Business Intelligence
Essays

In this paper we determine benefits of data mining to the businesses when employing: 1. Predictive analytics to understand the behavior of customers 2. Associations discovery in products sold to customers 3. Web mining to discover business intelligence from Web customers 4. Clustering to find related customer information The paper also assesses the reliability of the data mining algorithms and then decides if they can be trusted and then predict the errors they are likely to produce. An analysis of the privacy concerns raised by the collection of personal data for mining purposes is also conducted.

Analytics, Business Intelligence (BI) and the exponential increase of insight and decision making accuracy and quality in many enterprises today can be directly attributed to the successful implementation of Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) and data mining systems. The examples of how Continental Airlines (Watson, Wixom, Hoffer, 2006) and Toyota (Dyer, Nobeoka, 2000) continue to use advanced EDW and data mining systems and processes to streamline their business models are a case in point. The greater the level of economic uncertainty, perceived and actual risk in any given strategy or endeavor, the more the reliance on EDW, data mining and advanced forms of predictive modeling including analytics (Sen, Ramamurthy, Sinha, 2012). From this standpoint, the emerging areas of high growth in the global economy are attracting a high level of investment in EDW, data mining, predictive modeling and analytics. The latest figures illustrate how valued EDW and data mining are in enterprise today. According to industry research and advisory firm Gartner, the EDW and data mining market began 2011 with a global value of $23.2 billion with a projection of market growth of 7% per year through 2015, making it one of the largest and perennially growing enterprise software market (Sen, Ramamurthy, Sinha, 2012). Gartner has defined the EDW and data mining architecture as being comprised of the architectural design, repository and execution platform. These three core components are how this research and advisory firm analyze the market from a software component standpoint, looking at the relative adoption of each EDW and data mining component (Sen, Ramamurthy, Sinha, 2012). The intent of this analysis is to evaluate the benefits and current trends in EDW and data mining, evaluating Continentals' and Toyota's best practices and results achieved. Additional objectives include an assessment of EDW and data mining optimization techniques, recommendations for storage solutions and an analysis of a potential EDW process workflow predicated on a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.

A Case Study From the Perspective of the Manufacturing Manager

This study intends to examine closely that which is considered as "conventional wisdom" or that which has always been held to be the move with most acumen in a set of circumstances or when deciding upon some critical issue. Is the application of such wisdom, conventional in nature, such that is actually aligned and coherent with what is known as ‘business intelligence'?

Zara: IT for Fast Fashion is a unique case study in that it powerfully illustrates how a lack of IT integration and process efficiency can over time force an organization into complacency, lowering the standards of…

Michael Dell's leadership of the company he founded shows an innate ability to overcome difficult industry-wide shifts in direction while at the same time being able to completely redefine their business model, reinventing themselves in the process. The intent of this analysis is to illustrate how Michael Dell has architected his company so that his and his team's transformational leadership makes a significant and profitable impact on operations globally. Dell is highly customer-centered and also relies extensively on analytics, business intelligence (BI) and key performance indicators (KPIs). The Dell culture is a complex one that combines the greatest strengths of engineering expertise, financial and cost analysis, customer-based analysis and manufacturing process expertise all integrated into a unified, globally-based strategic platform (Economist, 2001). Driving this culture away from a purely being PC and systems-focused to embracing software, Michael Dell has shown the ability to reinvent the business model if his company multiple times (MacSweeney, 2006). The latest strategies defined in 2009 to dominate cloud computing and virtualization through the unique integration of systems software, hardware and interprocess integration shows how transformational of a leader Michael Dell is (Woodward, 2009). This transformation mindset was evident in how, despite many in the industry claiming his direct sales model that included innovative build-to-order processes, would disintermediate indirect, multichannel selling channels (McCartney, 1995). In fact Michael Dell never actually believed this as he saw the PC industry then and even more today as a very diverse, complex ecosystem that requires a very broad base of suppliers, buyers, channel partners and disruptive innovations to keep it moving forward (Dell Investor Relations, 2012). Michael Dell is a transformational leader in that he can quickly mobilize his company to pursue challenging, very difficult objectives despite economic conditions making the attainment of these goals difficult (Woodward, 2009). His transformational leadership is responsible for several significant innovations in the PC, tablet, laptop and server marketing, sales, production and service processes of one of the most profitable industries globally (Dell Investor Relations, 2012). This paper analyzes his most significant contributions to the PC industry specifically and complex manufacturing in general.

¶ … business consultant at trade show trying to persuade a variety of different businesses to introduce Business Intelligence tools into its business. Identify and describe three arguments you would use to persuade…

The contemporary business environment which is dynamic and highly competitive requires firms to have a high level of business intelligence. In this paper, we explore the concepts of customer satisfaction as other internal business processes such as employee performance. The aim is to explore how these constructs and parameters are measured as well as the need for their accurate measurement.

