Don't squander your most valuable resource! Collectively, your workers are your company's most important and most valuable asset. To make the most of this asset, nothing beats quantitative performance and investment measurement. Learning and Development is an 80 billion-dollar industry, and every valuable employee represents a sizable investment on the part of your company. To keep your business moving forward, effective management of human capital is crucial. It generates plenty of data, and deep analysis of this data helps you provide feedback and make adjustments to capitalize on the combined knowledge, skills, and creativity of your workers. Developing Human Capital: Using Analytics to Plan and Optimize Your Learning and Development Investments provides a guidebook for collecting, organizing, and analyzing the data surrounding human capital so you can make the most of your employees' potential. Use predictive analysis to optimize human capital investments Learn effective study design and alignment Get the tools you need for measurement, surveys, and analysis Decide what to measure and how to measure it Outline your company's current and future analytics technology needs Map data sources, and overcome barriers to data collection Authors Gene Pease, Bonnie Beresford, and Lew Walker provide case studies in which major companies applied human capital analytics to guide people decisions, and expand upon the role of analytics in Learning and Development. Developing Human Capital: Using Analytics to Plan and Optimize Your Learning and Development Investments is an essential guide to 21st century human resources and management practices, and can keep you from squandering your company's most valuable resource.

The field of data mining lies at the confluence of predictive analytics, statistical analysis, and business intelligence. Due to the ever-increasing complexity and size of data sets and the wide range of applications in computer science, business, and health care, the process of discovering knowledge in data is more relevant than ever before. This book provides the tools needed to thrive in today's big data world. The author demonstrates how to leverage a company's existing databases to increase profits and market share, and carefully explains the most current data science methods and techniques. The reader will "learn data mining by doing data mining". By adding chapters on data modelling preparation, imputation of missing data, and multivariate statistical analysis, Discovering Knowledge in Data, Second Edition remains the eminent reference on data mining. The second edition of a highly praised, successful reference on data mining, with thorough coverage of big data applications, predictive analytics, and statistical analysis. Includes new chapters on Multivariate Statistics, Preparing to Model the Data, and Imputation of Missing Data, and an Appendix on Data Summarization and Visualization Offers extensive coverage of the R statistical programming language Contains 280 end-of-chapter exercises Includes a companion website with further resources for all readers, and Powerpoint slides, a solutions manual, and suggested projects for instructors who adopt the book

PROVE THE VALUE OF YOUR HR PROGRAM WITH HARD DATA While corporate leaders may well know the value of human capital, they don’t always understand the extent to which the HR function contributes to the bottom line. So when times get tough and business budgets get cut, HR departments often take the first hit. In this groundbreaking guide, the cofounders of ROI Institute, Jack Phillips and Patti Phillips, provide the tools and techniques you need to use analytics to show top decision makers the value of HR in your organization. Focusing on three types of analytics--descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive-- Making Human Capital Analytics Work shows how you can apply analytics by: Developing relationships between variables Predicting the success of HR programs Determining the cost of intangibles that are otherwise diffi cult to value Showing the business value of particular HR programs Calculating and forecasting the ROI of various HR projects and programs Much more than a guide to using data collection and analysis, Making Human Capital Analytics Work is a template for spearheading large-scale change in your organization by dramatically influencing your department's overall image within the organization. The authors take you step-by-step through the processes of using hard data to drive decisions and demonstrate the tangible value of HR. You know that your department is more than administrative and transactional--that it's an integral player in your company's strategy. Apply the lessons in Making Human Capital Analytics Work and ensure that all other stakeholders know too.

