Business Intelligence and Business Continuity: Empirical Analysis of Croatian Companies

Abstract

Business Intelligence (BI) is an important strategic resource for business decision making. It is a cyclical system comprised of several seperate phases; planning and direction, data collection, processing and data analysis, and dissemination or distribution of information to the business decision makers. The passing and maturation of the third and fourth scientific revolutions, in which the rate of data flow has surpassed that of goods and services, has made timely, accurate and relevant information the key resource for business continuity. In Croatia, two comprehensive surveys on the BI application within the largest companies have been conducted. The first survey, from October 2010 to April 2011, indicated a low level of application and understanding of the BI system and its benefits. The cross-sectional follow-up survey from March to July 2017 showed that although significant changes did not occur, there are indicators of potentially adverse effects on the health and security of Croatian business entities and overall Croatian economic security. The paper presents the conclusions of the 2017 survey which comprised a sample size of the 1000 highest grossing companies operating in Croatia, along with a short comparison to the initial survey from 2010/2011. Considering that the BI system encompasses the internal, but primarily external environment of a business entity with respect to four key intelligence topics (decisions, key players, early warnings associated with possible threats or opportunities and business counterintelligence), the paper argues that a lack of knowledge on BI and low level of application of BI activities can significantly affect business continuity. In other words, non-application of business intelligence activities can lead to income loss, loss of competitive advantage, loss of data and productivity, cost increase, violation of law and regulations and even to the temporary or complete business downfall.