Education for a workplace statistician

Transitioning from university student to a statistician working as a collaborative researcher, consultant and workplace educator as well as a data scientist is a very daunting and challenging task. Statistical workplaces can involve at least some aspects of all these components, and some will more easily facilitate learning on the job than others. But all workplace statisticians need proficient statistical thinking, problem-solving and communication skills, as well as a sound statistics foundation for ongoing learning to competently understand, perform and possibly develop statistical analyses. This chapter discusses how early authentic experiential and constructive learning in statistical data analysis and problem-solving courses, combined with experience gained in a developmental and mentored program in tutoring such courses, build the key skills for a workplace statistician. This is illustrated by describing how this has proved invaluable in working as a statistician in a large tertiary hospital that also incorporates a basic science medical research institute

An object-oriented reference model of the fuzzy front end of the new product introduction process

The global pressures of the modern market are placing an ever-increasing emphasis on the rapid development and introduction of new products. Central to this aim is the implementation of an effective business process for managing and controlling product innovation. Research has shown that the front end stages of the so-called new product introduction (NPI) process are weakest in a high proportion of companies and direct support is needed in this area. This paper describes how an object-oriented methodology has been applied to develop a reference model and architecture to facilitate the re-engineering and implementation of a high quality business process and help remove the fuzziness of the critical early stages of NPI. The results from the application and testing of this tool within a wide range of different companies are summarised and used to help derive conclusions regarding the validity of the research