Development of a Business Case for Investment in Analytic Software: An Organization Development Perspective

Expenditures for data and analytics may be among the most costly investments an organization can make, and yet the traditional cost-benefit models that support decision making about those investments have themselves become outdated approaches – often leaving out the social and socio-economic factors that are related to development of new capabilities. This exploratory case study considers alternative perspectives about the construction of the business case for organizational investments in software used in analytics. As investments in new analytic capabilities are considered, costs for new technology are often evaluated and weighed against potential benefits. Although there are many potential points of view that could be considered, legacy organization development theory and the Socio-economic Approach to Management (SEAM) provide critical perspective. Cross-model comparisons show how paradigms of thought can affect evaluation and measurement of costs, benefits and productivity. Findings from this research are discussed in context with organization development and capability-building for data and analytics