A consideration of the roles of business intelligence and e‐business in management and marketing decision making in knowledge‐based and high‐tech start‐ups

This paper considers the roles of business intelligence (BI) and e‐business systems in enhancing the quality of decision making in knowledge‐based and high‐tech start‐ups. A qualitative study, using in‐depth discussions with 11 companies based in Northern Ireland, was conducted. The study examined the extent of BI usage and evaluated the extent of implementation of effective e‐business systems in the sample companies. The study concludes that, whilst the sample firms recognized the value of both BI and e‐business models, the modus operandi of the entrepreneurial high tech start‐up is very much rooted in the traditional small firm paradigm of personal contact networking.