Special Report 2011: Analytics, The Widening Divide
Surveying 4,500, MIT SMR and IBM Institute for Business Value’s special report identifies 3 key competencies and 2 distinct paths for gaining analytic sophistication. Read more »
Applied math and negotiation skills are great preparation for a fast-changing economy filled with ever-smarter computers, write MIT Sloan’s Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 2/21/12
Clay Johnson’s new book makes the case that “much as a poor diet gives us a variety of diseases, poor information diets give us new forms of ignorance.”
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 2/14/12
Big Data is now a $64 billion business, says McKinsey Global Institute. Among the start-ups in the fray: Bluefin Labs, which analyzes what’s said in social media about TV.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 2/2/12
Computers now beat humans in tasks like playing Jeopardy!. The best way to compete with computers is to partner, bringing human skills of negotiation and creativity to the table.
Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee – The Magazine – 2/1/12
UCLA’s E. Burton Swanson’s five questions to consider when figuring out which IT innovations to pay attention to — and which to wait out because they might end up being lemons.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 1/15/12
“When faced with a difficult question, we often answer an easier one instead, usually without noticing the substitution,” writes psychologist Daniel Kahneman, in a new book.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 12/23/11
Crowd science utilizes volunteers from around the world and turns science into games. Already it is making contributions to the fields of ecology, medicine and astronomy.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 12/6/11
The ability to create a competitive advantage with analytics has surged in the past 12 months. Our 2011 global survey of over 4,500 executives identifies two distinct paths.
D. Kiron, R. Shockley, et al. – New Intelligent Enterprise – 11/20/11
Support for analytics projects only follows when it becomes clear how analytics will improve the top and bottom lines, say Paul Barth (left) and Randy Bean of NewVantage Partners.
P. Barth and R. Bean, with D. Kiron – New Intelligent Enterprise – 11/9/11
On the face of it, an expiration date on information sounds like a wild idea. But that’s exactly what Oxford University’s Viktor Mayer-Schönberger says our society needs.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 11/3/11
Implementing a number of improvement initiatives simultaneously can produce “brain overload” for employees. And being overwhelmed can cause an upsurge of mistakes. Free to subscribers
Find out more
Satya S. Chakravorty – The Magazine – 11/1/11
In a new book, MIT Sloan’s Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee argue that while digital automation accelerates innovation and drives productivity, it also transforms employment.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 10/28/11
Data-rich companies like CarMax, the largest U.S. specialty retailer of used cars, are using proprietary information systems to capture and interpret data and get the edge on competitors.
David Kiron and Rebecca Shockley – The Magazine – 10/15/11
Business analytics projects are often characterized by uncertain or changing requirements and a high implementation risk. Here, five characteristics of successful analytics project managers.
Stijn Viaene and Annabel Van den Bunder – The Magazine – 10/2/11
In a new Q&A, Pfizer’s David Kreutter explains how sales representatives use tablet PCs to present material to Pfizer’s physician customers and generate valuable daily data reports.
D. Kreutter, w/ D. Kiron, R. Shockley – Web Exclusives – 9/18/11
Police in Santa Cruz, Cali., are using data to predict where burglaries and other crimes might take place — with forecasting models like those that predict aftershocks from earthquakes.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 9/13/11
Marketers rely more on intuition than data or even consultation with colleagues when making decisions. CIOs can combat that by IDing metrics that really matter.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 9/1/11
Mornings are better for important decisions – research by John Tierney into “decision fatigue” shows that impulsiveness and inertia take over after we’ve made too many choices in a day.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 8/31/11
The author of Adapt: Why Success Always Starts With Failure argues that instead of looking for eureka moments to solve complex problems, we need systems of trial and error.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 8/26/11
Applying predictive analytics to identify customers’ lifetime value to a business can transform marketing functions from cost centers to profit centers capable of increasing market value.
V. Kumar and Denish Shah – The Magazine – 8/24/11
Facebook has a vision which it calls called social design, where instead of Google’s algorithms guiding you on a Web search, the recommendations of your friends would be front and center.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 8/10/11
Only 41% of over 4,000 survey respondents “completely” or “to a great extent” have access to the information they need to do their jobs successfully. Some 20% report limited or no access. Free to subscribers
Find out more
Nina Kruschwitz and Rebecca Shockley – The Magazine – 8/3/11
PwC has perfected the art of “content manipulation”: turning its Global CEO Survey into over 30 reports, videos and data sets, customized and delivered on a micro website.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 7/24/11
People disagree: Our 4,000 survey respondents want consistent over fast, but that’s at odds with the argument by Attivio’s Ali Riaz and Sid Probstein, who argue that fast trumps perfect.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 7/15/11
MIT Sloan’s Andrew McAfee calls old-fashioned management coupled with hot new technology a nightmare scenario and the biggest danger to collaboration.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 7/5/11
Entrants in the Langley Knights Competition co-developed by MIT’s Stuart Madnick used social media and Google Maps to track down 5 knights in shining armor — real and virtual.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 7/1/11
The CTO of Tata Consultancy Services, one of the largest companies in India, says that info in blogs and video feeds is hard to analyze but full of customer insights. A new Q&A.
