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Write You - An introduction to Business Intelligence - The Intelligent Organization
Recently at Warwick Crown Court an illegal immigrant was sentenced to 8 months imprisonment for possessing false documents and obtaining employment by deception. He had been employed as a security officer at Coventry Airport through an employment agency. The man, a Zimbabwean national, arrived in the UK in 2002. He was given a Visa allowing him to remain in the UK until June 2003 and applications for extensions were twice refused and he left his sponsored accommodation and managed to provide a forged letter from the Home Office indicating he was entitled to remain in this country. Using this he deceived the employment agency and it was whilst attempting to gain employment within a more restricted area that he was caught
4. I know when my sales reps/managers are on target, and I can intervene in time to make a difference.
Customer relationship management
1. I can identify low-value customers and try to improve their value or design them out of my business.
2. I am able to spot customer relationship problems early by monitoring leading satisfaction indicators, such as product or service quality.
Sales and marketing
1. I'm able to target high-value customers in order to lower my marketing risk.
2. I'm able to rank the success of product promotions to know what's effective by product and market segment.
3. I know what's in my sales pipeline.
Finance
1. I can identify underutilized a
I can't get over how many people have been laied off and/or had to change jobs in the last year. In fact, statistics say that the average American will go through at least 10+ job changes over the course of their lifetime.The Good News is that unemployment in the U.S. is below 5% which, economists say, is FULL-EMPLOYMENT. This means that everyone who wants a job and can work, has a job or can get a job.The BAD NEWS:1. The jobs available may not be the jobs that you want2. The available jobs may not pay what you want to earn3. The available jobs may have a work schedule that conflicts with your life and family4. The available jobs have no guarantee of job security. NONE.Ok, so
In both business and military operations, it's easy to see the correlation between the quality of intelligence and the success of operations: Those who comprehend and act quickly upon relevant facts have advantages over those who do not.
For this reason, intelligence has value to the business organization. Naturally, tools and technologies to collect and distribute of information—or to improve its quality—-will be embraced and employed quickly.
In this article, we'll take a look at some questions that BI can help answer, and we'll offer a few examples of how business intelligence is used.
Two examples of business intelligence
Some believe BI to be the magic differentiator between great and mediocre companies. Consider this example.
The Big Bank had a target of acquiring 200,000 new accounts, a number that would require mailing offers to 10 million prospects using a 2 percent return rate, an expected rate for direct mail. Instead, the Big Bank used BI techniques to mail to a "refined" subset of all prospects yielding a response rate of 12 percent.
Instead of mailing to the 10 million prospects, BI required the bank to send mail to about 2 million, which generated the required new accounts. In addition to reducing cost, the average profitability of an acquired customer was three times higher than usual because data mining had targeted the customers whose needs best matched The Big Bank's services.
Here's another scenario.
A quick-change oil company takes information from 2,500 stores and has information uploaded each night to servers at its headquarters. The chain's main office immediately analyzes key operational measures: cars serviced, costs, revenues, profits, and trends.
By 5:30 A.M., performance data is available to the company's managers who can check current revenue, average ticket price, time required to do each job, and other performance measures. Franchisees with multiple locations can see consolidated views, as can the company's regional managers.
Rate yourself
Now that you've read these two examples, try to answer the following questions to see whether your information systems allow you to accomplish the following tasks quickly, easily, and directly. Answer "No" if you depend on others to procure information or if your business and performance measurements lag after the fact.
Revenues and profitability
1. I can identify the products, services, and channels driving my revenue and profit.
2. I can rank customers and customer locations by profitability.
3. I am automatically alerted when critical costs, such as non-billable overtime rates, fall out of control.
4. I know when my sales reps/managers are on target, and I can intervene in time to make a difference.
Customer relationship management
1. I can identify low-value customers and try to improve their value or design them out of my business.
2. I am able to spot customer relationship problems early by monitoring leading satisfaction indicators, such as product or service quality.
