Abstract

GOMWE, Godknows; POTGIETER, Marius  and  LITHEKO, Alpheaus. Business intelligence as a competitive advantage for SMMEs in the North West Province of South Africa. JCMAN [online]. 2023, vol.20, n.1, pp.474-498. ISSN 1815-7440.  http://dx.doi.org/10.35683/jcman1033.205.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: In an ideal world, business intelligence would be recognised for improving the quality of decisions made by transforming organisational data into information that can be used. Business intelligence has received a great deal of attention from academics as a technology but not as a management strategy to improve sound decision-making. As a result, this paper highlights potential barriers to business intelligence deployment in the North West Province of South Africa. The study was grounded on the technology acceptance model (TAM), which describes perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU) in implementing business intelligence DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: A non-probability sampling strategy was used to select a sample of 12 respondents for the qualitative data from the five municipalities of the Ngaka Modire Molema District in the North West Province of South Africa. The qualitative data was analysed using the Atlas.ti software FINDINGS: The results obtained indicate that SMMEs struggle to implement business intelligence as a strategy due to a lack of top management support, funding, staff motivation, education and training, and internal environment commitment, which are all required for the successful implementation of business intelligence as a competitive advantage RECOMMENDATIONS/VALUE: The study recommends that the management of SMMEs should provide sufficient funding and resources for the business intelligence implementation process, as well as dispatch or hire skilled personnel to enhance the implementation MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS: It is advised that top management should support, internal environment support, and increased technological development elements will facilitate the application of business intelligence in SMME organisations JEL CLASSIFICATION: M13, O32, Z10

Keywords : Business intelligence; Competitive advantage; Decision support; SMMEs.

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