Business Intelligence Lessons from Healthcare and Hospitality Cases
This paper identifies ten Business Intelligence (BI) lessons drawn from two real-world case studies: Marshfield Clinic and Exclusive Resorts. Each lesson addresses a distinct challenge in selecting, implementing, and managing BI solutions — from the necessity of using multiple vendors and maintaining knowledgeable IT staff, to the costs of outsourcing and the importance of planning for change. For each lesson, the paper presents a plausible counterargument and then refutes it using evidence from the cases and supporting literature. The paper concludes that, despite significant investments of time, money, and personnel, properly implemented BI solutions can dramatically improve organizational performance and deliver measurable return on investment.
- Introduction: Overview of BI lessons from two case studies
- Ten Business Intelligence Lessons from the Cases: Lessons one through eight on BI selection and management
- The Value of Proper BI Implementation: Lessons nine and ten: ROI and comprehensive planning
- Conclusion: Summary of all ten BI lessons and their implications
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What makes this paper effective
- Each lesson is structured consistently — stating the lesson, offering a counterargument, and then refuting it with case-based evidence — giving the paper a clear dialectical rhythm that is easy to follow.
- The use of two contrasting industry cases (healthcare and hospitality) strengthens generalizability, showing that BI challenges are not sector-specific.
- The paper grounds abstract BI principles in concrete details, such as training 800 physicians using a "train-the-trainer" approach or Exclusive Resorts achieving ROI within 12 months.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper employs a systematic claim-counterclaim-rebuttal structure throughout. This technique, common in applied business writing, forces the writer to anticipate objections and address them with evidence rather than simply asserting conclusions. It demonstrates critical thinking and strengthens the credibility of each lesson presented.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief framing introduction, then moves through ten numbered lessons that form the body. The lessons build cumulatively, with the tenth serving as a synthesis of all prior points. A concise conclusion restates all ten lessons in summary form, reinforcing the argument. The Works Cited section follows standard citation practice for the sources consulted.
Introduction
The Marshfield Clinic and Exclusive Resorts cases offer a number of Business Intelligence lessons. Even without considerable IT education and experience, there are at least ten discernible lessons presented in the accounts of their BI developments. There are counterarguments to all of the lessons; however, those counterarguments are refuted by research and experience.
Ten Business Intelligence Lessons from the Cases
The first lesson learned from the Clinic and Resort cases is that businesses must often use Business Intelligence products from more than one company, because no single Business Intelligence vendor has mastered all BI areas (Electrosmart Ltd., 2013). As Mantfeld states, in Business Intelligence there is no such thing as "one-stop shopping" (Mantfeld, 2010). A counterargument might be posited by Microsoft Corporation, which has extensive systems and is capable of creating Business Intelligence solutions compatible with existing programs such as Word and Excel (Microsoft, Inc., 2011). That argument is easily refuted through the examples of Marshfield Clinic and Exclusive Resorts. For example, while Marshfield Clinic praises its SAP BusinessObjects Solutions, it had to convert its "existing 60 Cognos catalogs into new semantic layers" that would be compatible with SAP BusinessObjects, and the Clinic's IT staff still had to develop clinic-specific functionality from the software (Konitzer & Cummens, 2011). Similarly, though Exclusive Resorts highly praises Microsoft Dynamics AX, its IT specialists still had to develop "customizations" and "extensions" for its own needs (Microsoft, Inc., 2011); furthermore, some suggestions by Exclusive Resorts personnel proved attractive to Microsoft personnel, who incorporated some of those ideas into further development of Microsoft's Business Intelligence (Microsoft, Inc., 2011). This indicates that even an industry giant like Microsoft has not yet developed all Business Intelligence areas. Consequently, a company seeking Business Intelligence solutions must research a number of potential providers and the solutions each one offers.
A second lesson learned is that a company's internal Information Technology specialists must know the state of the art, as there are numerous potential providers offering multiple software packages with specific, limited functions (Imhoff, 2005). A counterargument is offered particularly in the Resort case, which contains ample praise for the helpfulness and knowledge of the Microsoft IT specialists assisting the Resort. Nevertheless, both cases refute this counterargument. Marshfield Clinic reports purchasing three "solutions": "SAP BusinessObjects enterprise software, SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius® enterprise software, and SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence® software" (Konitzer & Cummens, 2011, p. 3). In addition, Exclusive Resorts reviewed "hundreds of offerings" and eventually purchased "Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services, SQL Server Analysis Services, and SQL Server Reporting Services" (Microsoft, Inc., 2011). In both cases, a knowledgeable and continuously learning IT staff was vital to proper selection, development, and implementation of the BI solutions.
A third lesson learned is that implementation of Business Intelligence solutions is expensive (Electrosmart Ltd., 2013). A counterargument — addressed further in lesson ten — is that proper BI solutions ultimately save money. However, the Clinic and Resort cases clearly show that the outlay of funds for BI solutions is considerable. Marshfield Clinic speaks of "deployment costs" for 50 satellite locations and every participating physician's PC (Konitzer & Cummens, 2011, p. 3). Meanwhile, Exclusive Resorts speaks of prior software licensing fees paid to Oracle that significantly impacted the company's entire global budget (Microsoft, Inc., 2011). Though proper BI solutions ultimately save considerable sums, the sizable initial outlay of funds is undeniable.
A fourth lesson learned is that implementation can be quite time-consuming for management, IT staff, and general staff alike (Mantfeld, 2010). A counterargument would be that this investment of time is less burdensome than continuing to labor with outdated business systems for data, services, accounting, and management. Nevertheless, researched experts specifically state that the time involved in proper BI implementation is considerable. While the Marshfield Clinic article did not mention a specific timeframe for implementation, the Exclusive Resorts article notes that the conversion with Microsoft Dynamics AX took nine months (Microsoft, Inc., 2011). Though proper BI solutions can ultimately save time, the outlay of time required for research, selection, installation, compatibility testing, training, and management of the solutions is significant.