Key decisions determine the success of big data strategy Dynamic Customer Strategy: Big Profits from Big Data is a comprehensive guide to exploiting big data for both business-to-consumer and business-to-business marketing. This complete guide provides a process for rigorous decision making in navigating the data-driven industry shift, informing marketing practice, and aiding businesses in early adoption. Using data from a five-year study to illustrate important concepts and scenarios along the way, the author speaks directly to marketing and operations professionals who may not necessarily be big data savvy. With expert insight and clear analysis, the book helps eliminate paralysis-by-analysis and optimize decision making for marketing performance. Nearly seventy-five percent of marketers plan to adopt a big data analytics solution within two years, but many are likely to fail. Despite intensive planning, generous spending, and the best intentions, these initiatives will not succeed without a manager at the helm who is capable of handling the nuances of big data projects. This requires a new way of marketing, and a new approach to data. It means applying new models and metrics to brand new consumer behaviors. Dynamic Customer Strategy clarifies the situation, and highlights the key decisions that have the greatest impact on a company's big data plan. Topics include: Applying the elements of Dynamic Customer Strategy Acquiring, mining, and analyzing data Metrics and models for big data utilization Shifting perspective from model to customer Big data is a tremendous opportunity for marketers and may just be the only factor that will allow marketers to keep pace with the changing consumer and thus keep brands relevant at a time of unprecedented choice. But like any tool, it must be wielded with skill and precision. Dynamic Customer Strategy: Big Profits from Big Data helps marketers shape a strategy that works.

Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Business Intelligence Development Beginner's Guide introduces you to Microsoft's BI tools and systems. You'll gain hands-on experience building solutions that handle data warehousing, reporting, and predictive analytics. With step-by-step tutorials, you'll be equipped to transform data into actionable insights. What this Book will help me do Understand and implement multidimensional data models using SSAS and MDX. Write and use DAX queries and leverage SSAS tabular models effectively. Improve and maintain data integrity using MDS and DQS tools. Design and develop polished, insightful dashboards and reports using PerformancePoint, Power View, and SSRS. Explore advanced data analysis features, such as Power Query, Power Map, and basic data mining techniques. Author(s) Abolfazl Radgoudarzi and Reza Rad are experienced practitioners and educators in the field of business intelligence. They specialize in SQL Server BI technologies and have extensive careers helping organizations harness data for decision-making. Their approach combines clear explanations with practical examples, ensuring readers can effectively apply what they learn. Who is it for? This book is ideal for database developers, system analysts, and IT professionals looking to build strong foundations in Microsoft SQL Server's BI technologies. Beginners in business intelligence or data management will find the topics accessible. Intermediate practitioners will expand their ability to build complete BI solutions. It's designed for anyone eager to develop skills in data modeling, analysis, and visualization.

Use computational intelligence to drive more value from business analytics, overcome real-world uncertainties and complexities, and make better decisions. Drawing on his pioneering experience as an instructor and researcher, Dr. Les Sztandera thoroughly illuminates today's key computational intelligence tools, knowledge, and strategies for analysis, exploration, and knowledge generation. Sztandera demystifies artificial neural networks, genetic algorithms, and fuzzy systems, and guides you through using them to model, discover, and interpret new patterns that can't be found through statistical methods alone. Packed with relevant case studies and examples, this guide demonstrates: Customer segmentation for direct marketing Customer profiling for relationship management Efficient mailing campaigns Customer retention Identification of cross-selling opportunities Credit score analysis Detection of fraudulent behavior and transactions Hedge fund strategies, and more Szandera shows how computational intelligence can inform the design and integration of services, architecture, brand identity, and product portfolio across the entire enterprise. He also shows how to complement computational intelligence with visualization, explorative interfaces and advanced reporting, thereby empowering business users and enterprise stakeholders to take full advantage of it. For analytics professionals, managers, and students.

The guide to targeting and leveraging business opportunities using big data & analytics By leveraging big data & analytics, businesses create the potential to better understand, manage, and strategically exploiting the complex dynamics of customer behavior. Analytics in a Big Data World reveals how to tap into the powerful tool of data analytics to create a strategic advantage and identify new business opportunities. Designed to be an accessible resource, this essential book does not include exhaustive coverage of all analytical techniques, instead focusing on analytics techniques that really provide added value in business environments. The book draws on author Bart Baesens' expertise on the topics of big data, analytics and its applications in e.g. credit risk, marketing, and fraud to provide a clear roadmap for organizations that want to use data analytics to their advantage, but need a good starting point. Baesens has conducted extensive research on big data, analytics, customer relationship management, web analytics, fraud detection, and credit risk management, and uses this experience to bring clarity to a complex topic. Includes numerous case studies on risk management, fraud detection, customer relationship management, and web analytics Offers the results of research and the author's personal experience in banking, retail, and government Contains an overview of the visionary ideas and current developments on the strategic use of analytics for business Covers the topic of data analytics in easy-to-understand terms without an undo emphasis on mathematics and the minutiae of statistical analysis For organizations looking to enhance their capabilities via data analytics, this resource is the go-to reference for leveraging data to enhance business capabilities.