K. A. Krishnan, interviewed by M. Hopkins – Web Exclusives – 6/30/11
With its new Square Register and Square Card Case, the company Square has taken two more steps toward easy digital transaction and data management for merchants.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 5/24/11
What do baseball, wine and, for that matter, healthcare have in common? Analytics, according to an interesting presentation by MIT Sloan School professor Dimitris Bertsimas.
Martha E. Mangelsdorf – Improvisations – 5/19/11
“Customers are always connected, and companies can interact with them at any time,” notes a new IBM Institute for Business Value report. How to address that digital transformation.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 4/27/11
We can digest only so much information, and only so fast, and executives request far more reports than they actually use. Instead, the focus should be on enabling faster decision making. Free to subscribers
Find out more
T. Davenport and J. Hagemann Snabe – The Magazine – 4/24/11
Adam Bryant’s New York Times piece “Distilling the Wisdom of C.E.O.’s” says that leaders have a “simple mind-set” and want staff to be concise and able to get straight to the bottom line.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 4/20/11
MIT’s Andrew McAfee asks: “Instead of emailing me or sending a text when a suspicious international charge took place, they mailed a letter? How is this still happening in 2011?”
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 4/7/11
Companies are thinking about data all wrong, say the CEO and CTO of Attivio: analytics “needs to capture the behavior, not the totality of it.” The key concept: “eventually consistent.” Free to subscribers
Find out more
A. Riaz and S. Probstein – The Magazine – 4/1/11
How are video game companies using data about player behavior to inform business decisions? That was one of the topics addressed at the MIT Sloan Business in Gaming conference.
Martha E. Mangelsdorf – Improvisations – 3/22/11
New research presented at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference says home court advantage comes from referees, whose calls on close plays consistently favor home players.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 3/18/11
Monsanto Co. has figured out how to turn data into strategy: Beth Holmes explains how her IT managers help bring the best information possible to daily decisions and strategic planning. Free to subscribers
Find out more
B. Holmes, interviewed by M. Hopkins – New Intelligent Enterprise – 3/6/11
MIT Ph.D. Gary Loveman, CEO of casino company Caesars Entertainment, says that analytic rigor continues to beat out “the institutionalization of instinct” – and that it’s easy to do.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 3/3/11
Companies that embrace data-driven management can rid themselves of wrongheaded long-held beliefs and, evidence suggests, become leading performers in their industries.
S. LaValle, E. Lesser, R. Shockley, et al. – The Magazine – 1/18/11
Want to be more productive at work? Keep your e-mails brief and focused. Researchers have identified four practices — including that one — associated with higher information-work productivity.
Martha E. Mangelsdorf – Improvisations – 1/12/11
Watch on-demand: Michael S. Hopkins, Erik Brynjolfsson, Stephen Baker and Steve LaValle discuss the MIT SMR/IBM report ”Analytics: The New Path to Value”.
Sean M. Brown – Improvisations – 11/09/10
Our 2010 survey and special report details how smart leaders have figured out how to capitalize on information riches. By MIT SMR with the IBM Institute for Business Value.
S. LaValle, M. Hopkins, et al – Special Reports – 10/24/10
Early returns from MIT SMR’s New Intelligent Enterprise Survey show how executives and managers are — or are not — capitalizing on information. Included: charts and text.
Nina Kruschwitz and Rebecca Shockley – The Magazine – 9/22/10
The discipline of marketing hasn’t kept up with the rapid changes facing 21st-century businesses. Part of rethinking it is figuring out how to better track and evaluate investments. Free to subscribers
Find out more
Yoram (Jerry) Wind – The Magazine – 8/19/10
In a Q&A for our series on The New Intelligent Enterprise, Tom Davenport says the potential for analytics to be a critical piece of decision making remains an untapped opportunity. Free to subscribers
Find out more
T. Davenport, interviewed by M. Hopkins – New Intelligent Enterprise – 7/29/10
MIT’s Andrew McAfee, author of Enterprise 2.0, says evolving technology and the data deluge can enable companies not only to be smarter, but to act smarter, too. Included: video. Free to subscribers
Find out more
A. McAfee, interviewed by M. Hopkins – The Magazine – 7/23/10
Measure. Experiment. Share. Replicate. This is the new IT-driven R&D. A conversation with Erik Brynjolfsson of MIT’s Center for Digital Business. Also: video: Harrah’s experiment. Free to subscribers
Find out more
E. Brynjolfsson, interviewed by M. Hopkins – The Magazine – 6/22/10
In a conversation with MIT SMR, MIT Sloan’s Tom Malone explains how companies are using new technology to tap the power of collective intelligence. Also: video. Free to subscribers
Find out more
T. Malone, interviewed by M. Hopkins – New Intelligent Enterprise – 5/26/10
“To heck with what the technology can do” says Michael Schrage, of MIT’s Center for Digital Business. Great managers first think about the value they want to create. Video and text.
M. Schrage, interviewed by M. Hopkins – New Intelligent Enterprise – 5/3/10
