How Can a Company Become Prosper as an Analytics Competitor?
In order to become prosper as an analytics competitor the company should, first of all, use killer application, a computer program that is extremely desirable and essential product, which proves and shows the most important values of certain technologies. The killer application can be in absolutely different form. For example, Mariott International used the revenue management (revenue opportunity model).
In general, the author defines three crucial attributes, which make analytics competitors prosperous, namely extensive application of modeling and optimization, an organization approach and senior executive supporters. Speaking about extensive application of modeling and optimization, Mr. Davenport explains that analytics competitors apply prognostic modeling to find the most money-making consumers. Also, leading companies in analytics use sophisticated experiments to evaluate the total effect or “boost” of interference strategies and then use findings to constantly improve following investigates (Davenport, 2006, p. 101).
An organization approach relates to the application of advanced quantitative procedures, namely a range of killer apps like Business Intelligence tool (Davenport, 2006, p. 102). BI supports a variety of business solutions – from operational to strategic. Key operating solutions include product positioning and price. Strategic business solutions concern primacies, objectives and directions in the widest sense. This tool is most effective when it unites external and internal data, namely data from the market, where the firm operates and sources within the company.
Senior executive supporters mean analytics leads to changes in the organization, which have to be made by the leadership, first of all by company’s CEO. CEOs advocating the analytics responsibility need both an acknowledgement and understanding of the subject. Nevertheless, not all decision should be made on the basis of analytics, especially staff issues, which can be solved by observations (Davenport, 2006, p. 103).
What Are the Sources of Strength for an Analytics Competitor?
Therefore, the combination of material resources, human resources, technology and proper environment within the company will bring positive results to its operation. The company should always find ways to coordinate mentioned items in order to be on top.
How Has This Article Influenced Your Views about Quantitative Business Modeling and Its Utility in Business Decision Making?
Companies apply analytics in order to take comprehensive solutions, decrease expenses and understand new prospects for business. Information technology and software play a vital role in analytics. Nevertheless, the organizational procedures of gathering, understanding the primary information, and, above all, the managers’ performance of duties and responsibilities at all levels are of great importance. Managers should apply the findings of the analytics to raise the competitive gain of the company. Using analytics-system, the staff adjusts the work on individual and group tasks, which leads to more effective work of teams. Use of analytics for detecting defects in business processes puts the company in a more advantageous position, giving a competitive advantage before the companies that use analytics tools merely to monitor what is happening. Summing up, it should be noted that the decisions taken on the basis of a comprehensive analysis of the data allows a business to keep under control and manage it effectively, without relying on luck or coincidence.
Do Your Views Conform with, Conflict with, or Supplement the Views You May Have Formulated after Completing the Other Readings?
Other readings supplement my views as they relate to the problem of business ethics in decision making and its solution with the application of modeling. Given that business ethics cannot be reduced to a set of moral standards, but should serve as a tool for management decision-making, modern companies should apply new ethical techniques in decision making process. Management decision making process in terms of ethical dilemmas is quite actively explored topic, and research papers devoted to a particular application of this problem may amount to tens.
For example, Ms. Geva after careful research suggested the Phase-model of ethical solution taking, which recommends a modernization of the structure of moral solution taking. Compared to the traditional model, which considers only one stage of moral study, where a range of values are deductively used one after another to particular situation, the Phase-model defines three stages of the solution taking, every characterized by a specified task and a diverse theoretical basis (Geva, 2000, p. 780). One of the most important advantages of the Phase-model is the combination of the normative and the practical sides of solution taking in business (Geva, 2000, p. 799).
Also, globalization has made great impact on ethical decision making process. It was found that globalization led to a knowledge economy and China faced numerous new ethical subjects, like the validation and defense of intellectual property and the state’s role in the defense of IP and communal interests (Neveling, Malan and Yortt, 2014, p. 46). Therefore, the conjunction in the direction of a worldwide ethic and suitable business ethical solution taking are inevitable in the existing consistent world.
One more additional aspect is about the use of normative concepts (stockholder concept, stakeholder concept and social contract concept) in business ethics to simplify the assessment of information system associated with ethical problems and arrival at reasonable and reliable decisions. Even despite available limitations, normative concepts offer IS managers some direction and a structural framework that can be applied to study the ethical aspects of their decisions (Bose, 2012, p. 22).
Thus, for decision-making, appropriate to ethical standards, the organization creates codes of ethics that set the values and principles of conduct required for management decision-making process. Measures to improve ethical behavior of staff also include personal example of the leaders; teaching ethical behavior of employees of the organization; the establishment of ethics committees; and conducting social audits.
Develop Your Response from an Ethical Perspective and Be Sure to Incorporate a Christian Worldview, or Other Faith Tradition, as Applicable into Your Response
Business ethics is limited by the sphere of socio-economic relations of the economic behavior of the subject. At the same time, business ethics is closely linked to the law, as evidenced by numerous examples from business practice. In the center of the moral and legal regulation there are basic questions of social life; both morality and law operate on some common principles, criteria and concepts of rights, obligations and evidence.
It is worth mentioning that many Western businessmen consider that their business may be regarded as specification of the principles of Christian dogma and Christian principles. However, the rapid development of the countries of South-East Asia has clearly shown that, although the lives of people in the East are based on very different religious teachings, moral values of the market economy as a whole are common to all capitalist countries regardless of religion entrepreneurs. The traditional (but not obliged) worldwide moral principles concern respect of the right of private ownership inviolacy; of the law; commitment to one’s word; following fair rivalry; contribution to charity occasions; loan based on trust; scruples and concern for their own reputation and the reputation of the company, etc.
Thus, in order to survive in modern globalized and competitive environment, companies should follow ethical standards during decision making. Application of such quantitative approach as analytics is one more competitive advantage for conquering markets and gaining leading positions.
References
Bose, U. (2012). An ethical framework in information systems decision making using normative theories of business ethics, Ethics & Information Technology, 14, p. 17-26.
Davenport, Th. H. (2006). Competing on Analytics. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved January 2006 from https://hbr.org/2006/01/competing-on-analytics [Accessed: 31 January 2016]
Geva, A. (2000). Moral Decision Making In Business: A Phase-Model, Business Ethics Quarterly, 10(4), p. 773-803.
Neveling, A., Malan, D. and Yortt, A. (2014). Globalisation and its influence on ethical decision-making in business: China and intellectual property, African Journal of Business Ethics, 8(1), p. 55-77.
