The document discusses the critical role of data-driven decision-making in modern business strategies, highlighting that companies like Apple, Amazon, and Irokotv are leveraging big data for competitive advantage. It emphasizes the necessity for organizations to cultivate a data-driven culture, addressing the challenges of data utilization and the need for all employees to engage in data practices. Additionally, effective data strategies are shown to enhance productivity, market share, and overall business outcomes.

1. ...advancing business
Enterprations
Weekly
Strategy
Creating a Culture of
Data-Driven Business

2. 2 February 2017 Enterprations Weekly Strategy
others. Apple and Amazon are continuously exploiting bigvery step in a business needs data for right decisions
data to present appropriate products and services tomaking towards growth, especially in terms of
customers. Organisations driven most by data-basedattaining competitive advantage. In the words ofE decision making had 4% higher productivity rates and 6%Carl Anderson, data-drivenness is about building tools and
higher profits, a study from the MIT Center for Digitalabilities. “Most crucially, a culture that acts on data.” In
Business says. It has been projected that big data by theseadvanced economies, data-driven companies have been in
companies and others will be a $50 billion business by 2017,existence over a decade ago. From Facebook to Walmart,
accordingtoWikibon'sstudy.business activities are being executed using necessary data,
analysed from a number of sources. Tesco is one of the
world most renowned retailers that have adopted data to
gain market share. Casinos have equally turned marketing
into a science. Evidence has shown that data-driven
In its 2013's report titled Fostering a data-driven cultureThecompanies have an expansive attitude to data use by
Economist Intelligence Unit Limited in collaboration withemployees. It has been observed that failure of companies to
Tableau Software, the company notes that appreciating thealign themselves with data-driven practices have the
power of data is the first step on the road to a data-driventendency of losing in competitive advantage, market share
culture. According to the company, a data-driven cultureand revenue games. A recent survey of business executives
does not necessarily come naturally within olderby PwC indicates that 30% of companies are highly data-
companies, especially those that have achieved successdriven, compare to 45% and 53% in the United States of
with minimal use of data. To enable companies create dataAmericaandChinarespectively.
enabled business, the Cambridge Service Alliance in itsTo make a company highly-data driven, the needed
study came up with the six questions for the facilitation ofdata must be accessed, collected and reported to the
big data use in today's competitive business environment.beneficiaries. These are the right elements within data value
The questions include what do we want to achieve by usingchain. However, how to extract data, refine and ensure its
big data? What is our desired offering? What data do weutilization most effectively remain greatest challenges for
require and how are we going to acquire it? In what ways aremost businesses. Aziza argues that “if you're looking at the
we going to process and apply this data? How are we goingworld of data without the right glasses, you're
tomonetizeit?screwed…because there's so much noise.” Despite the
Answers to these questions and eventual usageobstacles, research has established that many businesses are
depend on every employee. Each one should be expected todeveloping new business models essentially formulated to
collect, analyse, and learn from data on a regular basis,create additional business value by extracting, refining and
according to experts. When data are being generated byultimately capitalizing on data. This is necessary because
employees,they must be shared among themselvesand usedmodels that predict and optimize business outcomes are
for strategic thinking, planning and reporting purposes incrucial to the sustainability of values being created and
consonance with internal monitoring against goals anddelivered to consumers. Aside these, businesses need to
objectives for telling company's stories. Google,Apple, andmanage operations, communicate with customers, pay
Facebook are renowned for this step in creating a data-employees and suppliers, and plan for the futures among
Data Enabled Business:Asking the right
questions
Clown (Red); Humouristic (Yellow); Exciting
(Green);Supportive (Ash);Rugged (Black)

3. 3 February 2017 Enterprations Weekly Strategy
driven culture. For new start-ups who desire to serve By adopting data-driven model, iROKOtv is gaining
potential market opportunities using data, hands should be insights about her viewers' everyday than its competitors
on as much data as possible, measurable goals applying the in the industry. According to Jason Njoku, the model has
SMART technique, data availability to everyone and helped the creative team in making smarter acquisition and
hiringrightdatascientistsarethecorefourstrategies. decisions. In his response during a recent interview, Jason
observes that company needs a system to constantly obtain
and analyse in-house data, insights about competitors andiROKOtv, a web platform that provides paid-for Nigerian
the economy. “A good understanding of these metrics willfilms on-demand, is a good example of companies that has
also guide you {company}to know when competition doesbeen exploiting values from the data-driven business
not matter or how to make proactive decisions that mightmodel. To broadcast over 5, 000 Nollywood film titles to a
affect business fundamentals, distribution strategy orglobal audience, predominantly in Nigeria, the US, UK,
potential competitors' next moves and so on.” In its questCanada, Germany and Italy, the company brought a
of continuous benefit derivation from the model, towardsstructured data-driven perspective by distributing its
the end of 2016, the company made a strategic step tocontents through many technology-enabled platforms.
support customers in downloading their favourite movie“There is no platform in existence that iROKO doesn't
contents despite soar data prices in the country byhave a strong grasp of their root economics. None. So
establishing kiosks in strategic locations around Lagos.when we discuss the state of the industry, it's grounded by
The company notes that the kiosks were set up simply tothat data and that is our reality,” Jason Njoku, founder of
aid customer experience and to assist them with Data-Freethe company said recently. “Culturally, most of the
Downloads.leadership team at iROKO shares that value. It's only when
I am out in the wild that the core values of iROKO clash
with the very being of talent and content creation. This is at A good data-driven business is the one with adequate
the heart of the 'iROKO is bad for the industry' debate,” he financial and socio-economic statistics of the company
stressed.To get more customers through mobile phone, the and its industry, and consumers. To really have a data-
company adapted pricing severally for different markets, driven business model, lack of understanding associated
optimized distribution across several platforms including with the use of analytics and internal skills gap should be
linearTV, telecommunication partnerships and is currently addressed. As observed by Economic Intelligence Unit,
being built to optimize customer's experience by solving the best way to become a data-driven company is to make it
erratic data issues inAfrica, inspired by the fact that 76% of a priority, starting with the highest levels of management.
viewers of total traffic from the continent were from Every employee needs to buy into the data-driven
mobiles. approach. That means you {company}need to foster a
cultureofdata-drivendecisionmaking.
Bedata-driven:iROKOtvas aCase
StrategicActions
How Analytics is helping iROKOtv in
answering key questions more
accurately
About Enterprations
We provide a platform for working class professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs to own their business. Our focus
include;
Providing start-up strategy for different SMEs in Nigeria and Africa.
Tactical measuring and evaluation of business at initial, maturity and decline stage.
Reviewing of business's personnel, marketing and training components for greater output and profitability at
different stages.
Helping aspiring entrepreneurs with feasible business ideas and a workable business plan in the areas of
comprehensive business training programmes, networking activities and technology commercialization.
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