An analysis of the factors affecting successful adoption of business intelligence in the beverage manufacturing industry in Zimbabwe: Case of Delta beverages

Abstract

Business Intelligence (BI) and the many analytics systems that support demand management, predictive analytics, revenue modelling and role-based intelligence within organizations are critical for any organization to survive in today’s incredibly turbulent marketplace. The research analyses the factors affecting successful adoption of Business Intelligence in the beverages manufacturing industry in Zimbabwe using a case study of Delta Beverages Corporation. The objectives of the study were fourfold; to ascertain the effect of organizational factors on adoption of Business Intelligence at Delta Beverages; to assess the impact of environmental factors on adoption of Business Intelligence adoption at Delta Beverages; to investigate the impact of technological factors on Business Intelligence adoption at Delta Beverages; and to propose better ways that Business Intelligence can be adopted and implemented at Delta Beverages. This research adopted a positivism philosophy. The study adopted a deductive research approach. A quantitative explanatory research design was adopted for this study. The population constituted of the managers (top, middle and low level) and workers of Delta Beverages in Harare. A systematic random sampling technique was used. A sample size of 313 was taken, with a response rate of 85.94%. Primary data was used. SPSS was used for data analysis. Microsoft Office was used for presentation in form of tables and graphs. The study concluded that Delta Beverages has pronouncedly adopted business intelligence in its operations. The study also concluded that organisational factors like employee competences and skills, management style, organisational structure, organisational culture and business size affect the extent to which Delta beverages can adopt business intelligence. Organisational factors’ conduciveness has a strong positive and statistically significant impact on business intelligence adoption. Currently, all these factors are generally not conducive for significant adoption of business intelligence. Various environmental factors like political environment, national economic environment, legal environment and competitive pressures have an impact on the extent to which Delta Beverages adopts business intelligence. The study concluded that the conduciveness of these environmental factors has a moderate positive impact on the extent of adoption of business intelligence by Delta Beverages. However, currently the business environment for Delta Beverages is not conducive for business intelligence adoption. The study recommended Delta Beverages Top management to support business intelligence adoption. The government was recommended to support business intelligence adoption through provision of enough foreign currencies and reduction of taxes. viii Future researchers were recommended to do surveys in other industries and to include interview guides to enhance data triangulation.