Behind Every Good Decision: How Anyone Can Use Business Analytics to Turn Data into Profitable Insight

Synopsis

List the hottest buzzwords in business today and "analytics" is bound to come out near the top. But to most people, analytics implies complex tools and technical experts manipulating massive amounts and varieties of information (i.e.,"Big Data"). But complex Big Data analytics isn't the only game in town. And many people don't realize that a business doesn't need data scientists and complex tools to derive useful information and valuable benefits from any amount of raw data (e.g., names, behaviors, zip codes, demographics, sales statistics, etc.). Now Piyanka Jain and Puneet Sharma have defeated the myth that analytics is "rocket science"--and that only Big Data matters. In Behind Every Good Decision, they demonstrate how you can leverage the data you've got to generate valuable insights and drive countless smart business decisions. Best of all, the techniques for solving 80 percent of all business problems can be solved by any professional using only a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet!--and the authors show you how. Among the fascinating things you'll learn and apply from this engaging, easy-to-understand book are: * How to use a unique, remarkably effective, streamlined method called "BADIR" for short, that works in any industry and will help you move from data to decisions in just five steps * How this tool can help you improve customer experiences, optimize your work flow, predict the rate of customer churn, and determine which among several business propositions should be the focus of your attention * The four most commonly used analytics methodologies * Tools you can use for storing, reporting, and analyzing data * The kinds of people who should be chosen for an analytics team With this book, you'll see that business analytics is a simple problem-solving tool. Done right, your analytics effort can make for happier customers, better products, agile business practices, more productive employees, bigger revenues, and fatter profits--not to mention delighted bosses. And with the help of Behind Every Good Decision, you'll be able to launch that effort right from your own laptop. It's time to see how.