The added value of OLAP preferences in what-If applications

Abstract

These days, enterprise managers involved with decision-making processes struggle with several problems related to market position or business reputation of their companies. Collecting data and retrieving high-quality set of information is one of the main priority tasks of enterprise managers involved in decision-making processes. To overcome the difficulties that may arise from market competitiveness and gain some kind of competitive advantage, it is important that these managers make the most of adequate tools in order to get the right set of highly refined information. What-If analysis can help managers getting the competitive advantage they need. It allows for simulating hypothetical scenarios and analyzing the consequences of specific changes without harming business activities. In this paper, we propose a hybridization methodology, which combines What-If analysis process with OLAP usage preferences, for optimizing decision processes. We present and discuss the integration of OLAP usage preferences in the conventional What-If analysis with a case example.