Sales and marketing
1. I'm able to target high-value customers in order to lower my marketing risk.
2. I'm able to rank the success of product promotions to know what's effective by product and market segment.
3. I know what's in my sales pipeline.
Finance
1. I can identify underutilized a
Nursing is a rewarding occupation and there is always a dearth of proficient workers. In the United States, nursing is considered one of the largest health care professions. The demand for nurses has been steadily increasing and almost each state offers, numerous nursing jobs in various specialized fields. The state of Arizona provides a number of opportunities to fresh as well as experienced nurses in the healthcare industry.Arizona Children's Health Care Corporation is the primary provider of specialized services for chronically ill infants, children and young adults in Arizona. Their mission is to enrich their lives by providing high quality care and an individualized treatment. They work with the support of licen
In this article, we'll take a look at some questions that BI can help answer, and we'll offer a few examples of how business intelligence is used.
Two examples of business intelligence
Some believe BI to be the magic differentiator between great and mediocre companies. Consider this example.
The Big Bank had a target of acquiring 200,000 new accounts, a number that would require mailing offers to 10 million prospects using a 2 percent return rate, an expected rate for direct mail. Instead, the Big Bank used BI techniques to mail to a "refined" subset of all prospects yielding a response rate of 12 percent.
Instead of mailing to the 10 million prospects, BI required the bank to send mail to about 2 million, which generated the required new accounts. In addition to reducing cost, the average profitability of an acquired customer was three times higher than usual because data mining had targeted the customers whose needs best matched The Big Bank's services.
Here's another scenario.
A quick-change oil company takes information from 2,500 stores and has information uploaded each night to servers at its headquarters. The chain's main office immediately analyzes key operational measures: cars serviced, costs, revenues, profits, and trends.
By 5:30 A.M., performance data is available to the company's managers who can check current revenue, average ticket price, time required to do each job, and other performance measures. Franchisees with multiple locations can see consolidated views, as can the company's regional managers.
Rate yourself
Now that you've read these two examples, try to answer the following questions to see whether your information systems allow you to accomplish the following tasks quickly, easily, and directly. Answer "No" if you depend on others to procure information or if your business and performance measurements lag after the fact.
Revenues and profitability
1. I can identify the products, services, and channels driving my revenue and profit.
2. I can rank customers and customer locations by profitability.
3. I am automatically alerted when critical costs, such as non-billable overtime rates, fall out of control.
4. I know when my sales reps/managers are on target, and I can intervene in time to make a difference.
Customer relationship management
1. I can identify low-value customers and try to improve their value or design them out of my business.
2. I am able to spot customer relationship problems early by monitoring leading satisfaction indicators, such as product or service quality.
Sales and marketing
1. I'm able to target high-value customers in order to lower my marketing risk.
2. I'm able to rank the success of product promotions to know what's effective by product and market segment.
3. I know what's in my sales pipeline.
Finance
1. I can identify underutilized a
Another effective marketing tool is your answering machine.Most gift basket business owner use it to entertain callers.Some messages people usually use to entertain are:“This is the Bobby’s residence. Sorry we are not at home right now. Please leave a message after the tone“ “You have just reach 058 434 43433. I’m not available at the moment…..“This is not a professional way of doing business and it would not help you get more customers. You should record what you do and the service you provide. It must be used as another way to position yourself as an expert.Market yourself with your voiceYou are going to have a marketing message on your answer machine. Clients tha
Instead of mailing to the 10 million prospects, BI required the bank to send mail to about 2 million, which generated the required new accounts. In addition to reducing cost, the average profitability of an acquired customer was three times higher than usual because data mining had targeted the customers whose needs best matched The Big Bank's services.
Here's another scenario.
A quick-change oil company takes information from 2,500 stores and has information uploaded each night to servers at its headquarters. The chain's main office immediately analyzes key operational measures: cars serviced, costs, revenues, profits, and trends.
By 5:30 A.M., performance data is available to the company's managers who can check current revenue, average ticket price, time required to do each job, and other performance measures. Franchisees with multiple locations can see consolidated views, as can the company's regional managers.
Rate yourself
Now that you've read these two examples, try to answer the following questions to see whether your information systems allow you to accomplish the following tasks quickly, easily, and directly. Answer "No" if you depend on others to procure information or if your business and performance measurements lag after the fact.
Revenues and profitability
1. I can identify the products, services, and channels driving my revenue and profit.
2. I can rank customers and customer locations by profitability.
3. I am automatically alerted when critical costs, such as non-billable overtime rates, fall out of control.
4. I know when my sales reps/managers are on target, and I can intervene in time to make a difference.
Customer relationship management
1. I can identify low-value customers and try to improve their value or design them out of my business.
2. I am able to spot customer relationship problems early by monitoring leading satisfaction indicators, such as product or service quality.
