Executive Summary
The successful development of an organization depends on a plethora of factors, especially those connected with structure, culture, and management mechanisms. A brief analysis of different business intelligence software tools is known to influence efficiency and overall performance. Integrating technology into the Etihad Airways business will require a total reconstruction of business management to address the current challenge of disconnect between business processes and efficiency, especially in the customer relationship management department.
In order to reverse this worrying trend, it is necessary to examine various business intelligence support tools, as well as how Etihad Airways can apply them in diverse fields. Second, it is purposeful to consider how the business intelligence tools can contribute to decision making and general efficiency within the dynamic airline industry. Apparently, integration of web mining software tools, decision support tools, and software agent tools are presented as the best strategy that Etihad Airways should apply to guarantee efficiency and effectiveness within its current organization mantra.
Relevant Frameworks, Models, and Methods of Applying Business Intelligence Tools
Due to unceasing competition, organizational leaders at Etihad Airways are trying to curtail expenditures, augment the quality of their products, provide better customer service, and concentrate on research and development. A brief evaluation of business intelligence tools in assignment one has presented the term in the context of technological support that enhances project collaboration through integrating digital communication by means of various resources and tools (Alkhuraijia et al. 2014). However, there are many other frameworks on the scope and role of business intelligence tools in an organizational setting.
This means that Etihad Airways can employ web-based analytical tools such as Google ad words, decision support, and software agent tools to enhance the negotiation of strategy-making groups in an agreed direction. Basically, balanced Google ad words “may particularly facilitate psychological negotiation within groups, supporting groups in reaching agreements about the strategic direction” (Alkhuraijia et al. 2014, p. 294).
To understand the context within which Google ad words are used, the focus should be on a set of strategic interventions within a multinational organization. This particular use of technology-based support systems can allow group leaders to examine cognitive dynamics, namely, the means for participants to contribute to the agreement and information sharing between group members.
Aside from the focus on the computer-based environment, specific attention should be brought to the role of social networks and face-to-face communication in changing the attitudes of clients and employees of Etihad Airways. The IT system shapes the basis of collaboration between team members that cannot access face-to-face communication (Han & Kamber 2012). In this respect, software agent tools can be an ideal synergy of the IT environment with the participants’ readiness to employ software for enhancing decision making and communication at Etihad Airways.
Basically, the software agent tools such as GDSS may offer “an interactive software-based system meant to help decision-makers to compile useful information from raw data, documents, personal knowledge, and/or business models and artificial intelligence-based tools to identify, model and solve decision problems” (Han & Kamber 2012, p. 56).
As a result, Etihad Airways will be in a position to design a strategic and dynamic decision support environment that maintains a positive and productive customer-employee interaction. For instance, through mobile technology, the management of Etihad Airways will be in a position to easily access live feeds and monitor or enhance collected information, which may be a part of the decision-making process.
Basically, the GDSS relies on the synchronization of people, software, hardware, and protocols so that the aforementioned elements of the company could work flawlessly. With regard to the above-presented terms, GDSS embraces a range of important components, issues, and conditions, under which people can effectively interact at Etihad Airways. Computer-based systems, therefore, seek to support activities through interactive communication. The rapid integration of technological support in social environments has provided a new framework for operating strategic decision support tools in any company (Boughzala, Vreede, & Limayem 2012).
In the case of Etihad Airways, the development of GSS requires the acquisition of new skills, experiences, and competencies among the employees that influence the effectiveness of their performance. For instance, the proposed group support system technology may substitute a social context for brainstorming, problem-solving, negotiation, and communication by means of an electronic environment at Etihad Airways. The primary objective of this tool is to “enhance the process of the group decision-making by eliminating communication barriers and offering techniques for alternative decision analysis” (Boughzala, Vreede, & Limayem 2012, p. 723).
Collaborating technology and group decision-making is vital for culturally diverse settings, as is the case with Etihad Airways. To integrate this environment, employees must have new tools and skills for collaboration. This can be achieved through considering two types of support, technology support, and process support, which involve design tasks, application tasks, and management tasks. These three dimensions rely on associated roles and responsibilities imposed on the members of a business organization (Dewhurst et al., 2012). Therefore, the stakeholders at Etihad Airways should focus on such roles as development, application, and management of design administration to ensure that identified challenges are rectified.
Choice of Web Mining, Web Analytics, Decision Support, and Software Agent Tools
Any web-based business intelligence software framework should include elaborate support to ensure that implementation and progress tracking is smooth. In the case of Etihad Airways, there is a need to create business intelligence tools that provide instructions for monitoring the group members and assisting them in achieving the established objectives. At this stage, the facilitator should take responsibility for preparing and operating the corresponding software, including the technical tools for assembling the meeting facilities (Alkhuraijia et al. 2014). The e-collaborative tools and human resources involved in the collaborative process should be the focus of the management process (Escrig-Tena et al., 2011).
Besides, it is necessary to create an alternative setting in which employees can improve their communication and develop new skills replacing and improving traditional means of group interaction to fill the gap between technology and social environments. A specific framework proposed for this solution refers to design, application, and management, which should engage third parties to ensure successful communication and fruitful outcomes (Reinschmidt et al. 1999).
