If you don't forage regularly through trade pubs covering the enterprise software industry, you can be excused for missing an interesting tidbit of good news: Top executives see business intelligence emerging as a crucial competitive advantage.

Business intelligence capabilities and analytic prowess will play crucial roles in the most competitive sectors of the global economy, according to a study by the director of research for Babson Executive Education (BEE) at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass. But an organization's efforts to develop fact-based decision-making capabilities are likely to fail unless they are closely supported by top management, the survey showed.

"We have reached a critical juncture in the history of global competition," said Professor Tom Davenport, president's distinguished professor in the Information Technology Management Division of Babson. "After years of fitful progress, leading firms have begun basing their competitive strategies on the sophisticated analysis of business data."

Davenport's study was sponsored by SAS and Intel. It cites progress at organizations such as Capital One, Harrah's Entertainment, Dreyfus, Marriott, Procter & Gamble, Verizon and the NFL's New England Patriots as clear signs of an accelerating trend toward greater reliance on analytic processes and technologies.

"Many companies today use business intelligence for specific applications, but these initiatives are usually too narrow to affect corporate performance," Davenport said. "The organizations we surveyed, however, are building broad capabilities for enterprise-level business analytics and intelligence. Their capabilities go well beyond data and technology to address the processes, skills and cultures of their organizations. These strategies are driven by CEOs and senior executives who insist on fact-based decisions throughout their businesses."

The research study, which polled more than 40 C-level executives and directors at 25 globally competitive organizations, was conducted by Davenport's team over the first quarter of 2005. Each executive was asked 15 to 20 questions during a 45-minute interview.

"We were surprised by the extremely high degree of interest and involvement in this subject area," Davenport said. "The executives we questioned were clearly interested in identifying the best strategies for organizing analytic operations on an enterprise scale. They're really taking this seriously."

Three conclusions emerged from the study data, Davenport said. First, leading organizations are focusing more attention on developing fact-based decision-making processes. Second, initiatives which are tightly focused on achieving key strategic objectives are the most likely to gain traction. Third, the support and involvement of champions at the C-level are absolutely critical to the success of enterprise business intelligence initiatives.

Davenport said the research study grew from his interest in learning more about how large organizations build analytic capabilities, convert data into knowledge and leverage business intelligence to create value. He said he was gratified by the level of engagement demonstrated by the executives.

"The net takeaway of the study is this: The ability to make business decisions based on tightly focused, fact-based analysis is emerging as a measurable competitive edge in the global economy," Davenport said. "Organizations that fail to invest in the proper analytic technologies will be unable to compete in a fact-based business environment."

Is it too early to suggest that an organization's success will depend on how well it integrates fact-based decision-making processes into its culture?

It may be overly optimistic to think that a business could swap instinct and guesswork for analytic processes and fact-based decision-making without serious disruption at many levels. BI must be contextualized before its value can be fully appreciated. In other words, people need to think and feel BI before they can apply it. This requires a shift in corporate values.

CEOs and senior executives need to use communication strategies to drive a culture of fact-based decision-making throughout their organizations. In addition to leadership and actual involvement, this includes creating a corporate mission with values and self-evident truths that pillar a BI culture. These values need to be reinforced internally through training, consistent messaging, and a meaningful system of rewards.

The truth is that powerful new BI platforms require bottom up/top down cultural integration across the enterprise. The strongest brands start from within and build momentum outwards. Consider Davenport's study as a call to re-align and re-invigorate thinking across your enterprise.