Cram Crew Employee Turnover Case Study

Decision making and communication are at the center of business success and efficient business analytics would only be effective through the use of proper information systems and that are up to date with current trends as well as optimizing on the available channels.

The data analytic process is one in which a large amount of information is collected using software specifically geared towards collecting, identifying and storing information for use by the company. The information is gleaned from different forums, with social media being the most rich and useful. The information is then quickly sorted and organized for use by the collecting agency (Turban, Volonino, Wood, & Sipior, 2002, p. 6). The use of data analytics really took flight in 2010 when different companies offered software that enabled a company to implement their own data analytics. This led to better marketing campaigns, improved customer relations and it gave companies using the software a bigger advantage over their competitors (Savitz, 2012).

The ability to compete on analytics is made possible by certain qualities some companies possess which allows them to collect and use immense amounts of data in a way that differentiates the success and practices of those companies amongst any other businesses. Davenport and Harris (2007) define analytics as “extensive use of data, statistical and quantitative analysis, explanatory and predictive models, and fact-based management to drive decisions and actions” (p. 7). Therefore, to be able to compete on analytics, a firm must not only use the data to extrapolate and execute strategies and models in order to drive business, but also to use that data better and smarter than their competitors. This requires forward thinking and continual developments of current analyses and practices. With regard to Davenport and Harris’s criteria and concepts on the ability to compete on analytics, Old Navy LLC’s practices will be analyzed to find whether the company is able to compete, is a competitor, and how it competes, if at all.

How to Compete on Analytics    Thomas Davenport describes the prerequisites and the five stages of analytic  competitiveness    By Alison Bolen     Thomas Davenport's article "Competing on Analytics" was the best‐selling Harvard  Business Review reprint in 2006. To write it, Davenport,The President's Distinguished  Professor in Management and Information Technology at Babson College, studied the  characteristics of more than 50 leading organizations that have made a commitment to  quantitative, fact‐based analysis.    Why is the January 2006 Harvard Business Review article so popular? We recently asked  the author and educator that question and discussed further insights from his research  that will be detailed in his new book, Competing

In today’s companies, the analytics software plays the important role and guides the future activities to a great extent.

CLM Designs Unlimited is the premier design firm of the Southeast United States. They have over 2,000 clients and growing. The clientele is not just in the states but does include overseas customers as well. There have been instances where they have been unable to locate information at the time when it was needed. This is not to say that the information is not accessible; but, there is a need for the overall information system to provide insight into utilizing business analytics into the business. Business analytics is used in order to provide awareness into the market that a particular business is involved. It can be used to report on historical data as well as providing information related to future events by adding value and insight (Stubbs, 2013).

The first stage is analytically impaired. This stage is the stage where the data is flawed or the systems are not integrated well. Though I was not there for this, I have heard what happened a few years ago, and still there are a few current instances, when Comcast decided to cut down on the number of databases and included them all in one area. This was not executed well, since employees were still using the older data sources to run their analyses with. This left their analyses to be incorrect because the data they were using from the data systems were incorrect.

Business Analytics and Reporting is one of the key focuses of the Business Advisory department, which I am currently apart of. You could say that from an external perspective with our clients, the Business Advisory department of AC Lordi Consulting has fully embraced the needs for analytics to guide and strengthen the decision making of our clients. When clients are facing challenging financial decisions, the Business Advisory department is able to provide the knowledge and expertise beyond the capabilities of their own organization. AC Lordi Consulting has the ability to provide highly skilled professionals in analytics that will develop the proper framework and methodology to have our clients embrace analytics and reporting. AC Lordi Consulting provide a structured framework to answer all the relevant questions, suggest KPI’s that can be measured in the industry and implement target ranges where KPI’s should fall within.

Stage four organizations have to smooth over any remaining barriers to becoming an analytical competitor. For instance, it could be a matter of changing the culture, ensuring decisions from upper management are being followed through on lower levels. In order to transition to the next stage, the company needs to strategize and focus on one or two traits that lead to an advantage. Stage five organizations have all the components necessary to be considered an analytical competitor. The company is exploring new metrics, examining their processes and looking for ways to improve. The company has the data, technologies, and staff to remain competitive and profitable. In order for Lighthouse to move through the final two stages there would need to be significant resources devoted to increasing data available, purchasing software, and implementing ongoing analytics projects and future planning.

In an uber globalized market of today, companies are faced with challenges in each and every step of their business. Our analytics and research services are geared towards giving those companies that extra edge over the competition. We process and analyze terabytes of data and break down all the fuzz and chatter around it to give our customers meaningful insights about their competition and the market they are engaged in.

While I have not had extensive interaction with many other departments, I am hoping that analytics are being used in some way to drive business decisions. Whether the choice of our many acquisitions or how we bid on contracts, the companies size and success indicates they are doing something right. Within Fleet and some other departments, an effort has been made to improve towards Stage 2. The Fleet department was restructured with a focus on more analytical personnel and software, such as the previously mentioned fleet management system and the hiring of multiple analyst positions, including my current position. The short-term goal of the software is to improve the maintenance of our equipment, reduce repair costs, and increase warranty recovery. The long-term goal is to use the data to enhance equipment utilization, increase remarketing dollars by finding the optimal time to sell equipment, and improve efficiency.

My company identifies and uses analytics to make decisions and we also share data with our customers so they can make decisions based off of the data we give them as well, and they can then make decisions. It builds a solid relationship with the customer and shows we want the customers to be profitable and willing to share what is needed for them to decide what direction they want to go and we then create tools, add ons, etc. for them to benefit the most with our service. It we cannot make our customers profitable with what we provide them, we cannot be profitable and analytics is definitely held at a high standard in my company.

Companies are facing a highly uncertain environment due to financial-crisis, global economy, and dealing with high-competitiveness. The value encompassing the culture of leveraging people, process, data and technology. The shared core-values and priorities of an organization has becoming essential for intelligent enterprise (Stubbs, 2014) . As Evan Stubbs described in his book (Stubbs, 2014), we need skilled employees who are involved in applying business analytics, comfortable leaders with uncertain environments and planning for unknown unknowns. Process must be linked to achieve an outcome and strongly defined, further to create specific steps that can be automated. Not less important – data and measure process for future analysis and decision-making process; convert simple data to valuable information for executives. And the technology enables to produce assets.

Stage 2 - These organizations have implemented localized analytic solutions with some data elements and reporting, but they lack the big picture view of implementing enterprise-wide analytics activities. There are department specific silos of data and reports to meet functional needs.

ABC is well positioned to compete on analytics. On the investment side, ABC is on the leading edge of using quantitative analysis to deliver investment value, however on the business side ABC’s regulatory, contractual, and operating constraints dictate that it is in the early stages of creating a client facing analytics advantage.