Participant Questions from the Recent Data & Analytics Webinar
We’re taking a little time to answer some of the questions we didn’t get to in our webinar Q&A session.
Topics
Competing With Data & Analytics
“How much of the solution to an analytical talent gap comes from ‘formal’ training via Master’s, PhD, or MBA degrees?” asked one of the attendees to our May 2015 webinar. Here, we provide the details to that and other questions that we couldn’t get to during the session.
On May 7, 2015, we held a free, live webinar to share the findings and insights from the latest MIT Sloan Management Review Data and Analytics Big Idea Initiative research report, “The Talent Dividend.” The report presents our findings on the role of analytics talent in creating competitive advantage.
If you missed the webinar live, the recorded version is available for viewing. Thanks to everyone that participated in the webinar — we had far more people than we expected.
At the end of the webinar, many participants asked questions. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to answer them all during the webinar itself. So instead, we’ll answer some of the questions this month, and some next month. Sorry that we still won’t be able to get to them all, but we hope we’ve covered the ones asked by the most people. We’ve paraphrased some of the questions to provide context, combine similar questions and make them anonymous. So, here’s our first question:
Have there been efforts to link high versus low analytic performers to actual success in the marketplace? Are Analytically Challenged companies less profitable in their respective market segments?
Yes. One of the questions that we ask in the annual survey is about financial performance change over the last year. Analytical maturity is associated with better financial performance. Last year’s report, “The Analytics Mandate,” includes these details. The percentage of respondents stating that their organization’s revenue “was better this most recent fiscal year, compared to the previous year” differs considerably by analytical maturity. From last year’s report, 51% of Analytically Challenged organizations, 64% of Analytical Practitioners, and 80% of Analytical Innovators report improvement in organizational revenue. As you noticed, we didn’t include those details in this year’s report. The results were similar this year, but we didn’t see enough change in these responses to highlight them.
Do you think the deficit in analytical talent is in quantitative skills (e.g., data mining, statistics) or in understanding business (e.g., strategy, operations, etc.)?
We see a need for analytical talent in both quantitative and business areas.