Big data is evolving incredibly fast during the last years, and most of the companies are trying to implement data science projects with different complexity and variable results.

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In this post I would like to explore some papers and articles about what companies want from data science projects, what are the main benefits from analytics, how companies change in different areas after having real data about their processes and how their competitive advantages could increase.

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1.Making Advanced Analytics Work For You by HBR.org

Authors: by Dominic Barton and David Court

Advanced analytics is likely to become a decisive competitive asset in many industries and a core element in companies’ efforts to improve performance.

It’s a mistake to assume that acquiring the right kind of big data is all that matters. Also essential is developing analytics tools that focus on business outcomes and that are relevant and easy to use for everyone from the C-suite to the front lines.

That requires transforming your organization’s culture and capabilities, not in a rush to action but in a deliberative effort to weave big data into the fabric of daily operations.

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Takeaway

• How to benefit from Big Data
• Using simple tool to deliver complex analytics improved workforce planning and reduced the need for new hires and overtime

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2. Big data, analytics and the path from insights to value by MIT Sloan Review

Authors: Steve LaValle, Eric Lesser, Rebecca Shockley, Michael S. Hopkins and Nina Kruschwitz

In every industry, in every part of the world, senior leaders wonder whether they are getting full value from the massive amounts of information they already have within their organizations. New technologies are collecting more data than ever before, yet many organizations are still looking for better ways to obtain value from their data and compete in the marketplace. Their questions about how best to achieve value persist.

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Takeaways:

• the use of business information and analytics differentiates them within their industry were twice as likely to be top performers as lower performers.
• The adoption barriers that organizations face most are managerial and cultural rather than related to data and technology
• Information Must Become Easier to Understand and Act Upon

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3.Big Data: The management revolution by HBR.org

Authors: by Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson

Big data is far more powerful than the analytics of the past. Executives can measure and therefore manage more precisely than ever before. They can make better predictions and smarter decisions. The differences between big data and analytics are a matter of volume, velocity, and variety: More data now cross the internet every second than were stored in the entire internet 20 years ago. Nearly real-time information makes it possible for a company to be much more agile than its competitors. And that information can come from social networks, images, sensors, the web, or other unstructured sources.

The managerial challenges, however, are very real. Senior decision makers have to learn to ask the right questions and embrace evidence-based decision making. Organizations must hire scientists who can find patterns in very large data sets and translate them into useful business information. IT departments have to work hard to integrate all the relevant internal and external sources of data.

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Takeaways

• Exploiting vast new flows of information can radically improve your company’s performance. But first you’ll have to change your decision-making culture.
• You can’t manage what you don’t measure
• Data-driven decisions are better decisions—it’s as simple as that. Using big data enables managers to decide on the basis of evidence rather than intuition. For that reason it has the potential to revolutionize management.
• The potential to gain competitive advantage from it may be even greater for other companies.

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4.Competing on Analytics by Harvard business review

Author: Thomas H. Davenport

This is a seasoned article, and a good example about why some concepts and ideas are universal. If you don’t have time to read anything else, I truly recommend that you check this paper.

From the extract we can read: “Some companies have built their very businesses on their ability to collect, analyze, and act on data. Every company can learn from what these firms do.”

“t’s virtually impossible to differentiate your-self from competitors based on products alone. Your rivals sell offerings similar to yours. And thanks to cheap offshore labor, you’re hard-pressed to beat overseas com-petitors on product cost. How to pull ahead of the pack? Become an analytics competitor: Use sophisticated data-collection technology and analysis to wring every last drop of value from all your business processes.”

Takeaways

• The author is presenting a general idea about why Analytics could be an extraordinary differential not for big companies but for everyone.
• There is a table with function and industry with a description and some examples with companies.
• Some keys about to detect when you (your company) are competing on analytics.

Citations

• Lavalle, Steve & Lesser, Eric & Shockley, Rebecca & S. Hopkins, Michael & Kruschwitz, Nina. (2011). Big Data, Analytics and the Path From Insights to Value. MIT Sloan Management Review. 52. 21-32.
• Davenport, Thomas. (2006). Competing on Analytics. Harvard business review. 84. 98-107, 134.
• Barton, Dominic & Court, David. (2012). Making Advanced Analytics Work for You. Harvard business review. 90. 78-83, 128.
• McAfee, Andrew & Brynjolfsson, Erik. (2012). Big Data: The Management Revolution. Harvard business review. 90. 60-6, 68, 128.