As the leading provider of consumer, commercial and institutional soap, cleansers, and packaged goods, Procter & Gamble (P&G) (NYSE:PG) has chosen to take a global leadership position in the areas of sustainability and environmental effectiveness. The cornerstone of the strategic initiatives is the development of a thorough methodology for assessing, analyzing, measuring, and reporting corporate-wide performance to sustainability goals and guidelines. P&G has isolated the greatest potential risks to their sustainability objectives as being in their globally-based supply chain (Warner, 2008). To gain greater insights into how they can alleviate the significant risk associated with suppliers, who if not well managed could jeopardize the entire series of strategic initiatives surrounding sustainability, P&G created the Supplier Environmental Sustainability Scorecard (P&G, 2010a). The methodology behind this scorecard form the basis of measurement, assessment and reporting systems within P&G today and have since been emulated by other suppliers as well, as their results are quantifiable (Richardson, 2005). Previous to the scorecard being defined, P&G often relied on a wide range of metrics, scorecards and analytics platforms that were never in sync with one another, often causing less-than-optimal levels of quality to be attained (P&G, 2010). There was also a significant level of siloed operations going on, as P&G operates across more than 130 counties and dominates the top-of-mind awareness levels in each national and global market those choose to compete in. While P&G is best known for its marketing prowess, its supply chain and quality management operations, and now its sustainability initiatives, have gained it significant traction in global markets (Joseph, 2010). According to the latest annual reports from P&G, the global soap and cleaning compound manufacturing industry is valued at $54.7B in 2011, growing at a relative flat 3.7% compound annual growth rate through 2012. P&G holds a commanding share in this industry globally, challenged by well-known brands including Colgate-Palmolive, Ecolab and S.C. Johnson, in addition to a few more dozen smaller competitors scattered across geographic regions. P&G competes across many sub-segments of the consumer and commercial cleaning markets, personal care, personal and commercial soap in addition to consumer packaged goods. Of their many lines of business however, P&G faces the toughest challenges in the areas of government regulation and continued government monitoring of environmental performance in the chemically-based production processes it has. Of the several agencies that routinely monitor and at times even fine P&G if they do not comply with government requirements, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is often the most rigorous and thorough in their assessments (Joseph, 2010). The costs of non-compliance for P&G can be in the tens of millions of dollars and can also significantly slow down a new product introduction process as well (Warner, 2008). A lack of quality management is such a significant risk for the company that they have chosen to attack it as an opportunity to gain greater lean manufacturing and process workflows into their company. This more aggressive stance on quality management has helped to save the company literally millions of dollars in fines while also setting the foundation for greater performance gains through its green and sustainability-based initiatives globally (P&G, 2010). P&G has also appointed a Vice President of SustainAbility who has the primary role of ensuring all sustainability initiatives and programs are coordinated and work towards the strategic objectives the company has (Joseph, 2010). Not satisfied with the role being within a functional area, P&G has elevated this position to report directly to the CEO, creating a position that has oversight of nearly 75,000 suppliers globally. P&G has also given this person direct accountability for the performance of each product division and brand to the Supplier Environmental Sustainability Scorecards mentioned in this analysis. The integration of metrics, key performance indicators (KPIs) and the use of corporate-wide and by-division Supplier Environmental Sustainability Scorecards has helped P&G surpass even its own expectations and led to sustainability objectives being achieved (Warner, 2008). The remainder of this analysis includes an assessment of the progress P&G is making on their sustainable business objectives, an analysis of the measurement methods they are using and reporting including the Supplier Environmental Sustainability Scorecard, in addition to a series of recommendations and a conclusion.

Analytics and Business Intelligence (BI) have the potential to completely redefine and make more customer-centric any enterprise. The tendency to celebrate technology alone is however short-sighted and lacks awareness of the broader, more strategic issues that surround successful BI and analytics implementations. This is an area of software where the ability to analyze terabytes of data very quickly while also testing hypotheses and evaluating trends can become more of a focus that using these systems for accomplishing strategies and long-term objectives (Todd, 2010). The ability to integrate analytics and Bi into an organization is predicated on having a very clear vision and mission for how a specific BI and analytics application or platform will be used to accelerate an enterprise to its objectives. The foundational elements of change management strategies must be in place as well, as the systems must reflect user needs, preferences and be integral to their roles if the overall system is to achieve its full potential (Todd, 2010). Case studies often provide a useful framework for evaluating how enterprises are getting the greatest value from their BI and analytics investments. Two case studies form the foundation of this analysis, the first detailing Exclusive Resorts, LLC and the second, Marshfield Clinic. Both of these case studies illustrate how critical it is to have a balance of technical and sociotechnical systems design and change management included in the development of any BI and analytics application. The intent of this analysis is to evaluate the lessons learned and potential for improvement in both case studies cited, including the need to continually stay vigilant to the needs of those the system was developed and designed for. One of the most fundamental best practices of effective BI and analytics implementations is the development of change management programs and frameworks well in advance of software being customized and implemented (Ghosh, Scott, 2011). The more effective a given change management strategy and program is, the greater the level of ownership a given enterprise system gains during the initial design and implementation phases of development (Todd, 2010). When this occurs the eventual launch of a new BI or analytics systems can attain an 80% or greater adoption rate globally (Ghosh, Scott, 2011). When systems reach this level of adoption, they have the potential to completely re-define the financial and operational performance of an enterprise. Both Exclusive Resorts, LLC and Marshfield Clinic have been able to attain this level of change management as can be seen in how effective their respective BI and analytics systems are in improving the performance of their businesses. As can be seen from both case studies, both have a very high level of authenticity and transparency associated with them, that leads to a correspondingly higher level of trust and adoption by associates in each company (Todd, 2010). Both Exclusive Resorts, LLC and Marshfield Clinic have been able to attain such remarkable success with their BI and analytics applications by concentrating on authenticity, transparency and trust, all powerful catalyst that drive up system adoption and in turn allow these powerful systems to deliver greater results than would have been possible without the sociotechnical change that occurred. The case studies are, in reality, as much about how to manage rapid and significant change as they about the technologies involved in these applications as wlel. With the reduction in fear regarding their jobs, the employees at Exclusive Resorts, LLC are able to use these technologies to better understand customers and improve satisfaction and loyalty. The intelligence gained from using analytics systems at Marshfield Clinic has the potential to save lives. Both transformations of these businesses started at the associate level, with highly effective use of change management strategies and the ability to manage sociotechnical systems to customer needs effectively.