Abstract
It has become increasingly important for firms to monitor the competitive forces affecting their business and competitiveness (Arnott & Pervan, forthcoming; Davenport & Harris, 2007). As a consequence, more and more attention has been directed towards data originating external to the own organizations, that is, external data. The increased interest is also shown in current literature and many authors have expressed the benefits thereof. The following quotations illustrate the perceived benefits of incorporating external data: (1) Oglesby (1999, p. 3) claims that “Companies who use external data systems have a strategic advantage over those who don’t, and the scope of that advantage is growing as we move deeper into the information age,” (2) Stedman (1998, p. 2) states that “external data helps us understand our business in the context of the greater world,” and (3) Inmon (1996, p. 272) argues that “the comparison of internal and external data allows management to see the forest for the trees.” In alignment, a majority of companies incorporate their external data from organizations specialized in collecting, compiling, refining, and selling data (Strand, Wangler, & Lauren, 2004; Strand, Wangler, & Olsson, 2003). Kimball (1996) refers to these specialized and commercial data suppliers as syndicate data suppliers (SDSs).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Monopoly Syndicate Data Supplier: A monopoly syndicate data supplier is a governmental or commercial organization which, under a commission, collects, compiles, refines, and sells unique and protected data (and its associated metadata) to other organizations.
Retailing Syndicate Data Supplier: A retailing syndicate data supplier is a commercial organization specialized in collecting, compiling, refining, and selling data (and its associated metadata) to other organizations, in which the selling also encompasses the marketing and sales of products and services of other syndicate data suppliers.
Data Quality Verifier: A data quality verifier is a commercial organization specialized in carefully reviewing the quality of data sets with the assistance of advanced tools and algorithms or by manual inspections.
Syndicate Data Supplier: A syndicate data supplier is a commercial organization specialized in collecting, compiling, refining, and selling data (and its associated metadata) to other organizations.