I’ve been fortunate to work with several Fortune 500 companies, as well as some innovative manufacturers and retailers. One of the hottest and most controversial topics in this competitive marketplace is “analytics.” There are two questions every company needs to address regarding analytics.
- What should be the focus of the analytics?
- Whose job is it?
Analytics is a broad term that encompasses a variety of tools, techniques and processes. In general, analytics can be defined as the science of analyses. It typically involves systems that organize masses of data so tools, metrics and statistics can be applied to derive fact-based information. Business analytics can include applications such as:
- Customer segmentation and purchase patterns.
- Predictive metrics to identify trends and forecasts.
- Market basket data to identify purchase relationships.
- Store or unit performance to identify critical success factors or differentiators.
- Marketing metrics to measure impact and return on investment.
We are drowning in data — we need fact-based intelligence! (read more…)
SmartBrief is partnering with Big Think to create a weekly video spotlight in SmartBrief on Leadership called “VIP Corner: Video Insights Powered by Big Think.” This week, we’re featuring Christopher Meyer, founder of Monitor Talent.
Many people are seeking alternatives to short-term earnings as a measurement of company success, but overwhelming companies with a mandate to change the world isn’t the answer, Meyer says.
Corporate social responsibility is a worthy goal, but it’s attainable — and manageable — only in the context of making a company more responsible for itself. Make that the direct goal, Meyer says, and leave bettering the planet a byproduct.
Companies should find what they can internally change, whom they can influence indirectly and what areas are outside the company’s traditional realm but where support of the right organization can make a difference. Executing this layered approach correctly allows financial success without taking on all of the world’s problems. (read more…)
I attended this week’s 2012 Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles. On Wednesday, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson spoke about how AT&T shifted from voice to data, the origins of its Apple iPhone deal and why better spectrum policy is the key to everything.
Spectrum. Without it, AT&T can’t power its iPhone network, doesn’t shift revenue from voice to data while going from 2G to 4G networks in half a decade, and can’t spend billions of dollars on improvements each year while still increasing margins. “But we’re running out of the airwaves that this traffic rides on,” says CEO Randall Stephenson; even worse, we’re not allocating spectrum properly for data use and not moving new space to the market quickly enough.
Reforming spectrum policy was at the heart of Stephenson’s remarks Wednesday during a lively and frank Q-and-A before a roughly half-full audience. AT&T has shifted from nearly zero data-based revenue in 2007 to $20 billion annually today. (read more…)
What “cool companies” catch your attention? Are you drawn to them because of the unique brand, their cutting-edge products, their inspired workforce or possibly their consistently wowed customers? My colleagues and I at The Ken Blanchard Cos. seek out best-practice organizations based on two primary elements: high performance and values alignment.
In more than 12 years of research and experience with helping clients refine their corporate cultures, we have identified important practices that are common across the high-performance, values-aligned companies we study. As we review a few of these in this post, consider how well your organization does today on these practices.
- Organization members have clarified their personal purpose and values and have shared them with colleagues. Leaders and employees do not leave their personal “reason for being” (purpose) or “life principles” (values) at the door when they come to work. Who they are as people has been reinforced over time and is embedded in their world view.
Recent research provides eye-popping results about the leadership effectiveness of women in business. As measured by a 360-degree evaluation by 7,280 leaders, women are perceived as more skilled than men on 15 of 16 leadership characteristics. The 16th skill, strategic perspective, when isolated to the executive suite — where that skill is more present and more important — is similar between women and men.
As an advocate for women in leadership, this finding surprised even me. But it does underscore what research is telling us about “The Woman Effect” — that women in leadership can dramatically improve an organization’s performance.
In addition to this study, I found evidence for other reasons women are having such a positive impact on business, innate and cultural.
- Women and men working together produces smarter results.
- Women can be good investors and shrewd risk takers.
- Demographics are shifting to help couples find work-life balance as men and women establish a partnership at home.
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