How to Transform Your Organization with Analytics: Insider Lessons from IBM’s Pioneering Experience Analytics is not just a technology: It is a better way to do business. Using analytics, you can systematically inform human judgment with data-driven insight. This doesn’t just improve decision-making: It also enables greater innovation and creativity in support of strategy. Your transformation won’t happen overnight; however, it is absolutely achievable, and the rewards are immense. This book demystifies your analytics journey by showing you how IBM has successfully leveraged analytics across the enterprise, worldwide. Three of IBM’s pioneering analytics practitioners share invaluable real-world perspectives on what does and doesn’t work and how you can start or accelerate your own transformation. This book provides an essential framework for becoming a smarter enterprise and shows through 31 case studies how IBM has derived value from analytics throughout its business. Coverage Includes Creating a smarter workforce through big data and analytics More effectively optimizing supply chain processes Systematically improving financial forecasting Managing financial risk, increasing operational efficiency, and creating business value Reaching more B2B or B2C customers and deepening their engagement Optimizing manufacturing and product management processes Deploying your sales organization to increase revenue and effectiveness Achieving new levels of excellence in services delivery and reducing risk Transforming IT to enable wider use of analytics “Measuring the immeasurable” and filling gaps in imperfect data Whatever your industry or role, whether a current or future leader, analytics can make you smarter and more competitive. Analytics Across the Enterprise shows how IBM did it--and how you can, too. Learn more about IBM Analytics

Learn what it takes to succeed in the the most in-demand tech job Harvard Business Review calls it the sexiest tech job of the 21st century. Data scientists are in demand, and this unique book shows you exactly what employers want and the skill set that separates the quality data scientist from other talented IT professionals. Data science involves extracting, creating, and processing data to turn it into business value. With over 15 years of big data, predictive modeling, and business analytics experience, author Vincent Granville is no stranger to data science. In this one-of-a-kind guide, he provides insight into the essential data science skills, such as statistics and visualization techniques, and covers everything from analytical recipes and data science tricks to common job interview questions, sample resumes, and source code. The applications are endless and varied: automatically detecting spam and plagiarism, optimizing bid prices in keyword advertising, identifying new molecules to fight cancer, assessing the risk of meteorite impact. Complete with case studies, this book is a must, whether you're looking to become a data scientist or to hire one. Explains the finer points of data science, the required skills, and how to acquire them, including analytical recipes, standard rules, source code, and a dictionary of terms Shows what companies are looking for and how the growing importance of big data has increased the demand for data scientists Features job interview questions, sample resumes, salary surveys, and examples of job ads Case studies explore how data science is used on Wall Street, in botnet detection, for online advertising, and in many other business-critical situations Developing Analytic Talent: Becoming a Data Scientist is essential reading for those aspiring to this hot career choice and for employers seeking the best candidates.

Brand tracking, CRM programs, trade shows, online behavior tracking, satisfaction studies. Mounds of marketing metrics are generated across touchpoints and channels. It can be information overload--too much, too scattered. But locked in the vast quantity of information are accurate, data-driven answers to every marketing question. Analytic dashboards are transformative web-based tools that gather, syn the size, and visually display essential data in real time, directly connecting marketing with performance. World renowned marketing expert Koen Pauwels supplies a simple yet rigorous methodology and wealth of case studies to help any size organization, in any industry, turn data into productive action. He explains step by step how to: ● Gain crucial IT support ● Build a rock-solid database ● Select key leading performance indicators ● Design the optimal dashboard layout ● Use marketing analytics to improve decisions and reap rewards Gut decisions are outdated and downright dangerous. Whether you're trying to allocate resources between online and offline marketing, measure the ROI of specific efforts, or scale up a creative campaign, dashboard analytics bring scientific precision and insight to marketing efforts--with far better results.

