The evolution of data analytics through the lens of business cases

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sepanta Sharafuddin ◽  
Ivan Belik

PurposeThe present study provides a comprehensive review of the evolution of data analytics using real-world cases. The purpose is to provide a distinct overview of where the phenomenon was derived from, where it currently stands and where it is heading.Design/methodology/approachThree case studies were selected to represent three different eras of data analytics: Yesterday (1950s–1990s), Today (2000s–2020s) and Tomorrow (2030s–2050s).FindingsRapid changes in information technologies more likely moving us towards a more cyber-physical society, where an increasing number of devices, people and corporations are connected. We can expect the development of a more connected cyber society, open for data exchange than ever before.Social implicationsThe analysis of technological trends through the lens of representative real-world cases helps to clarify where data analytics was derived from, where it currently stands and where it is heading towards. The presented case studies accentuate that data analytics is constantly evolving with no signs of stagnation.Originality/valueAs the field of data analytics is constantly evolving, the study of its evolution based on particular studies aims to better understand the paradigm shift in data analytics and the resulting technological advances in the IT business through the representative real-life cases.

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 940-950
Author(s):  
Thomas Ren

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether there is a meaningful difference, viewed from a financial perspective, in distinguishing between organised crime and terrorist organisations, with regard to the control and mitigation of the threats that they pose to society. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses conceptual models obtained from enterprise theory and economics, as well as criminology, and makes use of case studies through the application of these models. Findings The paper finds that when viewed from a financial perspective, there is no meaningful difference in distinguishing between the groups because many have undergone processes of convergence and transformation, such that they assume each other’s operational and motivational characteristics. However, the answer also depends on how precisely one defines each type of illicit group as well as the transitions they undergo. Originality/value The value of this paper is that it applies two separate models on interactions between organised crime and terrorist organisations, the terror–crime continuum and interaction spectrum, to real life situations. After assessing their validity for more recent examples of such illicit groups, it then provides a balanced argument as to distinguishing between organised crime and terrorism. One limitation towards the paper’s originality, however, is that it draws mainly from pre-existing literature.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (7) ◽  
pp. 1598-1612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Winnard ◽  
Jacquetta Lee ◽  
David Skipp

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report the results of testing a new approach to strategic sustainability and resilience – Sustainable Resilient Strategic Decision-Support (SuReSDS™). Design/methodology/approach The approach was developed and tested using action-research case studies at industrial companies. It successfully allowed the participants to capture different types of value affected by their choices, optimise each strategy’s resilience against different future scenarios and compare the results to find a “best” option. Findings SuReSDS™ enabled a novel integration of environmental and social sustainability into strategy by considering significant risks or opportunities for an enhanced group of stakeholders. It assisted users to identify and manage risks from different kinds of sustainability-related uncertainty by applying resilience techniques. Users incorporated insights into real-world strategies. Research limitations/implications Since the case studies and test organisations are limited in number, generalisation from the results is difficult and requires further research. Practical implications The approach enables companies to utilise in-house and external experts more effectively to develop sustainable and resilient strategies. Originality/value The research described develops theories linking sustainability and resilience for organisations, particularly for strategy, to provide a new consistent, rigorous and flexible approach for applying these theories. The approach has been tested successfully and benefited real-world strategy decisions.


Author(s):  
Erkan Özdemir ◽  
Serkan Kılıç

Technological advances have had an impact on many industries as well as the tourism industry. Augmented reality applications, one of the emerging new technologies in recent years, have also started to be used in our daily lives. Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology that allows its users to see the real world together with an additional virtual world that is added in real time to the same field of view. The augmented reality applications contribute to the enrichment of tourists' tourism experiences, especially during their visit and result in augmented satisfaction levels. Furthermore, it is one of the effective tools that can be used against the wear and tear of cultural heritage sites caused by overcrowding. In this chapter, the application fields of the augmented reality in the field of tourism have been discussed under the subtitles. As a result of our study, recommendations for the development of AR applications both for the literature and real-life application have been presented.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 525-543
Author(s):  
Xiaosen Huo ◽  
Ann Tit Wan Yu ◽  
Wu Zezhou ◽  
Wadu Mesthrige Jayantha

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present site planning and design (SPD) relevant variables and items in practice for practitioners to better understand and implement SPD in green building projects. Design/methodology/approach The research methods include questionnaire survey and case studies in the context of China. A questionnaire survey was adopted to identify the importance of 13 variables and the corresponding 38 items in SPD of green residential buildings. Three green residential projects including one in Hong Kong and two in Mainland China were selected to investigate the SPD considerations in practice and to discuss the necessary improvement. Findings The results show that 12 out of the 13 variables of SPD in green buildings are involved in the three case projects to some extent, thereby underscore the importance of these variables. The potential improvement in real-life SPD of green buildings is also discussed such as adopting design-build and integrated project delivery methods and preserving and protecting cultural characteristics on site. Originality/value The research findings may serve as a reference for practitioners to better conduct SPD in green building projects.


