Conceptualizing Business Intelligence (BI) Adoption in SME to Gain Competitive Advantage: Effects of Organizational Mindfulness, Inter-organizational Relationship and Technology Orientation

Abstract

Business Intelligence (BI) is an advanced technology for producing highly intellectual information to ease decision-making, which strengthens growth in revenue and enables obtaining competitive advantages. BI is used in organizations across many industries, however, most struggle to properly implement it and get the desired benefits. Due to a variety of factors, BI adoption among SMEs has remained low, particularly in developing countries. This conceptual paper attempts to critically assess socio-technological network factors by developing a holistic framework for measuring the effects of various interdependent variables of BI adoption on achieving competitive advantages. The proposed model is the pioneer to combine Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) and Actor-Network Theory (ANT) theories for integrating different actors of innovation adoption processes in the organizational context. The study would provide academics and industry experts with detailed insights into the interrelated components of inter-organizational relationship (IOR) in which all players should be treated equally important in the BI adoption process.