The Performance Effects of Using Business Intelligence Systems for Exploration and Exploitation Learning

Accounting researchers are becoming increasingly interested in the performance effects of business intelligence (BI) systems in their role as management control systems. Extant research focuses on the performance effects of adopting and implementing such systems. However, there is less known about how organizations use the information in BI systems for management control once implemented, and whether the use of this information translates into organizational performance. We utilize the theoretical connection between information systems and organizational learning to explain the performance effects of BI system use through organizational learning. Evidence from recent literature indicates the need for organizations to engage in exploitation and exploration learning in pursuit of organizational ambidexterity. Our study draws on agenda setting and framing theories to provide insights that will enable organizations to strategically use the information in two fundamental BI systems to emphasize either or both modes of learning. Subsequently, we examine whether the two modes of learning translate into performance.