Organizational leaders around the world are employing the GSS tool, which can be integrated into web mining, web analytic, and decision support frameworks. Etihad Airways should also adopt the GSS model because it decreases traveling costs, increases the effectiveness of decision making, and creates a working atmosphere, where ideas occur quickly, and the air of innovation surrounds the work process (Dewhurst et al. 2012).
Basically, the GSS models are economical, adaptable, and can reconcile with their current information system (Escrig-Tena et al., 2011). Numerous aspects of computer-aided interactions influence the output of organizations pertaining to team attempts, and a specific mention of e-coordination is eminent. The main aim of the GSS is to improve the effectiveness of group collaboration by expediting the distribution of data between the team members at Etihad Airways.
Potential Value, Effectiveness, and Efficiency of Proposed Solutions
With regard to proposed decisions, the main role of GSS lies in improving decision making and conflict management at Etihad Airways. The specified function is especially important with regard to the global setting because the company is operating in an increasingly culturally diverse environment. A virtual decision-making process gains momentum in the globalization process. Decision-making tendency also leads to collective problem management by employees, whose mobility can be increased through Web-based collaborative tools (Alkhuraijia et al. 2014).
Rapid and interactive decision-making is a facilitator to the development of virtual team software and support systems, as well as the promotion of efficient conflict management and improved problem-solving at Etihad Airways (Escrig-Tena et al., 2011). The integration of IT solutions contributes to the proliferation of much faster and more practical solutions proposed in an online setting through social networking platforms, microblogs, and discussion forums. Turban, Liang, and Wu (2011) referred to a fit-viability model that assists in evaluating whether social software is suitable to a decision task orientation, as well as organizational development.
The authors found it vital to consider organizational culture and structure because they greatly affect the readiness of employees to accept changes. The methods that the authors employed can be defined as those allowing for an examination of the connection between a decision-making process and GSS and focused on analyzing the various schemes and measures that Etihad Airways should integrate into a software-regulated environment to ensure successful decision making (Turban, Liang, & Wu 2011).
Group support systems, as important sources of enhancing communication, provide a solid ground for reconstructing decisions. The key justification for teamwork to exist in the realm of business and entrepreneurship concerns at Etihad Airways is its ability to integrate the team members into a single entity (Alkhuraijia et al., 2014). Traditional decision making implies a number of elements, including employment environment, cultural background, and employees’ needs. The evolution of group support into a technologically enabled network over time creates numerous benefits for sustainable operation.
In this respect, Dewhurst et al. (2012) supported the idea that “group support systems… are seen not only as a communication support, but also as a decision-enabling technology, supporting debate, organization of ideas, simulation and analysis of consequences, and ultimately, enabler of decisions” (p. 79). The group support system is the media that enhances knowledge acquisition, quality of decisions, and employees’ motivation to participate in the negotiation.
Across the globe, group support systems are becoming more popular because of the frameworks’ capability to improve group benefits and interfaces (SAS Institute 2016). Therefore, in the case of Etihad Airways, group support systems will offer a plausible and engaging option to the customary face-to-face conferences and customer relationship management.
The advantages of GSS include secrecy, parallel contacts, computerized record-keeping, an improved and more detailed structure, and increased output. Secrecy permits anonymous sharing of thoughts, which in turn boosts the level of confidence among people to participate in the process (Turban et al., 2011). Another advantage is that the team members can share their opinions without being afraid of a reproachful attitude of the manager, who may disagree with the statements voiced during the meeting. With the GDR, there is a significant savings of time.
Unlike in traditional business intelligence tools that involve losing considerable time giving everyone limited time to participate, GSS save time (Oracle 2016) by welcoming all incoming contributions at the same time by the central computer because the entire GDR is based upon an interconnected computer network (Boughzala, Vreede, & Limayem 2012). Participants present the collected answers for brainstorming altogether and evaluating the best solution. As a result, Etihad Airways will be in a position to improve on efficiency and effectiveness of all the business processes.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, there is an urgent need for Etihad Airways to embrace web-based business intelligence software tools such as GSS and GDR to facilitate efficiency in service delivery and business process management. Specifically, the airline company should integrate the proposed frameworks to its current business process management strategy as part of the effectiveness matrix from customer relationship management, employee coordination, and strategic decision making support.
Reference List
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Boughzala, I, Vreede, G & Limayem, M 2012, “Team collaboration in virtual worlds: Introduction to the special issue,” Journal of the Association for Information Systems, vol. 13, no. 10, pp. 714-734.
Dewhurst, M, Harris, J, Heywood, S & Aquila, K 2012, “The global company’s challenge,” McKinsey Quarterly, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 76-80.
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SAS Institute 2016, SAS Enterprise Miner. Web.
Turban, E, Liang, T & Wu, S 2011, “A framework for adopting collaboration 2.0 tools for virtual group decision making,” Group Decision & Negotiation, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 137-145.