"There are three parties involved in business intelligence, each having its own interpretation of good management information. Given these different interests, is it possible for everyone to get the information they require?"

Asks the Business Intelligence Network. The tactical/operational management, IT department and corporate/strategic management all have different opinions when it comes to "good management information".

"Tactical/operational management inevitably associates good with fast. They want their management information as well as their management information applications as fast as possible. They want to act on their management information in daily operations because time is money. They typically act on the analyses of clever assistants and their home-built applications. Their databases have little data, little history and no documentation."

"When the IT department speaks of good management information (in fact, any information), what they mean is a good information system – well managed, reliable and maintainable at low costs. They want secure systems that are well documented, with no double registrations or unmanageable applications."

"Corporate/strategic management mainly wants unique definitions. Reports that show costs should all have the same definition of costs. They want easy access and neat overviews over time periods (for instance, years). They hate the ongoing dispute about the actual meaning of numbers: What do they include? What is excluded? How can they compare the incomparable? What is the value of reports that show costs different from what the general ledger shows? They would rather have a single report than two reports showing different results."

"Good management information is achieved only by a combined initiative of all parties involved. All parties should be aware of the conflict of interests. These interests should be properly managed in a game of give and take, making full use of each other’s advantages: the whiz kid’s knowledge of data and business, the technical know-how of the IT department and the corporate views of the strategic management. Operational targets should be linked to the strategic goals."

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