[SOLVED] Using business intelligence to gain a competitive

Using business intelligence to gain a competitive advantage is at the top of every CIO’s list. Following are a few examples of how companies are using data to gain valuable business intelligence.

Ben & Jerry’s
These days, when we all scream for ice cream, Ben & Jerry’s is using BI tools to tracks the ingredients and life of each pint. If a consumer calls in with a complaint, the consumer affairs staff matches the pint with which supplier’s milk, eggs, cherries, or whatever did not meet the organization’s near obsession with quality. The BI tools let Ben & Jerry’s officials access, analyze, and act on customer information collected by the sales, finance, purchasing, and quality-assurance departments. The company can determine what milk customers prefer in the making of the ice cream. The technology helped Ben & Jerry’s track more than 12,500 consumer contacts. The information ranged from comments about the ingredients used in ice cream to queries about social causes supported by the company.

California Pizza Kitchen
California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) is a leading casual dining chain in the premium pizza segment with a recognized consumer brand and an established, loyal customer base. Founded in 1985, there are currently more than 130 full-service restaurants in more than 26 states, the District of Columbia, and five foreign countries.
Before implementing its BI tools, CPK used spreadsheets to plan and track its financial statements and line items. The finance team had difficulty managing the volumes of data, complex calculations, and constant changes to the spreadsheets. It took several weeks of two people working full-time to obtain one version of the financial statements and future forecast. In addition, the team was limited by the software’s inability to link cells and calculations across multiple spreadsheets, so updating other areas of corporate records became a time-consuming task. With BI tools, quarterly forecasting cycles have been reduced from eight days to two days. The finance team can now spend more time reviewing the results rather than collecting and entering the data.

Noodles & Company
Noodles & Company has more than 70 restaurants throughout Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The company recently purchased BI tools to help implement reporting standards and communicate real-time operational information to field management throughout the United States.
Before implementing the first phase of the BI tools, MIS and finance professionals spent days compiling report requests from numerous departments including sales and marketing, human resources, and real estate. Since completing phase one, BI reports are being accessed on a daily basis through the Noodles & Company website. This provides users with a single, 360-degree view of the business and consistent reporting throughout the enterprise. The BI tools can pull information directly from a broad array of relational, operational, and other systems.1

Required:
1. Explain how Ben & Jerry’s is using business intelligence tools to remain successful and competitive in a saturated market.
2. Identify why information cleansing is critical to California Pizza Kitchen’s business intelligence
tool’s success.
3. Illustrate why 100 percent accurate and complete information is impossible for Noodles &
Company to obtain.
4. Describe how each of the companies above is using BI to gain a competitive advantage.

Question: Using business intelligence to gain a competitive