Small and medium-sized Enterprise (SMEs)

There is no exclusive definition of these types' business premises. Different countries have different definitions of what a small

and medium-sized business is. SMEs need to obtain data with speed and precision to survive in the market. It is thus vital for such

businesses to successful aggregate information from multiple sources like networking sites.

2. BI Adoption in SME

The report has shown that a large number of SMEs focus on the level of system functionalities the inevitable access to data, customer

requests responsiveness, the capability to manage various measures of information and usage when purchasing a cloud BI system.

Comprehensive information on the real needs of SMEs in information management via application of BI systems must be induced in a very
professional and proper approach. It crucial to and Worthing mentioning that competitive advantage is merely not through market innovations

and products but as well collecting, processing and analysis of the data has emerged as a new approach to attain competitive advantage by an

organization.

III. Research Question, Aims, and Ethical Considerations

A. A statement of your research question and explanation of how it relates to the literature reviewed

B. The aims and intended outcomes of your proposed research

C. Any relevant ethical considerations related to your aims and/or question

IV. Method

Proposed method 1

A. Participants if relevant (including a description and selection procedures)

B. Research design

C. Data collection plans

Proposed method 2

A. Participants if relevant (this might be the same as above)

B. Research design
 C. Data collection plans

Proposed method 3

A. Participants if relevant (this might be the same as above)

B. Research design

C. Data collection plans

V. Conclusion: Implications and limitations

VI. Reference list

VII. Appendices

A. Copies of an interview guide AND/OR survey you have designed

B. Participant permission form/information sheet