Combine business sense, statistics, and computers in a new and intuitive way, thanks to Big Data Predictive analytics is a branch of data mining that helps predict probabilities and trends. Predictive Analytics For Dummies explores the power of predictive analytics and how you can use it to make valuable predictions for your business, or in fields such as advertising, fraud detection, politics, and others. This practical book does not bog you down with loads of mathematical or scientific theory, but instead helps you quickly see how to use the right algorithms and tools to collect and analyze data and apply it to make predictions. Topics include using structured and unstructured data, building models, creating a predictive analysis roadmap, setting realistic goals, budgeting, and much more. Shows readers how to use Big Data and data mining to discover patterns and make predictions for tech-savvy businesses Helps readers see how to shepherd predictive analytics projects through their companies Explains just enough of the science and math, but also focuses on practical issues such as protecting project budgets, making good presentations, and more Covers nuts-and-bolts topics including predictive analytics basics, using structured and unstructured data, data mining, and algorithms and techniques for analyzing data Also covers clustering, association, and statistical models; creating a predictive analytics roadmap; and applying predictions to the web, marketing, finance, health care, and elsewhere Propose, produce, and protect predictive analytics projects through your company with Predictive Analytics For Dummies.

This book ties together big data, data mining, and analytics to explain how readers can leverage them to transform their business strategy.

A practical guide to deploying mathematical and statistical models when performing analytics The Heuristics in Analytics describes analytic processes and how they fit into the heuristic world around us. In spite of the strong heuristic characteristics of the analytical processes, this important book emphasizes the need to have the proper tools to engage analytics. It describes the analytical process from the exploratory analysis in respect to business scenarios and corporate environments, to model developments; and from statistics, probability, stochastic, mathematics, and artificial intelligence; to the deployments and possible outcomes. Describes the overall analytical process in terms of modeling, deployment, and application Offers a new perspective of the randomness in analytical modeling Presents distinct analytical approaches such as statistical, probabilistic, stochastic, and mathematical Includes case studies on the entire analytical process using telecom companies based in Brazil, Ireland, Turkey, United Sates, and Canada Randomness holds a strong impact in the everyday world. It makes sense, then, that analytics are put in place to understand business occurrences, marketplace scenarios, and consumer behavior. The Heuristics in Analytics uniquely shows how random events on a daily basis might completely change expectations, predictions, and behaviors, particularly in corporate environments, and how companies can build a proper analytical strategy to diminish the effect of randomness in business actions.

You can measure practically anything in the age of social media, but if you don’t know what you’re looking for, collecting mountains of data won’t yield a grain of insight. This non-technical guide shows you how to extract significant business value from big data with Ask-Measure-Learn, a system that helps you ask the right questions, measure the right data, and then learn from the results. Authors Lutz Finger and Soumitra Dutta originally devised this system to help governments and NGOs sift through volumes of data. With this book, these two experts provide business managers and analysts with a high-level overview of the Ask-Measure-Learn system, and demonstrate specific ways to apply social media analytics to marketing, sales, public relations, and customer management, using examples and case studies.

Whether you are brand new to data mining or working on your tenth predictive analytics project, Commercial Data Mining will be there for you as an accessible reference outlining the entire process and related themes. In this book, you'll learn that your organization does not need a huge volume of data or a Fortune 500 budget to generate business using existing information assets. Expert author David Nettleton guides you through the process from beginning to end and covers everything from business objectives to data sources, and selection to analysis and predictive modeling. Commercial Data Mining includes case studies and practical examples from Nettleton's more than 20 years of commercial experience. Real-world cases covering customer loyalty, cross-selling, and audience prediction in industries including insurance, banking, and media illustrate the concepts and techniques explained throughout the book. Illustrates cost-benefit evaluation of potential projects Includes vendor-agnostic advice on what to look for in off-the-shelf solutions as well as tips on building your own data mining tools Approachable reference can be read from cover to cover by readers of all experience levels Includes practical examples and case studies as well as actionable business insights from author's own experience

This new business analytics case study challenges readers to forecast donations, plan budgets, and manage cash flow for a religious institution suffering rapidly falling contributions. Crystallizing realistic analytical challenges faced by non-profit and for-profit organizations of all kinds, it exposes readers to the entire decision-making process, providing opportunities to perform analyses, interpret output, and recommend the best course of action. Author: Matthew J. Drake, Duquesne University.

