1. Why was Cincinnati Zoo losing opportunities to increase revenue?

Management did not have enough information about what influences customer
behavior and spending to devise marketing campaigns to attract more business.
Managers also lacked detailed information for analyzing operations.

2. Why was replacing legacy point-of-sale systems and implementing a

data warehouse essential to an information system solution?
The Zoo’s data were maintained in 4 different systems, and some of the data was
only accessible manually. The data could not be combined to develop an overall
picture of the company.

3. Visit the Cognos Web site and describe the business intelligence tools
that would be the most useful for the Cincinnati Zoo.
IBM Cognos provides a toolset for querying and reporting, analysis, score-carding,
dash-boarding, and monitoring events and metrics. The software includes
capabilities for planning, scenario modeling, real–time monitoring, collaboration,
and predictive analytics.

4. How did the Cincinnati Zoo benefit from business intelligence? How did
it enhance operational performance and decision making?
The Zoo now has the detailed data and analytical tools to understand visit, usage,
and spending patterns of individual customers. Managers can make better decisions
about how to target marketing and promotions specifically to each customer
segment. The business intelligence system also provides information and insights
for improving operations, such as optimizing staffing in light of changing weather
conditions or extending store hours for ice cream stands. Food sales increased 30.7
percent and retail sales increased 5.9 percent.