Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning

In Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning, Thomas H. Davenport and Jeanne G. Harris argue that the frontier for using data to make decisions has shifted dramatically. Certain high-performing enterprises are now building their competitive strategies around data-driven insights that in turn generate impressive business results. Their secret weapon? Analytics: sophisticated quantitative and statistical analysis and predictive modeling.

Exemplars of analytics are using new tools to identify their most profitable customers and offer them the right price, to accelerate product innovation, to optimize supply chains, and to identify the true drivers of financial performance. A wealth of examples-from organizations as diverse as Barclay’s, Capital One, Harrah’s, Procter & Gamble, Wachovia, and the Boston Red Sox-illuminate how to leverage the power of analytics.

You have more information at hand about your business environment than ever before. But are you using it to "out-think" your rivals? If not, you may be missing out on a potent competitive tool.

In Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning, Thomas H. Davenport and Jeanne G. Harris argue that the frontier for using data to make decisions has shifted dramatically. Certain high-performing enterprises are now building their competitive strategies around data-driven insights that in turn generate impressive business results. Their secret weapon? Analytics: sophisticated quantitative and statistical analysis and predictive modeling.

Exemplars of analytics are using new tools to identify their most profitable customers and offer them the right price, to accelerate product innovation, to optimize supply chains, and to identify the true drivers of financial performance. A wealth of examples-from organizations as diverse as Barclay s, Capital One, Harrah s, Procter & Gamble, Wachovia, and the Boston Red Sox-illuminate how to leverage the power of analytics.

The Financial Times

...the traditional ways of seeking competitive advantage are redundant and...the future lies with the ability to analyse the very considerable volumes of data it amasses about itself.

Thomas H. Davenport is the President's Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College. He has written or co-authored 13 books and hundreds of articles on the overall topic of how people and organizations deal with information and technology. He wrote the first books on business process reengineering, knowledge management, attention management, and the competitive use of business analytics.

Jeanne G. Harris is Executive Research Fellow and Director of Research for the Accenture Institute for High Performance Business where she leads research in the areas of information, technology and strategy. During her thirty years at Accenture, Jeanne has consulted to a wide variety of organizations in many different industries worldwide. She has written or co-authored numerous articles on business intelligence, data warehousing, and business analytics for leading management publications.