Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning: A Harvard Business Press Book Summary in Partnership with getAbstract Review
I found this book to be both enjoyable and very informative.
It uses real-life examples of many diverse companies which are successfully using Analytics in their businesses, including Netflix, CEMEX, Capital One, The Boston Red Sox, The New England Patriots, Marriott, Progressive, Rocky Mountain Steel Mills, Bank of America, P&G, Google, Amazon, and more.
It describes how Analytics are used in different functional areas, including Financial, Marketing, Manufacturing, R&D, HR, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Supply Chain Management (SCM). Delving into the finest levels of granularity, for example... in planning for M&A or ensuring SOX compliance, are referenced but not explored in any depth.
Useful tables are provided to categorize Analytical Applications for these different areas as well as referencing vendors who provide different capabilities - I found this quite helpful as this allows me to easily research related details in an organized manner.
A helpful framework is defined to guide readers forward toward planning and building their own Analytical capabilities and the various stages they can expect to go through, as well as the necessity of aligning business needs with IT, the architecture of Business Intelligence, organizing/managing Analytical resources, potholes to avoid, and what we can expect to see coming down the pike in the future.
This is not a math text designed to provide algorithmic insight into computing Analytics; in fact, I would have appreciated a few detailed technical real-world examples. This book, however, is a very interesting and effective overview of companies that have successfully used Analytics in different areas to achieve success, and it will be a helpful guide for those who would like to understand the vision and begin the journey to obtain a "consistent version of the truth".
Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning: A Harvard Business Press Book Summary in Partnership with getAbstract Overview
In today's world, you have more information at hand about your business than ever before. But are you using it to outthink your rivals? Certain high-performing enterprises are now building their strategies around data-driven insights gained from the use of analytics--sophisticated quantitative and statistical analysis and predictive modeling. In "Competing on Analytics," Thomas Davenport and Jeanne Harris show how exemplars are gaining a competitive edge by using these new tools to identify their most profitable customers and offer them the right price; accelerate product innovation; optimize supply chains; and identify the true drivers of financial performance.
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Customer Reviews
The book doesn't go into analytics - Shawn Arora - Toronto, ON
I was hoping the book would delve into analytics tools and techniques, but it doesn't even get close. It pretty much explains 2 things: first, that analytics are important and second, that there are 5 stages a company must go through (from no analytical capability to corporate-wide capability). The book mentions some companies that use analytics, but again, not the specific tools.
This book does not deliver a message. If you bought the book, you probably already knew that analytics are important.
Worth a few spare dollars ... - Joseph D. Marsh - Massapequa Park, NY United States
If you've never read any books about analytics, this book is a good primer on analytics in general. While it lacks any real specifics (which is a big detractor), it does introduce a lot of the terminology and concepts. All good stuff. If you *have* read a few books on analytics, this book is going to be largely redundant.
I did come away from the book with a solid idea of the concept of being an analytical competitor. This should come as no surprise, as it is, in fact, the title of the book. The authors did a good job of describing the notion.
But the lack of specifics makes me hesitate to recommend the book. Got a few hours and a few dollars to spare? Buy it and read it; if not, I'd skip it.
Overrated - Jess - Houston, TX
I found the content very shallow because what the authors have to say are mainly from their surveys or observations rather than any concrete know-how. The idea of the book is to illustrate how important data analysis is and how market leaders are using data to succeed. It further explains the characteristics of companies in each stage, from comapnies that are data impaired to those that are leaders in analytics, always thinking the next steps. Unfortunately, the book fails to go deeper to point out how exactly does a firm analyze the data. Instead, it only touches the idea here and there. For example, it mentions over and over again how Harrah's used data to maximize customer loyalty, but it doesn't illustrate how exactly did they perform the task. The book focus on the idea of data-driven decision making, which is really not a new idea in 2009.
The book is probably a good introdcutory to those who want to know the trend of today's business world. However, for those who are already in a very competitive business environment, the value-add is very limited.
Rather than wasting time reading a book that may not be useful, I would highly recommend another book called "The Profit Impact of Business Intelligence" which has more in depth discussion on BI strategy and its application.
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Sep 10, 2010 18:00:09
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