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 29-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deryck J. van Rensburg

Purpose – The paper aims to postulate as to whether the brand manager function and role is best placed for creating high growth, disruptive brand portfolios. As a potential solution toward resolving this, prescriptions for nurturing brand intrapreneurs are advanced to accelerate corporate entrepreneurial thinking and action based on the empirical case material. Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws from seven case studies of six large global consumer packaged goods (CPG) firms involved in strategic brand venturing activity. Interview quotations are used to provide an invocative account of key ideas and arguments in the paper. Data gathering comprised extensive documentation and observation, and 21 semistructured interviews with senior-level executives and entrepreneurs. Interviews ranged in length with a mean interview time of 1 hour 23 minutes. All interviews were recorded with interviewee permission and, subsequently, transcribed and analyzed. Within-case and across-case analyses were performed using the spiral methodology espoused by Creswell (2007). Findings – Findings are clustered under three themes: galvanic and savvy leaders, entrepreneurial program design and nuanced operating models. In particular, the simultaneous practice of external and internal venturing inside a single venturing unit was noted to generate unique learning and promote corporate entrepreneurial action. Research limitations/implications – While case studies offer a way of investigating complex real-life phenomena with multiple variables, their ideographic nature suffers from an inability to generalize findings to other populations. This research design is no different. Nevertheless, rigorous within-case and cross-case analyses were performed involving world-class CPG marketing corporations to arrive at the findings presented. Practical implications – Numerous prescriptions for implementing brand intrapreneurship are advanced in the paper. Originality/value – Although technology venturing is a well-researched topic, ambidextrous brand venturing groups among CPG corporations renown for their marketing and branding prowess are only beginning to catch-on in practice – this is one of the first empirical paper to enumerate the practices of brand intrapreneurship within a strategic brand venturing framework.


2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Vayenas ◽  
Sihong Peng

Purpose – While increased mechanization and automation make considerable contributions to mine productivity, unexpected equipment failures and imperfect planned or routine maintenance prohibit the maximum possible utilization of sophisticated mining equipment and require significant amount of extra capital investment. Traditional preventive/planned maintenance is usually scheduled at a fixed interval based on maintenance personnel's experience and it can result in decreasing reliability. This paper deals with reliability analysis and prediction for mining machinery. A software tool called GenRel is discussed with its theoretical background, applied algorithms and its current improvements. In GenRel, it is assumed that failures of mining equipment caused by an array of factors (e.g. age of equipment, operating environment) follow the biological evolution theory. GenRel then simulates the failure occurrences during a time period of interest based on Genetic Algorithms (GAs) combined with a number of statistical procedures. The paper also discusses a case study of two mine hoists. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether or not GenRel can be applied for reliability analysis of mine hoists in real life. Design/methodology/approach – Statistical testing methods are applied to examine the similarity between the predicted data set with the real-life data set in the same time period. The data employed in this case study is compiled from two mine hoists from the Sudbury area in Ontario, Canada. Potential applications of the reliability assessment results yielded from GenRel include reliability-centered maintenance planning and production simulation. Findings – The case studies shown in this paper demonstrate successful applications of a GAs-based software, GenRel, to analyze and predict dynamic reliability characteristics of two hoist systems. Two separate case studies in Mine A and Mine B at a time interval of three months both present acceptable prediction results at a given level of confidence, 5 percent. Practical implications – Potential applications of the reliability assessment results yielded from GenRel include reliability-centered maintenance planning and production simulation. Originality/value – Compared to conventional mathematical models, GAs offer several key advantages. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there has not been a wide application of GAs in hoist reliability assessment and prediction. In addition, the authors bring discrete distribution functions to the software tool (GenRel) for the first time and significantly improve computing efficiency. The results of the case studies demonstrate successful application of GenRel in assessing and predicting hoist reliability, and this may lead to better preventative maintenance management in the industry.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenting Zhan ◽  
Wei Pan ◽  
Le Chen

