USF Raymond James Discussion – Description
The format of this week’s discussion is slightly different: rather than referring directly to the book Competing on Analytics (by Davenport and Harris), I want you to apply the ideas from Chapters 6 & 7 and use them to analyze a specific company. Specifically, your goal is to classify a company according to the 5 levels of analytical maturity in Table 6-2 (page 114). In order to arrive at your classification, take the different categories of analytical activities into account (Organization, Human, Technology – Table 6-2). To that end, please research the following questions below (using e.g. the internet, news media, blogs, or your personal knowledge about the company). Then, after taking your answers to the different questions into account, rank your company according to what you believe is their level of analytical competition.
For your analysis, please pick one of the following companies: Tampa Bay Lightning, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Home Shopping Network (HSN), Novetta, Sykes, Publix, Jabil, Mosaic, Kforce, Tampa International Airport, Bush Gardens, Disney, Progressive Insurance, or Raymond James.
Please reflect and address the following questions (Word Count: 500-600). Comments and replies to your fellow classmates are highly encouraged.
1. Does the company have a strong data environment in place? Does the company make efforts to collect transactional data? How? Does it have a partnership with companies that aid in the data-collection effort? (The company’s website or internet searches or press releases should allow you to find some answers to these questions.)
2. Does the company place strong emphasis on analytics in hiring decisions? Are its ranks filled with people that have analytical training? (You might be able to find answers to some of these questions from job sites such as careebuilder.com or monster.com – is the company actively seeking for employees with analytical skills? In addition, you may want to research the company’s board of directors and leadership for their background on analytics.)
3. Does the company have any tools/technology in place that is actively supported by data mining or analytics? For instance, does the company perform any personalization or customization in their interaction with the customer? In which form (e.g. offline or online)? (You might answers to some of these questions from e.g. visiting the company’s website or from your experience with the brick-and-mortar store.)
4. Taking all your above research into account, how would you classify the company? As a stage 1 analytically impaired company? Or as a stage 5 competitor? Why?
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