Business

Analytics
Strategic
Approaches

University of Tennessee
PROVEN. RESULTS. © Bradley, Miles and Pannell
FASTER.
 Session Objectives
 To review the definition of business analytics

 To introduce five approaches to business analytics

Analytics Strategic Approaches 2

What is Business Analytics?

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Blindfolded Men Describe Elephant
It’s a
Bridge

It’s a Snake It’s a

Spear

It’s a
Blanket

It’s a
It’s a Tree Python
Trunk

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 Business
Blindfolded Men Describe Elephant
Analytics
It’s
It’s Computer
Statistics Science

It’s Data
Warehousing It’s SAS
Software

It’s 6
Sigma all
over
again!

It’s
It’s Executive
Mathematical Dashboards
Models

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Davenport – Competing on Analytics

“The extensive use of data, statistical and

quantitative analysis, explanatory and predictive
models, and fact-based management to drive
decisions and actions”.

Re-quoted from Competing on Analytics

Enterprise Analytics. Thomas Davenport. Pearson Publishing. 2013. Page 9.

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 Been There …… Done That?
TQM (1980’s)
Fact-based decision making. In order to know how well an organization is performing, data
on performance measures are necessary. TQM requires that an organization continually collect
and analyze data in order to improve decision making accuracy, achieve consensus, and allow
prediction based on past history.

Six Sigma (1990’s)

Features that set Six Sigma apart from previous quality improvement initiatives include:
 A clear focus on achieving measurable and quantifiable financial returns from any Six Sigma
project.
 An increased emphasis on strong and passionate management leadership and support.
 A special infrastructure of "Champions", "Master Black Belts", "Black Belts", "Green Belts", etc.
to lead and implement the Six Sigma approach.
 A clear commitment to making decisions on the basis of verifiable data and
statistical methods, rather than assumptions and guesswork.

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 Differences We See
 Big Data
 Real-Time use of data
 Selling data
 Decision-Based data

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Analytics Strategic Approaches 9
The Best Definition

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Allen’s Definition of Business Analytics

Utilizing Data to Increase

Shareholder Value

Data =
 Big and Small
 Internal and External
 Structured and Non-structured
 Traditional and “New”
 “Free” and Purchased

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Allen’s Definition of Business Analytics
Utilizing Data to Increase
Shareholder Value
Utilizing =
 Determine Business Needs
 Capture and Store
 Ensure Quality
 Access and Format
 Analyze and Summarize
 Gain Insight and Produce Action
 and …….. ‘Sell’ It

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 Types of Questions and Analytics
Descriptive Predictive Prescriptive

Questions What happened? Why is this happening? What should I do?

What’s happening? What will happen next? Why should I do it?
What actions are Why will it happen? What’s the best that can
needed? happen?
What exactly is the What if we try this?
problem?
What actions are
needed?

Enablers • Ad hoc Reports • Data Mining • Optimization

• Dashboards • Text Mining • Simulation
• Data Warehousing • Web/Media Mining • Decision Modeling
• Alerts • Forecasting • Randomized Testing
Outcomes Well defined business Accurate projections of Best possible business
problems and the future states and decisions and transactions
opportunities
PROVEN. RESULTS. FASTER. conditions
Possible Strategies for Business Analytics
1. Competing ON Analytics
 Analytics is THE key competitive advantage
 Target Result – Sustainable competitive advantage
2. Competing WITH Analytics
 Focus on one business process
 Target result – Incremental profits
3. Improving With Analytics
 Culture of analytics
 Target result – Continuous improvement
4. Revenue Through Analytics
 “Sell” data as a secondary product
 Improved margins or market share
5. Persevering Through Analytics
 Do what the competition does
 The price of entry

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 Which Strategy?
 Our Mission:
CareerBuilder's mission is to empower employment.
We are striving to organize all the world's human
capital data and make it meaningful for society

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Analytics Practices…Who’s Doing What?
1%
Improving with Analytics
4% (Incrementalists)
5% Competing with Analytics
(Internists)
8% Revenue through Analytics
(Industrialists)
Competing on Analytics
12% 51% (Intensivists)
Persevering though Analytics
(Idlers)
Are you kidding me…I have no
19% idea!
Other

N=95 firms

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