Reading Room
White papers, articles and research papers
Welcome to the Reading Room – an essential area of the Business Analytics Knowledge Exchange that will keep you up to date with most recent and relevant white papers, articles, research reports and books available on business analytics. The Reading Room will be updated regularly with new and timely content, so bookmark this site and visit often.
Recommended Reading
Books
Click by Bill Tancer
Where on the Internet do your friends and neighbors really spend their time? Click provides a fascinating account of the search patterns among 10 million Internet users, challenging myths and making new discoveries about the psychology of consumers.
Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning by Thomas H. Davenport and Jeanne G. Harris
If you aren’t using your business data to "outthink" your rivals, you may be missing out on a potent competitive tool. Read how Amazon.com, Barclay's, Capital One, Harrah's, Procter & Gamble, Wachovia and the Boston Red Sox are leveraging the power of analytics and generating impressive business results.
Information Revolution by Jim Davis, Gloria J. Miller, and Allan Russell
This book serves as a strategic model for identifying, evaluating and improving information use and fundamentally changes how you look at the role of information technology, taking it to the leadership level. A must-read for those who generate, support and make decisions for their respective organizations.
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis
Many business decisions companies make tend to be hidden in systems that make poor decisions, or don’t make them at all. The fact is that much of today’s existing technology has the potential to be “smart enough” to make a big difference to an organization’s business. This book tells you how.
Smart Enough Systems: How to Deliver Competitive Advantage by Automating Hidden Decisions by James Taylor and Neil Raden
Lewis (Liar's Poker; The New New Thing) examines how in 2002 the Oakland Athletics achieved a spectacular winning record while having the smallest player payroll of any Major League Baseball team. Baseball insiders and fans assume that the biggest talents get the biggest salaries, but Lewis argues that numbers and statistics matter more.
Super Crunchers by Ian Ayres
This Wall Street Journal and New York Times business best-seller examines the "power" in numbers. In order to succeed – even survive – in our data-based world, you need to become statistically literate. No one who wants to stay ahead of the curve should make another keystroke without reading Ayres’ engrossing and enlightening book.
The New KNOW by Thornton May
May takes four years of fieldwork to bring us a fascinating look at the analytic community doing important, exciting work that affects every aspect of our lives. This is a book about people – very cool people, doing very cool things. These are people you should know and know about. (Due out later this year.)
The Numerati by Steven Baker
A captivating exploration of digital curiosity, business reporter Baker spotlights a new breed of entrepreneurial mathematicians called the Numerati who are using every crumb of our personal information – buying habits or preferences – to radically transform and customize everyday experiences.
White Papers
Building an Analytical Organization: Executive Summary
The best analytical competitors are the ones with leaders who are passionate about analytical decisions, analysts who understand their business areas and managers and employees who know the analytical underpinnings of the business. The logical response for aspiring analytical firms would simply be, "Get me some of those people!" Learn all about building the ideal analytical organization and the challenges in doing so.
CFO's Guide to Analytics
Critical information for any CFO who wants to move the dashboard dials from red to green. Learn how BPM Partners, the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies and SAS use analytics to solidify financial performance.
Is Business Analytics the Next Stage of BI Evolution?
This special report by Computerworld and SAS details survey results from 215 IT and business professionals, revealing insights about how they prioritize the key benefits of using business analytics software.
Six Critical Questions to Ask About Business Analytics – Boardroom Imperative Series from nGenera
Read about the six critical questions that organizations such as Capital One, Progressive, Harrah’s Entertainment, Marriott International, Procter & Gamble and UPS have all asked themselves and discover why they are now playing to their strengths rather than playing catch-up.
The Rise of Analytical Performance Management by Thomas H. Davenport
Davenport presents new research about analytical performance management, how it differs from performance management and how your organization can benefit from using it.
Online Articles and Resources
A Method to the Madness – Predictive Analytics and NCAA March Madness Feature Article
Discover just how effective analytics can be in this article that explores how SAS is used to predict which teams will be chosen for the "at-large" NCAA tournament positions.
Best Practices for Leveraging Business Analytics in Today's and Tomorrow's Insurance Sector by Mark Gorman
An in-depth look at how the use of business analytics is changing the insurance market, and what organizations need to consider in order to make that transformation more powerful, more palatable and more profitable.
Better Information for Winning Decision by Stan Gibson, Computerworld
Information management has evolved from a support function to a vital partner for strategic business management. Learn more about creating a winning strategy through your organization’s information.
Competing on Analytics - Harvard Business Review article by Thomas H. Davenport
Learn how enterprise analytics has emerged as the newest form of competitive differentiation in this best-selling Harvard Business Review magazine reprint from 2006. Building on Davenport's original research study, this article is based on examining the use of analytics at more than 50 leading companies, including Harrah's Entertainment Inc., Wal-Mart, Procter & Gamble, Capital One and Amazon.com.
Competing on Business Analytics: The New Age of Smart Decision Making – Conclusions Paper from the Dinner Series
Get expert advice on making better decisions from top thought leaders who presented at this executive dinner series. Learn more about how to solve problems, manage for performance and drive growth through smarter decision making.
Getting Started with Business Analytics – by Zulfikar Sidi
Most organizations today know that the effective use of analytics can be a significant competitive differentiator for their business, but many still struggle with how to get started. Sidi guides you through the key aspects necessary to begin using analytics and how to position yourself to gain the most from your implementation of analytics.
How to Design Smart Business Experiments by Thomas H. Davenport
Managers now have the tools to conduct small-scale tests and gain real insight. But too many “experiments” don’t prove much of anything. Find out how to make business experiments pay off for your organization.
Mainstreaming Analytics - Ending disciplinary apartheid
No more boundaries. This article by Thornton May discusses how future success for analytics and analysts will require boundary spanning and community building.
Math Will Rock Your World
In the past decade, a sizable chunk of humanity has moved its work, play, chat and shopping online. This Newsweek article provides a fascinating account of how math is changing our world.
Professor Tom Davenport Advises Retailers to Cultivate Potential Benefits of Analytics
Tom Davenport reveals the five future analytic trends to watch and explains how retailers that use analytics effectively can create security for their business on the other side of the economic recovery.
Realizing the Potential of Retail Analytics: Plenty of Food for Those with the Appetite by Thomas H. Davenport
Based on interviews with 33 retailers, more than 25 retail analytics experts and published literature, this report summarizes trends in the use of analytics in retail across 18 different categories, as well as several more emerging analytical activities.
SAS Pathfinder
Stop Guessing. Start Knowing. Make sure your organization is headed in the right direction with analytics, business intelligence and data integration. Take this five-minute assessment to get an immediate objective summary online and a business intelligence ranking for your industry.
The State of Analytics in Insurance by Alex Vorro and Mark Gorman
Researchers queried property/casualty and life insurance carriers to uncover how these insurers are using predictive analytics and business intelligence to create a more holistic predictive analytics decision-making methodology.
