Seeking ’Strategy’ in Business Intelligence Literature: Theorizing BI as part of strategy research

Abstract

This paper connects the business intelligence (BI) literature with research in strategic management by plotting the existing research strands on BI: environmental scanning, competitive intelligence, executive information systems, and business intelligence, against the strategic dimensions of a) orientation (External vs. Internal), b) focus (Content vs. Process), and c) practice realms. The article accordingly offers a new re-conceptualization of BI as a strategic artifact across four strategic clusters: BI as a system, BI as a planned process, BI as a product, and BI as a decisional paradigm. This conceptual article contributes to the literature by integrating disparate views on BI and placing them within the content, process, and practice streams of strategy research.