Business Intelligence System Use in Chinese Organizations

Abstract

Chinese business has developed exponentially in the last few decades and Chinese firms are highly influential in world trade. Business intelligence (BI) systems are large-scale decision support systems (DSS) that analyze enterprise data to generate business insights. BI was developed in the West and is integral to con- temporary Western management practices. It is generally assumed that western BI systems are useable and effective in a Chinese context. No study has been under- taken to investigate the use behavior of large-scale DSS in Chinese organizations. We conducted two exploratory case studies in large indigenous Chinese organiza- tions. The case analysis shows that a complex cultural factor (provisionally termed Factor X) affects BI systems use in China. A set of propositions are formulated from the analysis. They will be used as a foundation for future research on Chinese BI.