PurposeWhile the investment in construction projects has increased over the past few decades, low construction project productivity (CPP) appeared to be persistent, thereby reflecting an “investment-in-failure” paradox between the investment and CPP. Hence, this paper aims to develop a systematic and holistic CPP evaluation framework to explain the apparent paradox in the construction industry.Design/methodology/approachThe paper first reviews the literature about the theories of system, production, principal–agent and project success evaluation to re-conceptualise the CPP and proposes a two-stage CPP evaluation framework. The framework is subsequently explored through a sequential qualitative mixed-methods design within the context of the Hong Kong construction industry by combining 32 semi-structured interviews with senior industry experts and exploratory case studies, with three real-life construction projects.FindingsThe paper identifies three system boundaries for CPP evaluation, that is, parameter, timeframe and stakeholder, and develops a two-stage CPP evaluation framework to indicate site efficiency and utilisation effectiveness, thereby accessing the productivity of both the construction and post-construction stages. The “investment-in-failure” paradox associated with current CPP evaluation approaches is primarily attributed to the narrowly defined CPP boundaries.Research limitations/implicationsThe qualitative exploration of the evaluation framework only focusses on the Hong Kong construction industry. Further case studies within other urban contexts could be used to improve the generalisability of the findings. Quantitative research is also necessary to advance theoretical development of the two-stage CPP evaluation.Practical implicationsThe systemic CPP conceptualisation and the two-stage CPP evaluation framework support the systems thinking of industry stakeholders and enable them to formulate holistic strategies for long-term CPP enhancement.Originality/valueThe research demonstrates the needs to expand the system boundaries of CPP to reflect its systemic value and to shift the paradigm of CPP evaluation from being output-orientated and quantity-focussed to being outcome-orientated and value-focussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathy Mae Dabi Toquero

Purpose The purpose of this study is to provide an analysis of the teacher education program focused on the development of the research competence of the preservice teachers, difficulties they encountered in conducting action research and the need to provide them with realistic research opportunities. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study made use of data sources taken from observations, feedback sessions, presentations and follow-up written interview of 133 randomly selected preservice teachers. Findings Findings reported that the multicultural preservice teachers have novice research skills and that the real-world application of their research skills developed their research competence. However, they encountered difficulties creating their action research, such as in the literature review and the research conceptualization. Research limitations/implications Aside from the self-reported experiences of the students, the training on the action research mainly focused on the conceptualization, design formulation of interventions and proposal writing stage but were not implemented due to course constraints. Practical implications This study can assist policymakers to integrate a mandatory research course as part of the curricular offerings and for the university to create space for students to practice their research skills based on real-life problems in the basic level institutions. Social implications Understanding the challenges, difficulties, and basic competence in the research development of the preservice teachers would strengthen the research practice of the future teachers for evidence-based teaching in the schools. Originality/value The limited literature focus on the development of research competence on teacher education students using action research, including the difficulties that university students experience in doing research based on a societal context.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ritika Mahajan ◽  
Kaushik Ranjan Bandyopadhyay

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it discusses the role of entrepreneurship, in general, and women entrepreneurship, in particular, in advancing the cause of sustainable development. Future research directions that emerge from the body of knowledge that the paper relied upon have been identified. Second, it presents unique cases of eight women-led enterprises in energy sector spread across three continents, namely, Asia, Africa and the USA; identifies the constraints and opportunities, analyses the business models and their impact on the quality of life pointers to demonstrate the role of women-led enterprises in sustainable development. Design/methodology/approach The paper combines a schematic review of literature at the interface of entrepreneurship and sustainable development coupled with select relevant case studies addressing the interface. The real-life case studies, which are consciously chosen and compiled from secondary data sources, complement and testify the insights drawn from the schematic literature review. The framework for analyzing the case studies is designed around multidimensional drivers and factors that steer the women-led enterprises. Findings The paper identified the need to look at entrepreneurship through the gendered lens not only for studying entrepreneurship as a discipline, in general, but also to gauge whether the inclusion of women as entrepreneurs is actually advancing the cause of sustainable development. Besides analyzing real-life case studies of accomplished women entrepreneurs to gauge their motivations and mindsets, the process of identification of pain points, identifying differentiating and innovative features, or studying the impact on society, economy and environment, the paper eventually created a schematic framework of key enablers, constraints and strategic response of women entrepreneurs. Originality/value Given the dearth of adequate theoretical and empirical contributions on the study of effectuation, mindsets and drivers of how women entrepreneurship steers the process of sustainable development, the paper is an endeavour in that direction.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matilde Martínez Casanovas ◽  
Noemí Ruíz-Munzón ◽  
Marian Buil-Fabregá

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse which are the active learning methodologies, which had better contribute to acquiring competences for sustainable development (SD) in higher education. Design/methodology/approach Cluster analysis is used to define 252 students’ skills patterns and their perception of the different active learning methodologies conducted in class to promote SD. Findings The results show how different learning methodologies enhance SD, the quality assessment perception of students regarding the methodologies used in class and present real-world experiences, problem-based learning and case studies as the active learning methodologies that had better promote SD. Research limitations/implications The limitations of the study are that the results obtained are particular for one university and are not generalizable to other institutions and could vary depending on the degree and year of study of the group of student participants. Practical implications The research proposes to introduce active learning methodologies in general and real-world experiences, problem-based learning and case studies in particular, in education for sustainable development. Social implications These research findings could be used for those interested in applying active learning methodologies to foster the acquisition of SD competences to promote the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development goals. Originality/value This research study aims to shed light on the nascent stage of the relationship between pedagogical approaches used in higher education to develop sustainability competences.


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