This new business analytics case study challenges readers to project trends and plan capacity for a fast-growing craft beer operation, so it can make the best possible decisions about expensive investments in brewing capacity. Crystallizing realistic analytical challenges faced by companies in many industries and markets, it exposes readers to the entire decision-making process, providing opportunities to perform analyses, interpret output, and recommend the best course of action. Author: Eric Huggins, Fort Lewis College.

Tired of boring spreadsheets and data overload from confusing graphs? Master the art of visualization with Rapid Graphs with Tableau 8! Tableau insiders Stephen and Eileen McDaniel expertly provide a hands-on case study approach and more than 225 illustrations that will teach you how to quickly explore and understand your data to make informed decisions in a wide variety of real-world situations. Rapid Graphs with Tableau 8 includes best practices of visual analytics for ideas on how to communicate your findings with audience-friendly graphs, tables and maps. "A picture is worth a thousand words" is a common saying that is more relevant today than ever as data volumes grow and the need for easy access to answers becomes more critical. This book covers the core of Tableau capabilities in easy-to-follow examples, updated and expanded for Version 8. Learn how to be successful with Tableau from the team that started the original training program as the founding Tableau Education Partner! "A must read for anyone interested in Tableau. Clear explanations, practical advice and beautiful examples!" Elissa Fink – Chief Marketing Officer, Tableau Software What you'll learn Connect to and review data visually Create insightful maps and take advantage of view shifting Understand the types of views available in Tableau Take advantage of the powerful Marks card and much more Who this book is for Rapid Graphs with Tableau 8 is a great resource for those new to Tableau, and also contains useful tips and tricks for advanced users as well.

This book explains how to use business analytics to sort through an ever-increasing amount of data and improve the decision-making capabilities of an organization. Covering the key areas of business analytics, the book explores the concepts, techniques, applications, and emerging trends that professionals across a wide range of industries need to be aware of. It also examines legal and privacy issues and explores social media in analytics. With this book, readers can develop the understanding required to use Big Data and high-performance computing in complex environments to improve strategic decision making.

Statistical Computation for Programmers, Scientists, Quants, Excel Users, and Other Professionals Using the open source R language, you can build powerful statistical models to answer many of your most challenging questions. R has traditionally been difficult for non-statisticians to learn, and most R books assume far too much knowledge to be of help. R for Everyone is the solution. Drawing on his unsurpassed experience teaching new users, professional data scientist Jared P. Lander has written the perfect tutorial for anyone new to statistical programming and modeling. Organized to make learning easy and intuitive, this guide focuses on the 20 percent of R functionality you’ll need to accomplish 80 percent of modern data tasks. Lander’s self-contained chapters start with the absolute basics, offering extensive hands-on practice and sample code. You’ll download and install R; navigate and use the R environment; master basic program control, data import, and manipulation; and walk through several essential tests. Then, building on this foundation, you’ll construct several complete models, both linear and nonlinear, and use some data mining techniques. By the time you’re done, you won’t just know how to write R programs, you’ll be ready to tackle the statistical problems you care about most. COVERAGE INCLUDES • Exploring R, RStudio, and R packages • Using R for math: variable types, vectors, calling functions, and more • Exploiting data structures, including data.frames, matrices, and lists • Creating attractive, intuitive statistical graphics • Writing user-defined functions • Controlling program flow with if, ifelse, and complex checks • Improving program efficiency with group manipulations • Combining and reshaping multiple datasets • Manipulating strings using R’s facilities and regular expressions • Creating normal, binomial, and Poisson probability distributions • Programming basic statistics: mean, standard deviation, and t-tests • Building linear, generalized linear, and nonlinear models • Assessing the quality of models and variable selection • Preventing overfitting, using the Elastic Net and Bayesian methods • Analyzing univariate and multivariate time series data • Grouping data via K-means and hierarchical clustering • Preparing reports, slideshows, and web pages with knitr • Building reusable R packages with devtools and Rcpp • Getting involved with the R global community