Developing guidelines for business intelligence modules in information technology programmes at universities using critical systems heuristics

Abstract

Data warehousing (DW)/ Business intelligence (BI) is continually being implemented across many industries; however, universities in South Africa face a variety of challenges in training the next generation of DW/BI workers. The complexity of the situation arises from the different goals of the involved and affected stakeholders. The problem addressed by this study is the difficulty traditional universities experience to provide the DW/BI industry with graduates that are able to contribute to the organisation without substantial further training. A systems approach is recommended and applied to determine how, in this changing environment of DW/BI education practice and with different stakeholders’ perspectives, we can improve our understanding of it. Two systems methodologies are chosen as instruments to be used in the research problem. A research paradigm is chosen; the process of how to develop guidelines is also presented to bring clarity on what is a guideline is, and how it is used. Research aspects are extracted from the DW/BI literature review, and from current DW/BI programmes at universities. These research aspects are used to formulate an interpretive questionnaire leading to an empirical study. A purposeful selection of participants is conducted for this interpretive study. The required information is the understanding of the former students, lecturers, and industry experts. Interpretive coding and cross case analysis are selected as applicable methods for this study. The results of data analysis are used to create guidelines for DW/BI module. Four sets of guidelines concerning the content and development process for a DW/BI module are presented as findings of this study. The significance of the findings reflects on the current DW/BI problem situation, as well as the ideal. Further study, recommendations, as well as assumptions and limitations of the study are also presented.