The O-Factor: Aligning Organizational Arrangements with Big Data Analytics Diffusion

This study aims to better understand how and why organizational arrangements of Big Data Analytics (BDA) evolve over time in established firms. As BDA initiatives grow in scope and importance, organizational arrangements tend to change, with changes impacting the success of the initiative. This study focuses on the importance of four constructs influencing organizational arrangements during BDA diffusion: the analytics structure, the leadership role, the culture, and the employee skills. Propositions derived from the literature guide the analysis of seven case studies of organizations adopting BDA. The findings help to understand BDA diffusion through (1) aligning structure with business value creation, (2) (new) leadership that trusts and shows exemplary usage of BDA, (3) a culture of trust with constant experimentation for business opportunities and (4) more diversified employee roles. A discussion of academic and managerial implications and suggestions for future research completes this study

Strategian toimeenpano: Selitettävien tekijöiden tunnistus onnistuneen liiketoiminta-analytiikan toimeenpanoa varten organisaatiossa

In the contemporary era where the value of data is being compared to oil, it is no wonder that executives are actively pursuing to extract value from data with business analytics to gain competitive advantage. Despite accelerating investments into business analytics, there lacks a unified model for executives to rely on during the implementation process, hence explaining the large variance partially amongst organizations’ ROIs. This thesis, therefore, addresses the void by proposing a conceptual model for business analytics implementation (CMBAI) for executives to utilize when implementing business analytics. To address the void rightfully, initially, I identify an organizational model framework that holistically considers the multidimensional internal environment of an organization when implementing a strategy. This is followed by the identification of business analytics conformities associated with each variable under the chosen organizational model framework, creating a rudimentary CMBAI. The CMBAI is finally developed and consolidated by cross-referencing it against a case study in accordance to abductive research methodology. The revised CMBAI model is framed around the McKinsey 7S Framework (M7S), thus addressing comprehensively the variables related to strategy implementation. The model identifies three overarching themes that influence the success of reaping the benefits of business analytics: (1) leadership- structured manner of communication in both strategical and operational level synchronized with a leadership style that both ease organizational adoption of business analytics and promotes active insight generation to occur among employees; (2) organizational BA competency- ensuring competency in both system level through business analytic tools and human level through multiple level skill development; and (3) ownership facilitation- enablement of an appropriate structure and culture that promote to self-initiatively take actions based on insights gathered. Moreover, research indicates the entangled nature of M7S variables requires business analytics implementors to take a holistic approach to implementation in contrast to focusing only on a handful of elements related to business analytics. The research contributes to the existing theory by unifying the vast scope of business analytics literature under a single research and provides an in-depth analysis of the success factors when applying business analytics. Despite consolidation of CMBAI for becoming a universal model requires further similar studies to be conducted, this thesis provides a solid foundation for a holistic business analytics implementation model to emerge.Siinä missä nyky-yhteiskunnassa rinnastetaan öljyn arvoa dataan, on täysin luonnollista, että yritysjohtajat pyrkivät aktiivisesti hyödyntämään dataa luodakseen kilpailuetua kilpailijoihinsa nähden. Huolimatta kasvavista sijoituksesta liiketoiminta-analytiikkaan, yrityksiltä puuttuu yhteinen malli liiketoiminta-analytiikan täytäntöönpanoon, joka osin selittää yritysten välisen suurehkon hajonnan liiketoiminta-analytiikan sijoitetun pääoman tuottoprosenteissa. Tämä diplomityö pyrkii vastaamaan edellä mainittuun tarpeeseen ehdottamalla käsitteellisen mallin liiketoiminta-analytiikan täytäntöönpanoon (KMLAT). Vastatakseen tarpeeseen oikeudenmukaisesti, pyrin alussa tunnistamaan viitekehyksen, joka ottaa organisaation moniulotteisen sisäisen ympäristön huomioon toimeenpantaessa uutta strategiaa. Seuraavana selvitän valitun viitekehyksen muuttujien liiketoiminta-analytiikan keskinäiset alaisuudet luodakseen alustavan KMLAT:n. Hyödyntäen abduktiivista tutkimusmenetelmää, KMLAT:ia jatkojalostetaan ja sen asemaa vahvistetaan käyttämällä sitä erään tapausyrityksen tutkimisessa. Diplomityön lopullinen KMLAT perustuu McKinsey:n 7S viitekehykseen, jolla saadaan kokonaisvaltainen ymmärrys organisaation muuttujista toimeenpantaessa strategiaa. Mallin avulla on tunnistettu kolme rajoja ylittävää teema, jotka vaikuttavat liiketoiminta-analytiikan menestykselliseen toimeenpanoon; johtajuus, organisaation liiketoiminta-analytiikka kyvykkyys, ja omistajuuden edistäminen. Johtajuudessa merkittävinä osatekijöinä ovat strateginen ja operatiivinen viestintä, ja johtamismalli, joka edistää oivalluksien tuottamista. Organisaation liiketoiminta-analytiikka kyvykkyys taas ottaa kantaa tekijöistä, joihin tulisi erityisesti asettaa huomiota kehittäessä liiketoimintaa-analytiikka järjestelmää ja työntekijöitä. Kolmanneksi, omistajuuden edistäminen organisaatiorakenne ja kulttuuritasolla on havaittu olennaiseksi tekijäksi toimeenpannakseen käytäntöön liiketoiminta-analytiikasta saadut havainnot. Tämä tutkimus edistää olemassa olevaa liiketoiminta-analytiikkaa kirjallisuutta yhdistämällä niitä yhden tutkimuksen alle ja tuo perusteellisen analyysin kriittisistä menetystekijöistä toimeenpantaessa liiketoiminta-analytiikkaa. Vaikka KMLAT:ia on jatkojalostettu erään tutkimustapauksen avulla, sitä tulee jatkojalostaa ja vahvistaa edelleen, jotta mallia voidaan pitää yleispätevänä. Siitä huolimatta, tämä diplomityö luo vankan perustan tulevalle tutkimukselle, ja toimii lähtökohtana rakentaessa yleismallia liiketoiminta-analytiikan toimeenpanoa varten