Sales and marketing
1. I'm able to target high-value customers in order to lower my marketing risk.
2. I'm able to rank the success of product promotions to know what's effective by product and market segment.
3. I know what's in my sales pipeline.
Finance
1. I can identify underutilized a
We live in a world where we are bombarded with four thousand marketing messages each day, where many struggle to keep on top of the “spam-stuffed inbox”, where every market has more sellers than buyers, where a whole new set of rapid-relationship skills are called for.While some bemoan the passing of a slower-paced world, the “attention-deficit economy” is the land of opportunity for others. So how do you capture the attention of prospective customers?Networking and the death of prospecting “We are only seven steps away from anyone in the world” goes the networking mantra, so armed with a tasteful business-card all we have to do is get out there, smile and be nice. Doubtless, there is so
Rate yourself
Now that you've read these two examples, try to answer the following questions to see whether your information systems allow you to accomplish the following tasks quickly, easily, and directly. Answer "No" if you depend on others to procure information or if your business and performance measurements lag after the fact.
Revenues and profitability
1. I can identify the products, services, and channels driving my revenue and profit.
2. I can rank customers and customer locations by profitability.
3. I am automatically alerted when critical costs, such as non-billable overtime rates, fall out of control.
4. I know when my sales reps/managers are on target, and I can intervene in time to make a difference.
Customer relationship management
1. I can identify low-value customers and try to improve their value or design them out of my business.
2. I am able to spot customer relationship problems early by monitoring leading satisfaction indicators, such as product or service quality.
Sales and marketing
1. I'm able to target high-value customers in order to lower my marketing risk.
2. I'm able to rank the success of product promotions to know what's effective by product and market segment.
3. I know what's in my sales pipeline.
Finance
1. I can identify underutilized a
There are two questions that seem to be most commonly asked by organisations who are looking to change the direction of their business; namely:1. Where do I start?and2. Why is it so hard?Research quoted by Henley Management College stated that the UK wastes around ?25Bn per year on improvement programmes which go wrong and our own research, collated from a number of sources, suggests that upwards of 80% of all improvement activities will fail.With ‘Lean’ becoming the improvement tool of choice within a wide range of sectors, including Financial Services, Armed Forces, NHS, Public Services and the Service Sector, it is already becoming apparent that these sectors are suffering from the same
4. I know when my sales reps/managers are on target, and I can intervene in time to make a difference.
Customer relationship management
1. I can identify low-value customers and try to improve their value or design them out of my business.
2. I am able to spot customer relationship problems early by monitoring leading satisfaction indicators, such as product or service quality.
Sales and marketing
1. I'm able to target high-value customers in order to lower my marketing risk.
2. I'm able to rank the success of product promotions to know what's effective by product and market segment.
3. I know what's in my sales pipeline.
Finance
1. I can identify underutilized assets.
2. I'm confident that I have the facts to make the right capital asset choices in next year's budget.
3. My budgets are based on accurate histories and current trends, not on pie-in-the-sky figures, guesses, or sandbagged numbers.
Supply chain
1. I can easily identify how much I'm spending with each supplier and use that information to negotiate lower costs.
2. I know which carriers are most often damaging my shipments (and on which routes) and/or delivering them late to my customers.
3. I'm able to predict product demand and trade that information for more cash and less inventory.
Strategy management
1. My employees view individualized key performance indicators, aligning them with the corporate strategy.
2. My employees have instant access to a knowledge base of information that helps them to do their job.
Human resources
1. I'm able to use leading indicators to preempt health and safety incidents.
2. I have the leading information required to measure and manage employee satisfaction and increase employee retention.
What could you do?
If you answered "No" to many or most of these questions (or similar questions), your business processes may move too slowly in the technology-driven Internet age. You'll likely have increasing difficulty maintaining a grip on your customers, prices, profitability, and employees as more-enterprising companies leverage technology, improve their processes, and capture market share.
But if you answered "Yes" to many of these questions, yours is likely an intelligent organization. You possess superior intelligence regarding your employees, customers, partners, and operations. People at all levels can manage their own affairs, have intimate knowledge of your organization's strategy, and know where to find information needed for further analysis quickly and directly.
Prabir Sen,
M.Sc Engg (London)
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