Business Intelligence and Analytics:

Systems for Decision Support

Global Edition
(10th Edition)

Chapter 4:
Business Reporting,
Visual Analytics, and Business
Performance Management
 Business Reporting
Definitions and Concepts
 Report = Information  Decision
 Report?
 Any communication artifact prepared to convey
specific information
 A report can fulfill many functions
 To ensure proper departmental functioning
 To provide information
 To provide the results of an analysis
 To persuade others to act
 To create an organizational memory…

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 What is a Business Report?
 A written document that contains information
regarding business matters.
 Purpose: to improve managerial decisions
 Source: data from inside and outside the
organization (via the use of ETL)
 Format: text + tables + graphs/charts
 Distribution: in-print, email, portal/intranet
Data acquisition  Information generation 
Decision making  Process management
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 Key to Any Successful Report
 Clarity …
 Brevity …
 Completeness …
 Correctness …

 Report types (in terms of content and format)

 Informal – a single letter or a memo
 Formal – 10-100 pages; cover + summary + text
 Short report – periodic, informative, investigative
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 Types of Business Reports
 Metric Management Reports
 Help manage business performance through
metrics (SLAs for externals; KPIs for internals)
 Can be used as part of Six Sigma and/or TQM
 Dashboard-Type Reports
 Graphical presentation of several performance
indicators in a single page using dials/gauges
 Balanced Scorecard-Type Reports
 Include financial, customer, business process,
and learning & growth indicators
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 Components of
Business Reporting Systems
 Common characteristics
 OLTP (online transaction processing)
 ERP, POS, SCM, RFID, Sensors, Web, …
 Data supply (volume, variety, velocity, …)
 ETL
 Data storage
 Business logic
 Publication medium
 Assurance
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 Data and Information Visualization
“The use of visual representations to explore,
make sense of, and communicate data.”

 Data visualization vs. Information visualization

 Information = aggregation, summarization,
and contextualization of data
 Related to information graphics, scientific
visualization, and statistical graphics
 Often includes charts, graphs, illustrations, …
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 Different Types of
Charts and Graphs
 Which one to use? Where and when?
 Basic Charts and  Specialized Charts and
Graphs Graphs
 Line Chart  Histogram
 Gantt Chart
 Bar Chart
 PERT Chart
 Pie Chart
 Geographic Map
 Scatter Plot
 Bullet Graph
 Bubble Chart
 Heat Map / Tree Map
 Highlight Table
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 Visual Analytics
 A recently coined term
 Information visualization + predictive analytics
 Information visualization
 Descriptive, backward focused
 “what happened” “what is happening”
 Predictive analytics
 Predictive, future focused
 “what will happen” “why will it happen”
 There is a strong move toward visual analytics
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 Performance Dashboards
 Dashboards provide visual displays of
important information that is consolidated
and arranged on a single screen so that
information can be digested at a single
glance and easily drilled in and further
explored

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 Performance Dashboards

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 Performance Dashboards
 Dashboard design
 The fundamental challenge of dashboard
design is to display all the required
information on a single screen, clearly and
without distraction, in a manner that can be
assimilated quickly
 Three layer of information
 Monitoring
 Analysis
 Management

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 Performance Dashboards
 What to look for in a dashboard
 Use of visual components to highlight data and
exceptions that require action.
 Transparent to the user, meaning that they require
minimal training and are extremely easy to use
 Combine data from a variety of systems into a single,
summarized, unified view of the business
 Enable drill-down or drill-through to underlying data
sources or reports
 Present a dynamic, real-world view with timely data
 Require little coding to implement/deploy/maintain
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 Performance Measurement
 Performance measurement system
A system that assists managers in tracking
the implementations of business strategy
by comparing actual results against
strategic goals and objectives

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 KPIs and Operational Metrics
 Key performance indicator (KPI)
A KPI represents a strategic objective and
metrics that measure performance against
a goal
 Distinguishing features of KPIs
 Strategy  Encodings

 Targets  Time frames

 Ranges  Benchmarks

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 Performance Measurement
 Key performance indicator (KBI)
Outcome KPIs vs. Driver KPIs
(lagging indicators (leading indicators
e.g., revenues) e.g., sales leads)
 Operational areas covered by driver KPIs
 Customer performance
 Service performance
 Sales operations
 Sales plan/forecast
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