The Role of Business Intelligence in Strategic Decision-Making: A Qualitative Study of Business Intelligence Adoption and Integration in Organizations

Abstract

This study investigates the role of Business Intelligence (BI) systems in strategic decision-making (SDM) across varied organizational contexts. While prior research has emphasized BI’s technical capabilities, this study examines how BI is adopted and integrated into strategic practices, with particular attention to user interaction, decision-making structures and organizational conditions.The analysis applies an interpretivist paradigm and qualitative methodology, using nine semi-structured interviews conducted across three European organizations differing in size, industry, and BI maturity. A hybrid thematic analysis framework was developed, combining deductive coding of literature-based themes with inductive topic modeling to surface emergent patterns. Manual refinement and F1-score validation ensured both contextual sensitivity and methodological rigor. The findings demonstrate that BI does support SDM by enhancing data accessibility, facilitating real-time monitoring, and improving performance tracking and planning adaptability. However, its effectiveness is shaped by contextual contingencies such as fragmented infrastructure, user literacy, organizational resistance, and the interpretive confidence of decision-makers. The study highlights the importance of leadership engagement, iterative system refinement, and user-centered adaptation as key enablers of BI’s strategic integration. While both cost management and data governance and security were emphasized in prior literature as central to BI adoption strategies, they held limited practical relevance in the empirical context. Instead, BI’s strategic role was more evident in fostering shared framing, supporting cross-functional communication, and shaping accountability practices across organizational contexts.This thesis contributes to academic and practical understanding by demonstrating that BI’s value in SDM arises from technical implementation and its integration into organizational sensemaking processes. The study offers a practice-based perspective on BI adoption, illustrating how socio-technical and interpretive dimensions shape its strategic relevance. Methodologically, it advances a replicable hybrid analysis approach suitable for examining complex, data-driven organizational phenomena.