Enhancing Performance within the South African Insurance Sector through Business Intelligence
Lerato Patience Moyane
Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa.
Cecil Hlophego Kgoetiane *
Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa.
Olusegun Ajigini
Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Organizations have acknowledged the significance of making decisions through business intelligence (BI) as it allows them to obtain insights into the business from various viewpoints.
Some studies examined the factors that influence BI usage to enhance organizational performance (OP). However, there are few developed models for BI usage in the South African insurance sector.
The research focused on creating a model for BI utilization to improve OP in the South African insurance industry. At least 300 participants were sampled and targeted for the study. Therefore, employees of the South African insurance companies were the target group. The target group included professionals from Actuarial Science, Business Intelligence, Compliance, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Operations, and Sales.
The study employed quantitative techniques for data collection from the South African insurance sector. The overall reliability (Cronbach's Alpha) for the constructs was 0.931. The convergent validity of the constructs is demonstrated; the discriminant validity is verified for all constructs. IT Infrastructure, Data Quality, Technology expenses, Support from top management, Organizational size, and Competitive Pressure influenced BI usage. A multiple linear regression analysis was employed to identify the factors influencing the use of business intelligence.
Hypotheses 1(IT infrastructure), 2 (Data Quality), 3(Technology costs), 4 (Top management Support), 5 (Organisation size), and 7(Competitive Pressure) predicted the factors influencing BI usage, and Hypothesis 8 (BI usage) predicted the BI usage influence on Organizational performance and were all accepted. Hypothesis 6 (Organisational Culture) predicted the factors influencing BI usage and was rejected. All variables demonstrated confirmed discriminant and construct validity, with the data showing no multicollinearity (1.677 < VIF < 2.912). The model created in the study can be utilized to broaden research in the area of BI usage. The outcomes of this research can aid BI users and decision-makers in the South African insurance sector in improving organizational efficiency and effectiveness.
The results of this study will assist BI users and mainly decision makers within the South African insurance industry to focus on BI usage and how it can enhance organizational efficiency and performance, which might make their organizations achieve a competitive advantage.
Keywords: Business intelligence, business intelligence usage, insurance companies, organizational performance, organizational competitiveness, decision making, big data, bi model, South African insurance companies