You may not need big data after all

1. You May Not Need Big Data
After All
by Jeanne W. Ross, Cynthia M. Beath and
Anne Quaadgras

2. Big data is so hyped by
the companies as they
are expecting it to deliver
more value than it
actually can.

3. Much of the hype
around Big Data
focuses on getting
more information
and more people
to analyze it.
But the opportunity
presented by the
information is the best
tapped by getting all people
to use data more effectively.

4. Until companies learn how to use data and
analysis to support its operating decisions, it will
not be in a position to benefit from big data.
The biggest reason that
investment in Big Data fall to pay
off is that most companies don’t
do a good job with the information
they already have.

5. Reasons
One reason my be that their
management practices haven’t
caught up with their technology
platforms
Adopting evidence-based
decision making is a difficult
cultural shift.

6. Companies with a
culture of
evidence-based
decision making
follows four path.
▣They establish one undisputed
source of performance data.
▣They give decision makers at all
levels real-time feedback.
▣They consciously articulate their
business rules and regularly
update them in response to facts
▣They provide high-quality
coaching to employees who make
decisions on a regular basis.

7. Empowering
employees to
make decisions
– Case of Seven-
Eleven Japan
The CEO handover responsibility
to the employees for rapid
inventory turnover. As employees
are the first line of interaction
with customers, they efferently
interacted with customers and
made quick decision about what
would sell quickly.
They quickly learned how to
collect data and analyse it to gain
competitive advantage.
As a result, Seven-Eleven has been
the most profitable retailer I
Japan for more than 30 years.

8. Empowering
employees to make
decisions
▣Inclusion of employees in decision
making will help top management to
se ground realities.

9. Agree on
single source
of truth
▣The exemplary
organization do not
necessarily have a single
data repository, but they do
insist on using performance
data from just one
authorised source.
▣When we have a pre-
agreed set of numbers
presented in a uniform way,
we can train the company
how to think about
problems.

10. Companies will want to
initiate process for improving
data capture.
That means reviewing
business processes and
identifying where mistake
enters the system
People required to use data
will take an active interest in
governance process
designed to clarify data
definitions and in learning
how conformation flows
through the organization.

11. USE scorecards
The best way to teach people
how to use data to create
business benefits is to
provide them with data about
their own performance.
1
Regular scorecards clarify
individual accountability and
provide consistent feedback
so that individuals know how
they are doing.
2

12. The most important
characteristic of the
scorecard is that it
focuses on results
that individuals can
control.
A targeted scorecard
allows the group to
identify problems
and it helps
individuals
understand how their
activities contribute
to the business.

13. Explicitly manage your business rules
Little data can have a
big effect on
performance when
managers use the data
to continuously assess
and improve the
business rules that
governs their operations.
Business rules are the
mechanism for
specifying what actions
should be taken in a
given circumstances.
They may be broad or
quite granular
Business rules aling the
actions of operational
decision makers with the
strategic objectives of
the company. But that
happens only whaen
relevant individuals
understand the rules and
management regularly
adjust them in response
to new information

14. As a Manager..
Once companies have made the cultural
change, they usually don’t go back, and
their operating improvements are not
easily replicated by competitors.
Empowering employees in this way, and
arming them with the data they need,
helps them make better operating
decisions on a daily basis. It can also
lead to a constant stream of innovation.

15. Thank you!
Prepared by: Abhishek Rana