FO RUM
• Why can’t personnel and human
resource departments do better
workforce planning on both the
demand and supply side? That
is, for the supply side, why can’t
they predict in rank order the most
likely next employee to voluntarily
resign based on statistical data
(e.g., their age, pay raise amount
or frequency) of employees who
have previously resigned? For
those who will retire, isn’t this
predictable? For the demand side,
why can’t improved forecasting
of sales volume and mix be
translated into headcount capacity
planning by type of skill or job
group? Then the workforce on
hand will match the needs without
scrambling when mismatches
occur.
• Why can’t magazines you subscribe
to print at the time of production a
customized issue for you that has
advertisements (and maybe even
articles) tailored to what you likely
care more about based on the
profile they may have about you?
Then the magazine’s content may
be more relevant to you.
• Why can’t your home’s refrigerator
and food pantry keep track using
microchips and barcode scanners
of what you purchased and the
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rate of usage? Then you could
better replenish those items when
out shopping.
Are these a vision of the future? Not
in all cases. With business analytics
software and communication technology some, if not all, of these questions
are already solvable. Analytics not
only proves or disproves an analyst’s
hypothesis, but its truth-seeking tests
also reveal cause-and-effect relationships. Understanding causality serves
for making better decisions by reducing
uncertainty.
It is a complex world that we live in.
It is now time that gut-feel, intuition and
guessing be replaced with applying analytics to better manage organizations
and better serve their customers.
Gary Cokins [email protected], CPIM,
is the founder of Analytics-Based Performance
Management LLC, an advisory firm. He is an
internationally recognized expert, speaker
and author in advanced cost management
and performance improvement systems. He
previously served as a principal consultant with
SAS. For more of Cokins’ unique look at the
world, visit his website at www.garycokins.com.
He is a member of INFORMS. A version of this
article appeared in Informatio