CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Chapter - Conclusion & Recommendations
Introduction
This is the final chapter of the research that is designed to interpret and conclude the results and findings. The major aim of this chapter is to evaluate that the results of the research conducted meet the aims and objectives and offer answers for the research questions of the study. Therefore, the first section of the chapter begins with the conclusion and discussion of the results found in the previous chapter and then second section describes the connection of the results with research aims, objectives and research questions. In addition, the implication, limitations and the further recommendation are also discussed in this chapter.
Conclusion
Based on the literature review and the models of technology adoption (TAM & TOE), 13 factors were found that might impacts on the adoption of the business intelligence in the organization of Saudi Arabia. However, the results have found that six out of these 13 factors have significant relationship with the BI adoption. These six factors include demand, government support, observability, and perception of strategic value, poor quality of data and lack of skilled resources.
It is concluded from the statistical analysis, findings and results that it is difficult to identify the technology adoption level for the organizations in Saudi Arabia as they are involved in multiple systems use for data gathering and storing. However, on the whole, the six factors are correlated with business intelligence adoption. The results have concluded that competition, complexity, reliability, culture, size, employees’ resistance and managers’ innovativeness have no impact on the business intelligence adoption in the organizations in context of Saudi Arabia. Despite of this, the single linear regression has found the significant relation of competition, reliability, complexity, size, culture and managers’ innovativeness, therefore, it can be said that the impacts of each factor is interconnected with the impacts of the other factors.
Though, H13 about the lack of skilled resources was not supported as the study was considering the negative relationship of skilled resources, however, the results have found the positive relationship. It means that if the company has sufficient human resource having advanced skills, then it can more frequently decide to adopt BI technology. However, it can also be said that the firms having lack of skilled resources might adopt BI technology based on the vendors’ availability. On the whole, the lack of skilled resources is found as the significant factor affecting BI adoption, in context of the organizations of Saudi Arabia. As the size has found as ineffective factor, therefore, the complicated results of the levels of BI adoption have no impacts on the results as the levels were used to discuss the impacts of size.
It is very important in the research studies that the results and findings must be aligned with the aims and objectives of the study. The aim of this study was to explore the factors that can influence the business intelligence adoption in the organizations, where, the major focus was the organizations of Saudi Arabia. The primary data was collected from the organizations of Saudi Arabia, therefore, it can be said that the results are aligned with the aim of the paper to study in the context of Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, the findings have discovered various factors that influence the Saudi organizations in adopting business intelligence technology. It shows that the research has successfully conducted in line with its aim.
Though, the objective of the study was to understand the importance of BI adoption, the results show that BI helps in the strategic behavior and decision making of the company. The strategic activities and the decision making are considered as the fundamental for the success of the organization; therefore, the BI can play an important role for the success of the companies. In addition, it also helps in exploring the opportunities for the organization, providing the useful information from the market. As the demand is impacting positively, it means BI adoption is significant to achieve competitive advantage understanding the demands in the market. Further, the objective was to investigate the factors that possess relationship with BI adoption that may have positive or negative impacts. The results of the study have achieved the objective as the six factors are found as having relationship with BI adoption, where, the five factors have positive impacts on BI adoption and one factor has negative impacts on the adoption.
Based on the data analysis using regression, the research questions are answered. The positive influencing factors that forced the organizations to adopt BI include demand, government support, and observability, perception of strategic value and skill resources. All companies, either large or small and public or private in Saudi Arabia must consider these five factors as important while consider adopting business intelligence. As the demand is positively influencing, the organizations must continuously benchmark to determine that either the demand of BI is increasing and high or not.
Also, government support is one of the most important factors that are positively influencing the BI adoption; therefore, the government of Saudi Arabia is needed to support the companies by enhancing the regulations and policies for information technology and promoting the companies to step into the advanced technologies. It will increase the rate of BI adoption across the country.
Observation is another positive factor that leads the organizations to adopt business intelligence. It means that the advantages, benefits and the usefulness of business intelligence must be presented to the companies to increase the rate of business intelligence adoption. Perception of strategic value is also found as the influencing factor that positively impacts BI adoption. It means that extensive presentation of BI as the valuable technology for the strategic activities of the company will lead the firms to adopt it as quickly as possible.
Only one factor has found as negatively influencing the adoption of business intelligence in framework of Saudi Arabia that is the poor quality of data. It means that the data quality is an important factor to increase the rate of business intelligence adoption. The requirement of the companies for the quality data and information influence their choice of adopting business intelligence that means that the BI providers mainly offer their product or technology to those firms and companies that are needed to have quality information as the poor quality of data prevent them to adopt advanced technologies.
Implications
As the technological adoption is tested based on the empirical data, therefore, the results can be implicated practically. The distinctive findings of the study can promote the government of Saudi Arabia as well as other countries to encourage and promote the adoption and use of business intelligence technology. It can encourage the government to change the policy and regulations and also to support financially to those organizations that cannot afford the advanced technologies. Furthermore, the companies and the agencies that offer BI technology can identify the factors that are needed to be more focused and also that should be given with less attention based on their level of impacts and influence on the BI adoption in the firms of Saudi Arabia.
Also, it will promote the awareness of the need of adoption of BI for the strategic purposes of the company and decision making along with considering the need based on the external pressures such as demand in the market.
Limitations
Although, the study has found the affecting factors that are related to the adoption of BI technology in the organizations of Saudi Arabia, however, the research study has some limitations that must be mentioned here at all.
First of all, the study has only focused on the adoption of the Business Intelligence, where, how and what factors can affects its implementation have not been discussed. The implementation might have many other issues that can also develop the barriers in BI adoption in the business firms such as the high cost, errors in data using BI etc.
Despite of this, another limitation is that the study only focuses on quantitative data and statistical analysis, however, it might be more useful to conduct qualitative research conducting detailed interviews with the IT employees and other technology associated people in the field. Further, the focus studies based on the discussion with small sample can also be conducted that might results in some other issues and challenges in the business intelligence adoption. Furthermore, the results are generalized to all the organizations in Saudi Arabia based on the four public organizations selected in sampling. Therefore, the results might be different or fluctuated when the study will conduct about the other organizations of Saudi Arabia. Additionally, the results can also not be generalized about the organizations of the other countries as the study is conducted in context of Saudi Arabia.
Further recommendations
Based on the limitations of the research study, following recommendations are developed for the further study of Business intelligence. Using this study as supportive, the researcher can further conduct research about the implementation challenges of BI. For Suppose, if based on the factors positively affecting the adoption, the organizations have decided to adopt, then further what challenges they can face in the implementation.
Despite of this, the study is generally conducted discussing all the factors affecting BI adoption, however, the future researchers would conduct the study each individual factor in detail based on the qualitative study to get more detailed information and data.
Though, the study has found the factors affecting BI adoption, however, the future researchers can study the impacts of implementing and adopting Business intelligence in the firm such as considering that it might improve the data quality, however, on the other side, the cost of the business might increase.