Now and Next: A Maturity Model to Guide Analytics Growth

Maturity models concerning the analytics function within organisations cover several characteristics such as data, leadership support, processes, data management, governance, technology and people. Existing models, however, focus on diagnosis rather than guiding future developments, and overlook the importance of IT/Analytics-Business alignment. This paper presents a maturity framework which addresses these two shortcomings and distinguishes between two aspects of maturity – a “state” aspect which is used to access the present situation in the company, and a “management” aspect which analyses existing processes to establish the next stage of the company’s growth in the analytics area. The framework’s utility has been demonstrated through obtaining feedback from a number of managers, who have praised the ability of the framework to integrate diagnosis of the current situation with guidance on the next steps necessary to develop analytics maturity

How a Traditional Organisation Matured a Business Analytics Capability

This paper tells the story of how a large traditional CPG (consumer packaged goods) organisation in Ireland (HEINEKEN) established a transformative and award-winning Business Analytics (BA) capability inside a 10-year period. Through analysing this story, told through the ‘lived experiences’ of the HEINEKEN Ireland Data and Analytics (D&A) Manager (the lead author), the obstacles to maturing a BA capability and the strategies to overcome them are revealed across four eras (awakening, building & exploring, advancing, leveraging). The analysis is structured using the DELTA model proposed by Davenport and Harris (2017), with the ‘Targets’, ‘Leadership’, and ‘Analysts’ capability elements featuring prominently in the HEINEKEN Ireland story. Overall, our analysis and findings lead to seven key messages (across the DELTA capability elements) that should inform an organisation’s BA strategy. These messages afford IS professionals (academics and practitioners) with the opportunity to learn from HEINEKEN Ireland’s experiences as part of their evolving BA success story

What are the Most Critical HR Capabilities and Competencies that are Emerging for the Future?

[Excerpt] What are most critical competencies that are emerging for HR professionals today? What capabilities are needed for HR leaders to advance forward in their careers? While there has been much research and emphasis on technical competencies. (i.e. training & development, diversity & inclusion, etc.), our summary focuses on the important leadership and behavioral traits that enable HR professionals to successfully impact their organizations

What Types of Predictive Analytics are Being Used in Talent Management Organizations?

[Excerpt] Talent management organizations are increasingly deriving insights from data to make better decisions. Their use of data analytics is advancing from descriptive to predictive and prescriptive analytics. Descriptive analytics is the most basic form, providing the hindsight view of what happened and laying the foundation for turning data into information. More advanced uses are predictive (advanced forecasts and the ability to model future results) and prescriptive (“the top-tier of analytics that leverage machine learning techniques … to both interpret data and recommend actions”) analytics (1). Appendix A illustrates these differences. This report summarizes our most relevant findings about how both academic researchers and HR practitioners are successfully using data analytics to inform decision-making in workforce issues, with a focus on executive assessment and selection

What Is The Competency Model For HR Professionals To Prepare Them to Accept Digital Change in the HR Function?

[Excerpt] With changes in the workforce demographics, global economy, and emerging technology, the role of the HR professional has already changed drastically and will continue to do so. The future of work in the digital age is upon us and work environments include an increasing plurality of means to get work done. This entails transformation and reskilling for HR professionals as they partner with business leaders to orchestrate effective human capital solutions. This also presents an opportunity for HR leadership to closely examine the competencies of their workforce and determine the what and the how of upskilling or reskilling to ensure the HR professionals at their company are equipped to contribute in this ever-evolving business environment. HR professionals will increasingly need to be agile, strategic contributors to the businesses they serve, thoughtfully engaged with employees throughout their lifecycle, and be well-versed in data analytics and technologies. With this in mind, it is essential for organizations to prepare now and create action plans for job displacement and reskilling of their workforce