Business Part 14: The Explainer: Big Data and Analytics(2:44)

—- **FOR NEW STUDENTS**————————————————

1. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]What industry do you work in and what is your role?[/responsivevoice]
2. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]What are your responsibilities in your role/position?[/responsivevoice]
3. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]Can you describe to me the function of your workplace/company?[/responsivevoice]
4. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]How many departments, how many offices. National or International?[/responsivevoice]
5. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]What is the Minimum requirements for employment i.e Education or Experience?[/responsivevoice]
6. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]How many opportunities are there to ‘move up the ladder’?[/responsivevoice]
7. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]What is the process for changing job roles i.e Interview? Test?[/responsivevoice]

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[responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]General discussion about your workweek:[/responsivevoice]

1. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]Current projects? Deadlines? Opportunities?[/responsivevoice]
2. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]Anything of interest happening?[/responsivevoice]

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Listening

Key Words and Phrases

1. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]Big Data. Analytics. We’ve all heard the buzzwords. But what do they really mean? And how can they help your business?[/responsivevoice]
2. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]Let’s start with definitions. Big data refers to the vast volumes and types of information that companies can now collect and process using increasingly high-tech systems.[/responsivevoice]
3. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]This comes from both internal sources — within your company — and external ones — customers, suppliers, and the broader market.
4. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]It is both structured — such as customer purchase data from retail stores — and unstructured — such as Internet search results — though all data has to be put into structured formats to be analyzed.[/responsivevoice]
5. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]Analytics is the use of math and statistics to derive meaning from data in order to make better business decisions.[/responsivevoice]
6. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]There are three kinds of analytics. Some are descriptive — for example dashboards, scorecards and alerts. They tell you what happened in the past, but not why it happened, or what might change.[/responsivevoice]
7. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]Predictive analytics are more useful: They use past data to model future outcomes — perhaps indicating how customers will respond to a marketing promotion or how sales will be affected by certain market conditions.[/responsivevoice]
8. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]Even better are prescriptive analytics, which use techniques like optimization or A-B testing to advise managers and workers on how best to do their jobs.[/responsivevoice]
9. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]They might tell a TV salesman the right discount to offer, a web designer which type of ad will elicit more clicks, or a truck driver where to stop for gas.[/responsivevoice]
10. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]When you combine big data with effective analytics, you have what Babson College professor Tom Davenport believes to be a key competitive advantage for organizations today.[/responsivevoice]
11. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]What capabilities does your organization need to succeed? One approach is the DELTA model: Data that is clean, accessible, and often unique to your company.[/responsivevoice]
12. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]An enterprise-wide focus, with key data systems and analytics resources available to the whole firm, not just isolated teams.[/responsivevoice]
13. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]Leaders at all levels that promote a data-and-analytics driven culture. Targets for key business areas that could benefit from this approach and talented analysts to execute the strategy.[/responsivevoice]
14. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]In a complex and dynamic business environment, big data and smart analytics are more than buzzwords.[/responsivevoice]
15. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]They’re an important way to improve decision making and ensure that your company is a step ahead of its competitors.[/responsivevoice]

Discussion

1. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]Do you have any experience collecting / analysing data?[/responsivevoice]
2. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]In what ways does your company collect data?[/responsivevoice]
3. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]Does your company use Descriptive, Predictive or Prescriptive analytics?[/responsivevoice]
4. [responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=””]What would you suggest to your company to optimise your workplace / staff?[/responsivevoice]

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