INF6040   Business Intelligence   (15 credits)

Description

We will cover the principles and practices of gathering and synthesising business intelligence from the external environment, including organisations' competitive intelligence operations, environmental scanning activities, market intelligence, and strategic intelligence using open-source information. A  secondary focus for the module is the role of BI software in organisations to collect and analyse internal information. This module aims to provide students with an understanding of the ways in which business people use information and of how information is used to support strategic decision-making. Students will learn how to carry out effective searches using both free and fee-based business information resources such as the Mintel market research database, Nexis news database and FAME financial analysis database, and will study key issues concerning the value, cost and availability of information. Students will learn how to apply standard analysis frameworks commonly used in organisational business intelligence. The module will concentrate primarily on external information resources but also covers the ways in which information internal to an organisation can be used strategically to enhance competitive advantage. We take a flipped approach on this module: lectures are provided in video format on Blackboard, and students are expected to watch these and engage with any preparation activities before the timetabled sessions.  Timetabled sessions focus on practical exercises where students will have opportunities to develop expertise in using business-focused electronic information services, and will develop skills in analysing and presenting information effectively. There are two individual assessments for the module. Assignment 1 (30%)  is to create an infographic from an approved data set, and assignment 2 (70%)  is to write an intelligence report on a company, providing a detailed analysis of the company and its competitive position in the industry it operates in.

Reading List