A fifth lesson learned is that system-wide adoption of new Business Intelligence requires meaningful staff education (Electrosmart Ltd., 2013). A counterargument may be that "user-friendly" IT solutions — such as those from Microsoft — can be made so compatible with existing systems that little re-education is needed (Microsoft, Inc., 2011). Despite Microsoft's optimistic claim, the non-Microsoft case provides a clear example of the need for staff education. Marshfield Clinic had to employ a "train-the-trainer" approach (Konitzer & Cummens, 2011, p. 3) for over 800 end-user physicians, as well as unspecified training for "6,500 administrative and healthcare workers" employed by the clinic (Konitzer & Cummens, 2011, p. 1). Consequently, even with a highly praised BI solution and cooperative IT specialists, re-education remains necessary to use BI solutions most effectively.
A sixth lesson is that management of Business Intelligence solutions — even after they are established and implemented — requires a substantial number of dedicated company personnel (Electrosmart Ltd., 2013). A counterargument would be that proper BI solutions would actually reduce headcount, since well-integrated systems would eliminate duplication of effort in areas such as data collection and entry (Konitzer & Cummens, 2011). However, the Resort case specifically illustrates the need for a staff dedicated to BI solutions. Exclusive Resorts, for example, maintains a standing Business Intelligence Team that uses Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services, SQL Server Analysis Services, and SQL Server Reporting Services to continuously provide "business performance" and "advance reporting" to the company's decision-makers (Microsoft, Inc., 2011). Though some positions could conceivably be eliminated with proper BI solutions, more individuals within the company must evidently be dedicated to making those solutions work properly.
A seventh lesson is that outsourcing to BI vendors and systems integrators should be pursued only to acquire knowledge the company currently lacks, and that such outsourcing should be aimed at transferring that knowledge to internal personnel (Mantfeld, 2010). A counterargument would be that outsourcing allows specialized tasks to be performed for less money than would be spent on full-time employed staff. However, the Resort case demonstrates the true financial impact of outsourcing. Exclusive Resorts specifically mentioned the notably high costs of outsourced support services and its deliberate decision to eliminate outsourcing in order to dramatically reduce costs (Microsoft, Inc., 2011). While outsourcing is sometimes required to compensate for gaps in internal knowledge, it is an expensive proposition best used as a transitional measure to educate staff so that outsourcing eventually becomes unnecessary.
An eighth lesson is that a company using Business Intelligence must anticipate change and be prepared to adjust (Mantfeld, 2010). A counterargument — more a matter of practice than of logic — is that many companies still follow outdated business models and attempt to force BI solutions to conform to those models rather than the other way around (Imhoff, 2005). The wisdom of adapting outmoded business models is well established. Marshfield Clinic's leadership adopted that forward-looking approach, planning for "future needs" before investing in its current Business Intelligence solutions (Konitzer & Cummens, 2011, p. 2). Exclusive Resorts also speaks extensively about planning for the future when selecting its BI solutions, customizing the Microsoft platform to accommodate future usage and business growth (Microsoft, Inc., 2011).
Conclusion
The Marshfield Clinic and Exclusive Resorts cases offer a number of Business Intelligence lessons, ten of which are discussed in this paper. Even without considerable IT education and experience, the researcher learns that: businesses must often use Business Intelligence products from more than one company; a company's internal Information Technology specialists must know the state of the art; implementation of Business Intelligence solutions is expensive; implementation can be quite time-consuming for management, IT staff, and general employees; system-wide adoption of new Business Intelligence requires meaningful education; management of Business Intelligence solutions — even after they are established and implemented — requires a substantial number of dedicated company personnel; outsourcing to BI vendors and systems integrators should be pursued only to acquire knowledge the company lacks, with the goal of transferring that knowledge to internal personnel; the company using Business Intelligence must anticipate change and be ready to adjust; properly chosen, developed, implemented, and managed Business Intelligence solutions can significantly improve the performance of numerous systems while ultimately reducing costs; and a company intending to employ organization-wide Business Intelligence solutions must plan carefully.
As demonstrated throughout this paper, there are conceivable counterarguments to all of these lessons; however, they are refuted by research and experience such as that shown in the Clinic and Resort cases.
Works Cited
Electrosmart Ltd. (2013). Barriers to Business Intelligence. Retrieved May 6, 2013 from thebusinessintelligenceguide.com Web site: http://thebusinessintelligenceguide.com/bi_strategy/Barriers_To_BI.php
Imhoff, C. (2005, September 13). Business Intelligence project pitfalls. Retrieved May 6, 2013 from www.b-eye-network.com Web site: http://www.b-eye-network.com/view/1519
Konitzer, K., & Cummens, M. (2011, July 11). Case study — using analytics to improve patient outcomes and billing accuracy at Marshfield Clinic. Retrieved May 6, 2013 from tdwi.org Web site: http://tdwi.org/articles/2011/07/11/case-study-using-analytics-to-improve-patient-outcomes-and-billing-accuracy-at-marshfield-clinic.aspx
Mantfeld, F. (2010, March 22). Top 10 reasons why Business Intelligence projects fail. Retrieved May 6, 2013 from www.seemoredata.com Web site: http://www.seemoredata.com/en/entry.php?12-Top-10-reasons-why-Business-Intelligence-Projects-fail
Microsoft, Inc. (2011, May 4). Exclusive Resorts LLC — Destination Club generates rapid ROI, enhances services, takes control of business. Retrieved May 6, 2013 from www.microsoft.com
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